Find Specialized Assets From Aerial Imagery in 2026
Build a territory of unusual structures and equipment your business can serve. Define the search with your experts, review the evidence, and put an account value beside each accepted site.
Asset Search by PorchRocket finds specialized assets from aerial imagery by defining qualifying features with your experts and cross-referencing candidates with property records and public datasets. It handles custom searches for fabric domes, clarifiers, hangars, greenhouses, marinas and other visible assets across the contiguous United States. Every candidate receives human review and dated evidence, with fits, rejects and unresolved sites returned. Start with a small paid pilot credited toward the full order.
What matters most
- Asset Search returns 3 outcomes: fits, rejects with reasons, and unresolved sites with the field check that settles the question.
- Define the counting unit before searching: 1 facility can contain several structures, parcels and service opportunities.
- Choose per accepted result for a prospecting territory, per investigation for a fixed site book, or an Asset Search subscription for recurring monitoring.
- The worked model produces about $59,382 in five-year gross profit per signed account, using stated project, service and retention assumptions.
Say you need every air-supported sports dome within a two-hour service territory, wastewater sites with visible circular basins in six counties, or marinas with boat lifts along one coast. Each request feeds a different decision: where to offer re-cover work, where to build a treatment-equipment service book, or where to schedule lift maintenance. A business-category list leaves the deciding feature unanswered.
Asset Search by PorchRocket finds unusual physical assets from aerial and satellite imagery, cross-referenced with records and public data. Your experts help define the rules. People review every candidate, and every disposition comes back with dated evidence. Coverage runs from one county to the contiguous United States, with other regions on request.
Ground Control covers standard property lists. Use a specialty search when your crew needs a particular structure system or equipment arrangement before it can qualify a site.
How do you define a custom search for unusual assets?
Start with the buyer’s decision and write an acceptance rule that tells a reviewer which visible features earn a match, how to handle an uncertain case and where the search stops.
“Find domes” is too loose for a service territory. A re-cover contractor might want frame-supported fabric buildings and air-supported sports enclosures, while excluding metal-roofed storage buildings. A public works program might want every salt-storage structure regardless of roof system. Give those searches different instructions.
I would ask the person who approves the work scope to supply a small reference set. Include clear matches and close lookalikes. Add a few awkward cases: an enclosure removed for the season, two structures on one parcel, or a site with an uncertain operator. Those examples expose disagreements before they spread across a whole state.
Natural Resources Canada’s photo-interpretation guidance explains why shape alone is insufficient. Pattern, size, shadow and surrounding features contribute evidence. Use those observations to write the rule in terms a reviewer can apply, then specify what additional record or field question settles the difficult cases.
Keep four items in the brief:
- The offer or program: membrane replacement, equipment refurbishment, maintenance or an asset register.
- The minimum visible evidence needed to keep a site under consideration.
- The exclusions, including asset types your team cannot serve.
- The geographic boundary and the unit you intend to count.
For “near me,” name the service base and the travel boundary. A radius works for a first screen. For a search covering several branches, ask the dispatchers to mark the roads or counties each crew can serve before dividing accepted sites among dealers, especially where two branches overlap or a distant property needs a different travel allowance. Settle those boundaries in the pilot.
Finish with an acceptance sentence. For example: “Include a fixed covered structure at a municipal maintenance yard when dated views or public records support road-salt storage; return the roof system separately.” That sentence keeps the asset decision separate from a material question. The broader aerial asset inventory process follows the same approach across multiple asset classes.
Specialty asset catalog: who buys each find
A specialty inventory earns its place in a sales plan when each asset category has a named buying role and a decision the evidence can support.
