INDEPENDENCE -- A frantic call reports an accident in rural Buchanan County to dispatchers. The person is bewildered, using a cell phone, and can only give visual clues about a T-intersection and a hill.

At the moment, the only way to pinpoint the caller's location is by triangulating the location using cell phone towers. The technique can reduce the potential area to start looking to within a quarter mile or a bit more.

"But a half mile, if you take that and spread it out, it can give you a big area to cover in case of an emergency," Sheriff Bill Wolfgram says.

In the near future, sheriffs departments in Buchanan, Benton, Clayton, Delaware, Iowa and Jones counties will be able to narrow the field. The will begin using a special imaging program called Pictometry, which is produced by a company in New York by the same name.

The technology consists of thousands of high-definition aerial photographs fed into a program that provides greater geographical information.

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, last week announced $650,000 in federal funds are available for the system. The money is included in the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bills approved by the U.S. House, 281-142. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

If ultimately approved, the money would be split between the counties and is earmarked specifically for the Pictometry program.

Buchanan County Supervisor Ellen Gaffney said Pictometry officials approached the board last year about installing their system with help of federal tax dollars. The company also contacted neighboring counties, she added.

Gaffney heard about potentially getting the grant money last week after Braley called to break the news.

"We were really pleased," she said.

More than 350 counties across the nation use the system. The six counties in Iowa would be the first in the state to incorporate the program, however, said Jeff Giertz, Braley's communications director.

The program allows officers to see panoramic views similar to top-down aerial photographs but with greater details because each picture is shot at a 40 degree angle. The technology also offers something resembling a 3-D image that users can rotate to examine from all sides.

Giertz said law enforcement officials can use the system to plan raids, gather information for accident reconstruction or conduct searches for missing children or fugitives.

"It makes law enforcement officers' jobs a little bit easier and safer," Giertz said.

Police and emergency officials in Gwinnett County, Ga., part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, have used the technology for several years, according to Pictometry's Web site.

In Buchanan County, the technology would put the sheriff's office closer to its goal of updating its Enhanced 911 system. One major problem with the existing system is outdated maps, Wolfgram said.

Money has been a major impediment when talking about updating the equipment, he added.

"There's good technology out there, but it's not cheap to get," Wolfgram said. "In this particular instance, it's something we've been in need of for years."

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.