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SAM O. HIROTA, INC.

HONOLULU, HAWAII

GIS (Geographic Information System)

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In the 1970s, the City and County of Honolulu put out a Request for Proposal that, along with land surveying and civil engineering services, sought a long-term solution to its GIS needs. As SOH was on all three of the teams shortlisted for the project award, City officials asked SOH President Dr. Dennis Hirota who he would recommend. To Dr. Hirota, the choice was obvious, and he confidently advocated for the City to select Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), recently founded by Jack Dangermond in Redlands, California. The City chose Esri, and the relationship between the City and Esri, and between Dr. Hirota and Mr. Dangermond, has flourished ever since. 

(Left) In 2014, SOH captured 30 million images of all 3,650 lane miles of City and County-maintained streets using its earthmine Mars Collection System, a car-mounted photogrammetry platform. ESRI ArcMap window showing basemap on the left and earthmine viewer plug-in to the right. The basemap is overlaid with Honolulu City and County streets. This geographic information system is directly integrated with the earthmine images, allowing seamless workflows. The high-resolution, panoramic, 3D images have latitude, longitude, and height data, allowing staffers to quickly measure anything within the view.

(left) SOH captured 30 million images of all 3,650 lane miles of City and County-maintained streets in 2014 using its earthmine Mars Collection System, a car-mounted photogrammetry platform. Due to their geospatially correct location information, the photos, seen here in the ArcGIS integrated application built by earthmine, could be viewed side-by-side within the GIS, allowing Facility Maintenance personnel to visually verify everything from pavement condition to curb ramps to overgrown vegetation from the safety of their office computers. 

As a member of the Esri Partner Network (EPN), SOH has access to the latest GIS software and training. This has enabled the firm to remain a leader in the practical application of advanced GIS technology. 

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(Above) SOH topograhic survey map of a Windward Oahu golf course. Challenges arouse when the aerial LiDAR did not include important elements of the site due to the extensive tree canopy. While the Riegl scanner the aerial team uses mitigated most of the problem areas, SOH surveyors were sent in to manually locate these elements to guarantee project success.

MILITARY GIS WORK

Many SOH Department of Defense survey projects require geodatabase creation and data migration into the latest supported SDSFIE schema. For many years, this has meant delivering GIS products in Esri ArcMap/ArcGIS Desktop software, as that software has been fine-tuned to these specifications. However, Esri is phasing out ArcMap in favor of the technologically superior ArcGIS Pro application. SOH is working with Esri and the Army to configure ArcGIS Pro to include the necessary metadata capabilities required by the Army. 

SOH has positioned itself as a trusted partner for public, private, and government clients seeking reliable and high-quality UAV services for their geospatial needs.

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  • Services include aerial mapping, orthophoto generation, 3D modeling, terrain analysis, volumetric calculations, and asset inspections.

  • SOH has cultivated a network of highly skilled, certified, and nationally recognized UAV operators and data analysts across the country chosen for their expertise, experience, equipment, and adherence to regulatory compliance.

  • SOH employs a comprehensive project management system to oversee partner UAV operations. This system streamlines communication, facilitates collaboration, and ensures seamless coordination between SOH's in-house team and its aerial partners.

  • SOH serves a diverse range of clients, successfully completing UAV projects for public infrastructure projects, private land development, and government asset management

  • The company actively explores emerging technologies, techniques, and applications to stay ahead of the curve and provide clients with cutting-edge solutions.

Contact us for more information.

© 2026 by Sam O. Hirota, Inc.

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