Use this catalog to scope a request. The evidence column describes what to ask the search to return when visible or supported by records. Each row also receives parcel and owner information beside the location. Open questions stay attached to the record.
| Asset to search | Who buys the find | Decision the find feeds | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frame-supported fabric buildings | Re-cover contractors and aftermarket teams | Which buildings belong in a membrane-service territory | Marked structure, dated views, visible footprint and type evidence |
| Air-supported sports domes | Dome service and replacement teams | Which operators to approach about a service assessment | Enclosure location, dated presence and support-system confirmation question |
| Salt-storage domes and sheds | Public works programs and structure contractors | Which yards need a storage-building survey | Building location, yard association and storage-use record |
| Aircraft hangars | Door, roof and building-service contractors | Which airport buildings fit the offer | Building outline, apron relationship and responsible-party question |
| Clarifiers | Treatment-equipment service teams | Which facilities to qualify for drives or mechanism work | Basin location, shape and visible bridge or center features |
| Digesters and covered lagoons | Cover, mixing and biogas service teams | Which process sites fit the repair method | Vessel or cover location, dated arrangement and process record |
| Greenhouses | Cover and climate-equipment suppliers | Which growing sites to qualify for an upgrade | Covered blocks, visible structure pattern and grower identity |
| High tunnels and shade houses | Agricultural structure suppliers | Which growers fit a different cover or frame offer | Separate structure category, dated presence and site grouping |
| Billboards | Sign-maintenance and replacement teams | Which structures fit a service route | Marked sign structure, road relationship and permit-record match |
| Helipads | Surface, marking and facility-service teams | Which landing areas warrant an operator conversation | Visible pad, associated facility and use-status question |
| Marinas | Dock and marine-service contractors | Which waterfront facilities fit the service area | Pier layout, land access and operator association |
| Boat lifts | Lift dealers and service contractors | Which installations to qualify for compatibility | Marked candidate lift, supporting view and equipment-identification question |
| Quarries and borrow pits | Equipment and site-service suppliers | Which operating sites to investigate | Excavation footprint, dated activity clues and record association |
| Frac ponds and industrial water impoundments | Water-handling and liner-service teams | Which operators to ask about a defined water-service need | Basin outline, site context and operator-confirmed purpose |
| Pump jacks and production pads | Aftermarket and field-service teams | Which installations fit the service network | Equipment location, dated presence and well-record association |
| Rail spurs and sidings | Rail and industrial-site service teams | Which facilities have a connection worth investigating | Visible track path, facility relationship and continuity question |
| Port cranes and container terminals | Terminal-equipment aftermarket teams | Which installations fit a regional service book | Equipment positions, terminal grouping and dated changes |
One accepted marina is a facility record. Individual lifts can sit beneath it as asset records. Likewise, four clarifiers at one treatment plant can represent four serviceable units but one purchasing relationship. Decide which count your sales plan needs before ordering the territory.
The catalog stays open. Describe another structure and explain the decision it feeds. Reference examples give the team a place to begin scoping that class.
Fabric structures, salt domes and aircraft hangars
Give each building category its own qualification rule, with the structure system and operating use recorded separately.
The Fabric Structures Association’s definitions distinguish an air-supported building, whose form depends on air pressure, from a frame-supported structure with a loadbearing frame. A tensile system is another category. A rounded roof does not establish which system your crew will encounter.
Request the marked enclosure and the evidence supporting its category for a re-cover territory. Put uncertain systems in the unresolved group. The settling question can be direct: ask the operator to confirm whether the enclosure is air-supported or frame-supported and provide the relevant building documentation. Your estimator can then ask about the membrane system and access requirements.
Define salt domes by the storage program you serve. Salt Lake City’s Bonneville Boulevard page describes a pavilion used for road-salt storage during winter. That example supports a wider search brief: include storage sheds or pavilions if the buyer wants salt-storage buildings, even when “dome” is the familiar search term.
I would keep building use and roof system in separate columns. That lets a contractor pursue the storage program without sending every roof to the same estimating desk. The fabric structure location guide goes further into building definitions and re-cover prospecting.
Hangars need another rule. The FAA’s guidance for federally obligated airports identifies aircraft storage as a hangar’s primary purpose and explains the airport sponsor’s leasing responsibilities. Use the airport layout and building context to investigate candidates, then establish who controls the particular building and the service budget.
A hangar-door contractor should ask for door details during qualification. A roofing contractor needs the roof assessment. Attach the offer to the marked structure and tell the airport contact which information you need to scope it, so a request concerning one hangar does not become a campus-wide inquiry that passes between departments before anyone can answer it.
For public salt-storage and airport-facility work, Bid Control by PorchRocket finds opportunities for your trade and area. Bid papers and addenda stay with their due dates. Use the inventory to understand the territory and the public bid process to pursue posted work.
