Blog

  1. Field notes: the stretch of I-70 where every face was two feet off

    A windshield audit on one highway corridor turns up a GIS layer that's consistently two feet off from the as-built. Notes on why that keeps happening.

  2. V-type vs back-to-back billboards: telling structures apart from overhead imagery

    How to read structure type, shadow shape and orientation cues from VHR imagery to tell V-type, back-to-back and monopole billboards apart.

  3. Digital bulletin vs. digital poster: telling them apart in satellite imagery

    How to separate digital bulletins from digital posters in VHR imagery using face size, mount height, and structure shape, not screen content.

  4. Off-premise vs on-premise signs: the distinction that drives sign code

    A plain breakdown of off-premise vs on-premise sign classification and why it decides what your billboard permits and sign code enforcement look like.

  5. Field notes: the renewal that hinged on a structure we couldn't confirm existed

    A lease renewal sat unsigned for three weeks because nobody could confirm a two-face structure was still standing after a road-widening project.

  6. How to calculate legibility distance for a billboard face

    A working formula for legibility distance, sightline distance by road speed, and why desk math only gets you halfway to a real legibility index.

  7. Estimating billboard read distance from satellite imagery

    How inventory analysts can approximate legibility distance and approach visibility for billboard faces using VHR imagery, without a windshield survey.

  8. How to spot a non-conforming billboard under a local sign ordinance

    Field and desk checks for flagging a grandfathered or non-conforming billboard against a local sign code, before someone else's audit catches it first.

  9. How to tell a billboard's orientation from shadow angle in satellite imagery

    A field method for reading panel bearing and approach side off shadow geometry in VHR imagery, and where shadow analysis alone runs out.

  10. Wallscape vs. freestanding billboard: telling them apart in aerial imagery

    How to read structure shadows, footprint, and orientation in aerial imagery to separate wallscapes from freestanding bulletins during a desk audit.

  11. Bulletin vs poster panel: what's the difference

    Bulletin, poster panel, 30-sheet, junior poster: the face classifications that matter for an inventory audit, explained plainly.

  12. How to read a billboard permit application

    A field guide to billboard permit applications: what each line means, how DOT lookups work, and why the permit number isn't the structure ID.

  13. How to spot an illegal billboard structure before you drive the corridor

    The visual and permit tells that separate an unpermitted billboard from a legal one, and why code enforcement records miss most of them.

  14. Static vs digital billboard: how to classify a face for inventory

    How to code face type (static, digital, hybrid) in an OOH inventory register, and what to look for before a crew confirms it on the ground.