Clarifiers, digesters and water-management sites
Define the process your repair method serves and use facility records to establish the purpose of each candidate basin or covered vessel.
The Wisconsin wastewater operator study guide describes both circular and rectangular clarifiers. Its circular-clarifier explanation includes a center drive and moving mechanisms. A search restricted to circles would miss a treatment configuration the buyer might serve.
Write the equipment requirement into the search. If a repair method applies to circular center-drive mechanisms, define that subset. If the offer covers wider treatment-plant maintenance, include rectangular basins under a separate category. Ask for visible bridge or center features where the views support them, and preserve the plant identity beside every basin.
Digesters also need a broader search definition. EPA’s guidance for manure-based anaerobic systems describes covered lagoons, plug-flow systems and enclosed tanks. A biogas-cover contractor should name the configurations its repair method serves. Include farm digesters in a separate category when they fit the offer; a wastewater-plant directory alone will not define that territory.
I would deliver these sites with a facility record above the individual assets. A plant manager can then review the marked equipment without the salesperson treating each basin as a separate organization. Request the process drawing or equipment schedule when the asset’s function remains uncertain.
For open water, use a candidate label until purpose is established. A lined basin in an industrial setting can deserve investigation without being assigned a treatment process from its color. Set the follow-up around the operator’s records: what is this basin used for, and who maintains it?
The estimating handoff should name the relevant asset and the missing specification. “Confirm the cover system on the marked vessel” gives the next person a task. “Check treatment plant” leaves the search unfinished at the handoff.
Helipads, marinas and rail spurs
For transport sites, identify who controls the facility before qualifying individual installations for the service your team sells.
Request a marked helipad candidate and the associated property. If a landing-area marking is visible, record it with the observation date. Establish the operator and current use before treating the location as a service account.
The FAA’s private-use facility guidance directs proposals through the Digital 7480-1 process and distinguishes federal notice from separate state and local requirements. For a 2026 search, that is a reason to cross-check facility records and ask about status. A visible surface and an operating facility are different fields in the inventory.
Marinas need both water-side and land-side context. Scope the pier system and access, then identify the operator who controls the work. If your offer concerns boat lifts, request individual candidate locations beneath the marina record and give the operator a marked view of the installation when asking for identification and specifications, so the service desk can discuss compatibility without guessing which lift the call concerns.
Use port records where the facility type fits. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation-infrastructure data includes owner and operator fields. It also describes handling equipment and rail/highway access. Cross-reference those records with the visible terminal layout before adding the facility to the sales file.
For rail spurs, trace the visible track toward the industrial facility and mark any break or obscured segment. Ask the operator to confirm service and control of the siding. A visible connection can justify a conversation; the service arrangement determines whether your offer fits.
The port infrastructure data guide covers terminal-level inventories. Give cranes and rail connections their own asset records beneath the terminal for this specialty search. Your team can then pursue equipment work while preserving the operator relationship for the wider site.
Quarries, frac ponds and pump jacks
Tie extraction-site candidates to dated observations and the relevant public records, then ask the operator to confirm the activity your service depends on.
The USGS USMIN program combines national mineral information with other resources, including mining features digitized from historical topographic maps. Quarries and borrow pits appear among those historical features. Keep that origin attached when using a record to seed a territory search.
A historical pit location answers where to investigate. For a quarry-equipment campaign, specify the visible features that qualify a candidate. Carry the source date into the account record and ask the operator to confirm current production and the equipment your team would service.
Frac-pond searches need similar discipline around purpose. Specify the basin geometry or visible lining that earns review, then join the candidate to the operating site and public records where available. Ask who controls the impoundment and what service is being purchased. That question determines the next visit.
For pump jacks, keep the equipment observation separate from the well record. The Railroad Commission of Texas Public GIS Viewer provides oil, gas and pipeline map information. The agency also explains that the data requires verification for the user’s purpose. Use it as a cross-reference for the visible installation and retain its identifier.
I would scope an aftermarket search around installations the service network can reach and support. Group nearby assets by the verified operating relationship, then send the account owner the marked equipment and the unanswered compatibility question.
Greenhouses and agricultural structures
A greenhouse supplier should define which growing structures fit its offer before the search assigns every covered block to one prospect category.
UF/IFAS Extension’s protected-culture guide distinguishes greenhouse designs, screen and shade houses, and tunnels. It describes different covers and ventilation arrangements. Those differences belong in a supplier’s qualification process, even when the structures occupy the same growing property.
Begin with the offer. A rigid-cover replacement team needs a different search from a supplier of film for tunnels. A climate-equipment team should request the structure group and grower identity, then qualify the installed system through the grower’s records.
Ask for structure outlines or marked blocks where the views support them. Keep separate buildings linked to the operating farm. If the search depends on a minimum covered area, specify how it should be measured and reviewed in the pilot, including how connecting corridors or open-sided sections are handled.
Seasonal structures need dates. Request earlier and later views when available, and identify whether the inventory is intended to capture structures present at one date or installations seen during a defined season. That keeps a temporary absence from silently removing a grower from the service book.
Other agricultural searches can cover grain bins or poultry houses. Irrigation pivots are another request. Define the family before the equipment question. An aftermarket team can seek the visible installation first, then ask the operator for the specifications needed to establish compatibility.
For dealer planning, attach the accepted site to a territory and one responsible rep. The installed base mapping guide explains how to organize visible installations into a service-network book. Keep the farm record intact when several asset families belong to the same buying relationship.
Billboards and small-footprint installations
Count the object your service team will quote, with enough location evidence to distinguish it from neighboring installations.
For billboard service, decide whether the inventory counts structures or advertising faces. I would start with structures and add face information from supporting evidence, preserving the relationship to the operating site so a rep can discuss a multi-sign property without opening several unrelated accounts or counting the same purchasing relationship more than once.
Florida’s outdoor-advertising program provides public searches for current permits and sign locations. Use those records as a cross-check where the program covers your search. Establish the sign operator separately from the parcel owner before assigning an outreach task.
A sign-maintenance contractor can ask about the structure and access first, then request the equipment details needed for the offer. If the campaign concerns a particular lighting arrangement, define what visible evidence qualifies a candidate and what the operator must confirm. Keep that requirement out of a generic “billboard present” field.
Other small installations follow the same method. Mark the object and record its surrounding context. Resolve the ownership question. Test examples at the pilot stage to establish whether the available views answer the acceptance rule. When they leave one deciding detail open, return that question with the candidate.
The handoff should identify the installation well enough for a rep and an operator to discuss the same object. A street address covering a large industrial parcel needs a marked asset location beside it.
How does human review settle an unusual find?
Asset Search reviews every candidate against buyer-defined rules and returns three dispositions: fits, rejects with reasons, and unresolved sites with a settling field check.
The search is recall-first. It goes beyond directories and existing databases for unlisted and cross-brand installations, including newly built sites. Human review then decides what the evidence supports. Your experts help establish how the edge cases should be handled before the territory expands.
Agree on the evidence standard during the paid pilot. Ask a reviewer to explain each accepted example in terms of the rule. A fit should have the deciding observation attached, such as a visible covered enclosure plus a record supporting the required use. Review rejected lookalikes as well.
| Review outcome | Example within the pilot rules | What the buyer does next |
|---|---|---|
| Fits | Marked covered structure at a maintenance yard; public record supports salt storage | Assign the facility to the appropriate structure-service rep |
| Rejects | Building documentation identifies an excluded metal-roof system | Retain the reason and remove it from the current re-cover campaign |
| Unresolved | Visible enclosure qualifies on location, but the support system remains uncertain | Ask the operator to confirm whether it is air-supported or frame-supported |
Do not judge a pilot only by how many fits it returns. Inspect whether the rejected examples follow the exclusions and whether each unresolved row asks a question your field team can answer. A pile of ambiguous pins will still consume an estimator’s afternoon.
Review a sample of the searched area against your reference examples to discuss missed candidates as well as accepted ones. A rejection audit checks the decisions on found candidates; it does not, by itself, establish how much of the territory was found. Keep both questions in the pilot review.
Rules can change. A new repair method might make a previously excluded structure serviceable. Asset Search can re-answer previously searched sites against the revised requirement, often without waiting for new imagery. Preserve rejected and unresolved records so the team can revisit them under the new rule.
The fields in a specialty asset inventory
Give the salesperson and field planner one connected inventory, using stable identifiers to preserve the relationship between a property, its assets and the evidence behind each reviewed decision.
The base delivery includes location and parcel information, with owner data beside the dated observations that support the decision. Decision-maker contact is included where it applies. Every disposition returns. Define any additional fields in the scope so the pilot tests the same file your team intends to use.
For a service territory, I would request this handoff layout:
| Field group | Fields to agree in the scope | Purpose at the next desk |
|---|---|---|
| Site identity | Stable site ID, address, coordinates and parcel reference | Prevent duplicate accounts and locate the right property |
| Asset identity | Asset ID, family and parent site ID | Keep several structures beneath one facility |
| Evidence | Marked views, observation dates and factual notes | Show why the site entered the territory |
| Decision | Fits, rejects or unresolved; rule version and reason | Explain the review result |
| Buyer relationship | Owner, operator evidence and relevant contact where applicable | Direct the first conversation |
| Follow-up | The one field check or document request that settles the open issue | Assign a bounded task |
| Territory handoff | Branch or dealer assignment, in the agreed import layout | Put the site in the right sales queue |
An equipment list and an account list should connect without creating duplicate outreach. Give six structures sharing one operator six asset records under the facility, with parcel links beneath the site where needed, so the rep can discuss the whole property while an estimator works on the one structure included in the current request.
Asset Search delivers CSV, Excel, GIS-ready files or an import for your CRM or dealer system. Agree on the coordinate system and identifiers when the buyer’s GIS requires them. Test the pilot in the receiving system before expanding the order.
Ask a rep to open one row and explain the next call using the evidence supplied. Then ask an operations planner to locate the same asset. If either person has to restart the map search, adjust the handoff fields before scaling the territory.
How often should specialty assets be checked?
Choose the observation schedule around the buyer’s next decision: quarterly for a territory book, shorter intervals for installation changes, and annual review for longer planning cycles.
Asset Search offers one-time searches and annual, quarterly, monthly or weekly refreshes. Near-real-time alerts are available where daily satellite coverage exists. Sites are re-checked as new imagery lands; each edition should show the evidence dates behind its conclusions.
I would separate the refresh deadline from the observation date in the file. A monthly delivery can contain observations from different dates across a territory. The dated evidence tells the rep what was visible when, while the delivery date tells the manager which edition the team received.
| Decision | Starting cadence to discuss | Change worth reporting |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer territory and account assignment | Quarterly | Added, removed or reclassified installations |
| Annual facility planning | Annual, before the planning window | Changes to the structure book or facility footprint |
| Active new-installation prospecting | Monthly or weekly | Newly visible structures or equipment arrangements |
| Storm, outage or rapid site-change watch | Near real time where daily satellite coverage exists | Before-and-after visible changes requiring investigation |
| New repair method or acceptance rule | Re-answer the existing book when the rule changes | Previously searched sites that now qualify |
Require before-and-after dates for a reported change. Keep “first observed” separate from an installation date established by records or the operator. That lets a salesperson ask a precise question about new work without inventing its construction date.
Monitoring is sold as a subscription. The asset monitoring guide covers the ongoing territory workflow. Choose an interval the team can act on; a weekly change queue needs someone assigned to review it each week.
How is a custom object detection service priced?
The quote follows the agreed scope, and Asset Search offers four buying models to match different decisions and purchasing processes.
For a specialty service contractor building a prospecting territory, I would start with per accepted result. Define acceptance around the physical and business-fit criteria the search can settle. Sales qualification continues when the operator discusses its needs and purchasing schedule.
For an asset manager reconciling a fixed book, choose per completed investigation. Resolving a duplicate or rejecting an incorrectly classified structure still answers the investigation. Agree on how unresolved cases are delivered and handled under the scope.
A subscription fits repeat monitoring and refresh editions. Success-based terms fit a clearly agreed outcome with an attribution method both sides can review. Put the outcome and acceptance evidence in writing before work starts.
Most buyers begin with a small paid pilot credited toward the full order. Use it to settle the asset definition and test the receiving file. The pilot scope should also establish the territory boundary and what happens when evidence leaves a deciding field unanswered.
When comparing approaches, price the same task. Budget the internal analyst’s time from the first definition meeting through candidate review and the owner-data handoff, including the follow-up needed when a site remains uncertain, then compare that workload with the investigation work stated in an outside service’s scope. Software access alone leaves those tasks with your team.
The geospatial asset detection company comparison covers provider selection. For this catalog, I would choose Asset Search when the desired purchase is a reviewed territory and usable site decisions. Evaluate the scope and pilot evidence beside the quote; a cost per raw candidate does not describe the same deliverable as a cost per accepted result.
The value of one accepted specialty site
Value an accepted site through its chance of becoming an account and the account’s gross profit over time, then compare that value with acquisition spending.
Use this model for a regional specialty-structure service team. One signed account buys an initial refurbishment for $96,500 at a 29% gross margin. It also starts a separate $18,700 annual support agreement at a 41% gross margin. Assume every signed account also pays for the first support year, separately from the refurbishment, and 90% renew into each following year. Use a five-year horizon without discounting. Hold prices flat. The assumed margins include direct labor and materials, with travel charged to the work as well. Assume full collection and no extra refurbishment purchases. Round each account’s five-year gross profit to cents before multiplying by account counts.
Customer lifetime value, or CLV, is the gross profit expected from that buying relationship over the chosen period. Keep the project and recurring service parts visible:
| Account component | Calculation | Expected gross profit |
|---|---|---|
| Initial refurbishment | $96,500 x 29% | $27,985 |
| Annual support before renewals | $18,700 x 41% | $7,667 per retained year |
| Five-year renewal factor | 1 + 0.90 + 0.81 + 0.729 + 0.6561 | 4.0951 retained years |
| Five-year support | $7,667 x 4.0951 | $31,397.13 |
| Combined account value | $27,985 + $31,397.13 | $59,382.13 |
Now work backward through the sales funnel. Start with 240 accepted sites, each representing a separate buying relationship. Assume 96 verified operating contacts, 24 substantive conversations, 12 site surveys, eight proposals and two signed accounts. The stage rates are 40%, 25%, 50%, two-thirds and 25%, respectively. Overall site-to-account conversion is 2 / 240, or about 0.83%.
Those two accounts produce $118,764.26 in expected five-year gross profit. Divide by 240 accepted sites: $494.85 in expected gross profit per accepted site, before acquisition spending. That is a buyer-value calculation. The quote determines the search expense.
Lead-list ROI is gross profit from accounts won minus search and outreach spending, divided by that spending. Add the search quote to staff time and field qualification costs. Include other acquisition spending before calculating the return. Do not divide contract revenue by the data expense and call the result profit.
For sensitivity, call one account’s $59,382.13 gross profit L. Hold the entire campaign’s acquisition budget at 0.08L. That budget includes search and outreach together; check the quote and staffing plan against it. Vary signed accounts while keeping the same campaign budget:
| Outcome | Signed accounts from 240 sites | Five-year gross profit | Gross profit / acquisition cost | Net ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 1 | $59,382.13 | L / 0.08L = 12.5x | 11.5x |
| Base | 2 | $118,764.26 | 2L / 0.08L = 25x | 24x |
| High | 3 | $178,146.39 | 3L / 0.08L = 37.5x | 36.5x |
Fund the next territory from the low case. At the assumed 0.08L budget, one account returns 11.5x net; two return 24x. If your requirement is at least 20x even with one account, cap total acquisition spending at L / 21, about 4.76% of one account’s gross profit. The 0.08L budget fails that stricter test. With zero signed accounts, net ROI is -100%. Set the spending limit before approving the territory.
Fit also changes what the same sales hours produce. Assume three of every five broad-list addresses pass the physical-fit screen. Budget 18 minutes per initial site check. Screening 400 broad-list addresses consumes 120 hours to identify 240 fits. Reviewing 240 evidence-backed sites at the same allowance consumes 72 hours, leaving 48 hours for operator calls or surveys. Alternatively, the same 120 hours can cover 400 evidence-backed sites: 400 / 240 is about 1.67 times as many fit properties. Retain those time assumptions in the plan and measure them during the pilot.
Use the lead-list ROI calculator with your quote and sales costs. Assign value to the account your crew can serve, then work backward to the territory you can afford to investigate.
When a Ground Control list fits the search
For a standard list of commercial properties with visible tanks, loading docks or pools, Ground Control by PorchRocket is the fastest route. Narrow the search by business type and building size as well as the visible feature; each property carries a reason for its match. Commercial lists cost $10 to $20 per building. Owner and decision-maker research are add-ons. Files arrive within 48 hours after payment, often sooner. Wrong matches receive credit back within 30 days. These are target properties for your team to approach; the owners have not requested quotes.
Use the Ground Control property-list service when its standard filters answer the request. The self-serve catalog covers properties with storage tanks and buildings with loading docks. For pool service, choose properties with visible pools.
A digester-cover classification, a marina with a particular lift arrangement, or a fabric-building search defined with an engineer calls for Asset Search. Choose the route from the acceptance rule. A property-level filter can answer a broad prospecting question; the specialty investigation supplies the reviewed answer to your narrower one.
How to find specialized assets from aerial imagery, step by step
Follow these eight steps to test a small territory and put accepted sites into the receiving team’s workflow this month.
- Write the decision on day 1. Name the offer, territory and receiving team. For a dome re-cover campaign, specify the structure systems the crew serves and the travel boundary. Identify the person who approves a match.
- Collect reference cases during days 1 to 3. Supply clear fits, exclusions and uncertain examples. Include multi-structure properties. Write the rule for counting sites versus individual assets, and identify the deciding field question for each awkward case.
- Send the scope to Asset Search during days 3 to 5. Use the specialty search request to describe what to find and where in a two-minute form. Ask for a scope and quote, then a small paid pilot credited toward the full order. Specify the required evidence and delivery format.
- Agree the pilot review and delivery dates. Put the territory, acceptance criteria and buying model in the scope. Reserve time for your expert to inspect fits, rejects and unresolved results after delivery. Use the agreed timetable to schedule the remaining steps.
- Review the evidence with the expert. Check whether accepted examples meet the rule and rejected lookalikes meet the exclusions. Discuss candidate coverage as a separate question. Revise the rule when the review reveals a genuine difference in interpretation.
- Resolve the first field questions. Assign each unresolved record to one person. Ask for the support system, process record or operator confirmation that settles it. Return the answer to the inventory with its evidence, then reclassify the site.
- Load and work the accepted sites. Import the pilot into the CRM, dealer system or GIS. Confirm that the rep can locate the asset and identify the next conversation. Track verified operators, meetings and proposals separately from physical matches.
- Make the expansion decision this month. Compare the quote, outreach time and low-case account value. Approve the larger territory when the economics fit, and choose a refresh cadence with someone responsible for acting on changes.
Send one qualification message per operating relationship. A fabric-service rep could ask: “Who manages the covered structure at this property? I want to confirm its support system and who handles membrane maintenance before requesting a site assessment.” The message asks for the information the inventory needs.
Require the sales handoff and field handoff to work on the same records during the pilot review. The next edition should preserve the IDs and carry the revised decisions forward.
Setting up a specialty territory with Asset Search
Bring your asset definition and territory to Asset Search for a scoped pilot in your team’s receiving format.
If you can see it from above, we can find it. Describe the decision and where to search. We set the rules with your experts and cross-reference aerial and satellite imagery with property records and public datasets, connecting owner data to the site. People review every candidate. Start with a small paid pilot credited toward the full order. Choose per accepted result for a prospecting territory or a subscription when your team needs a continuing change book.
For a specialty campaign, Asset Search returns:
- Site locations and parcel information, so the next person can locate the property.
- Owner information and decision-maker contact where it applies, connected to the evidence for the site.
- Dated views and the observations that support each acceptance decision.
- Fits, rejects with reasons, and unresolved sites with the field check that settles the question.
- CSV, Excel, GIS-ready files or an import laid out for the receiving CRM or dealer system.
- Refresh options and reviewed answers for previously searched sites when your specification changes.
Put the first territory in the hands of the crew, dealer or account team that can serve it.
Quick answers
How do I find specialized assets from aerial imagery?
Define the asset with examples, exclusions and a territory, then compare aerial and satellite views with property records and relevant public data. Asset Search runs this process with human review. Each candidate comes back as a fit, reject or unresolved site, with dated evidence and the field check needed to settle an open question.
Can I request an asset that is not in the catalog?
Yes. Asset Search takes unusual asset classes on request. Describe what the asset looks like, where to search and which business decision the result feeds. Include examples of sites that qualify and lookalikes that should be excluded. The team scopes a pilot around the visible evidence needed for your acceptance rule.
Can satellite imagery distinguish an air-supported dome from a fabric building?
An overhead view can establish a candidate and show its footprint, but the supporting system needs enough evidence to satisfy the agreed rule. Asset Search cross-references dated views and records. If the type remains uncertain, the site is returned as unresolved with a focused check, such as asking the operator to confirm the structure system.
How much does a custom object detection service cost?
Asset Search provides a scope and quote after reviewing the territory, asset definition and required evidence. Buying models include per completed investigation, per accepted result, subscription and agreed success-based terms. Most buyers start with a small paid pilot credited toward the full order. Choose the model around the decision your team needs to make.
Will the inventory include owners and operators?
Every site includes location, parcel and owner information, with decision-maker contact where it applies. Define the operator role in the scope when the service buyer differs from the landowner. Preserve the evidence behind each role and mark any operator question that still needs confirmation before assigning the account to a salesperson.
How often can a specialty asset search be refreshed?
Choose a one-time search or annual, quarterly, monthly or weekly refreshes. Near-real-time alerts are available where daily satellite coverage exists. Match the cadence to the decision: quarterly can fit a dealer territory, while a new-installation watch can call for shorter intervals. Keep the observation dates attached to each reported change.
Does a visible asset mean the owner needs a repair?
No. A visible structure establishes an asset to investigate. Confirm the service need through operator records and a site assessment before preparing the work scope. Asset Search supplies dated observations and a reviewed match against your search rules, so a rep starts with a defined property and a specific qualification question.
Should I use Ground Control or Asset Search?
Use Ground Control for standard property filters such as visible storage tanks, loading docks, pools or rooftop HVAC. Commercial lists cost $10 to $20 per building and arrive within 48 hours after payment. Use Asset Search when the job requires an unusual asset definition, linked equipment, a custom territory investigation or monitoring against your own rules.
Sources used in this guide
Sources are linked at the claim they support and collected here for auditability. Vendor features and prices can change; verify them before purchasing.
- Introduction to air photo interpretationNatural Resources Canada: Shape, pattern, scale, shadow and association as evidence for identifying visible features; checked November 2026.
- Fabric structure definitionsFabric Structures Association: Distinguishes air-supported, frame-supported and tensile structures; checked November 2026.
- Bonneville Boulevard salt dome siteSalt Lake City Public Lands Department: Describes a pavilion used for winter road-salt storage, illustrating why search definitions should include use and shape; checked November 2026.
- FAA policy on use of hangars at obligated airportsFederal Aviation Administration: Aircraft storage and airport-sponsor leasing responsibilities at federally obligated airports; checked November 2026.
- Basic General Wastewater Study GuideWisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Section 3.2 explains circular and rectangular clarifiers and their mechanisms; checked November 2026.
- Anaerobic system design and technologyU.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Covered-lagoon, plug-flow and enclosed-tank designs for manure-based anaerobic systems; checked November 2026.
- FAA guidance for private-use facilitiesFederal Aviation Administration: Digital 7480-1 proposal process and separate state and local requirements; checked November 2026.
- Waterborne navigation infrastructure dataU.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Port facility data includes owners, operators, equipment and rail/highway access; search content confirmed despite a curl bot-wall response; checked November 2026.
- USMIN Mineral Deposit DatabaseU.S. Geological Survey: National mineral information and historical-map features including quarries and borrow pits; search content confirmed despite a curl bot-wall response; checked November 2026.
- Public GIS ViewerRailroad Commission of Texas: Oil, gas and pipeline map layers and the need to verify geographic suitability; checked November 2026.
- Protected culture structures for vegetable and small fruit cropsUniversity of Florida IFAS Extension: Greenhouses, shade houses, screen houses and tunnels have different structures and covers; checked November 2026.
- Outdoor advertising program and databaseFlorida Department of Transportation: Public database provides current permit and sign-location searches; checked November 2026.
Find the specialty sites your business can serve.
Describe the asset and territory in a two-minute form. Asset Search returns a scope and quote, then a paid pilot with reviewed sites, owner information and dated evidence in your format.