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LAND INFO is pleased to share highlights of 2013-2014 aerial and satellite imaging news. Contact LAND INFO today for additional information or an imagery search/recommendation for your project.

DigitalGlobe Acquisition & Integration of GeoEye Complete

In 2013 DigitalGlobe acquired GeoEye (GeoEye-1 & IKONOS satellites). This acquisition adds to DigitalGlobe’s constellation of high resolution imaging satellites (QuickBird, WorldView-1, and WorldView-2). All satellites except IKONOS can now be tasked simultaneously for faster collections, and archive imagery can be combined in the same order. The ImageFinder search tool now supports QuickBird, WorldView-1, WorldView-2 and GeoEye-1; IKONOS should still be searched in the legacy GeoEye GeoFuse search tool. For up-to-date pricing please visit: landinfo.com/satellite-imagery-pricing/.

WorldView-3 Launch Scheduled

On August 14, 2014 DigitalGlobe will be launching their next generation satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. WorldView-3 will be the first multi-payload, super-spectral, high resolution commercial satellite. The satellite will have a panchromatic band (31cm), 8 MS (multi-spectral) bands (1.24m), 8 SWIR (short-wave infra red) bands (3.7m) and 12 CAVIS (Clouds, Aerosol, Vapor, Ice, Snow) bands (30m). For more information about the new WorldView-3 satellite please visit: landinfo.com/worldview-3-30cm-global-high-resolution-satellite-imagery.

Resolution Restrictions Lifted

Resolution restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on high resolution satellite imagery have been lifted. DigitalGlobe will now be able to offer GeoEye-1 and WorldView-2 imagery at better than 50cm resolution (native GSD is 41 – 46 cm at nadir); prior to commercial availability DigitalGlobe systems need to be updated. Six months after WorldView-3 is operational the imagery can be made available to the commercial market at up to 25cm resolution (native GSD is 31 cm at nadir). With these restrictions being lifted the GeoEye-1 orbit will no longer be raised, as had been previously announced. Separately, however, over a 2 year period DigitalGlobe will be shifting the WorldView-1 satellite into an afternoon orbit that will allow for imagery to be captured at approximately 1:30 p.m. (local time), allowing intra-day revisit and the possibility to image coastal areas after morning fog has lifted.

Global BaseMap

With the availability of additional satellite capacity, DigitalGlobe’s Global BaseMap now offers a refresh option for online subscription access to updated ortho imagery of the US and select additional countries. Support for numerous OGC standards allows imagery to be viewed with metadata in the most popular CAD/GIS software programs; options are also available for imagery download. Flexible licensing enables costs to be shared across multiple organizations. Contact LAND INFO for additional information and pricing options.

Large Area Coverage Options

In addition to their high resolution imagery options, DigitalGlobe is now offering 1.5m, 2.5m and 4m resolution medium resolution options for cost effective coverage of large areas. As a separate solution for coverage of large areas, 50cm off-the-shelf ortho mosaic imagery created from the best available archive imagery with enhanced processing is available of numerous countries. Contact LAND INFO for pricing and additional information.

Airbus Defence & Space

Astrium becomes Airbus Defence & Space

In early 2014, Astrium Services became Airbus Defence & Space. The name change capitalizes on the global Airbus brand recognition.

Pléaides 1A/1B Constellation Update

With the successful launches of the Pléiades 1A satellite in 2011 and the Pléiades 1B satellite in 2012, the satellites operate in a constellation phased 180 degrees apart. Both satellites offer 50cm panchromatic and 2m 4-band multispectral imagery and have extensive collection ability. The minimum order area for archive imagery is 25 sq. km and 100 sq. km for new tasking imagery. Contact LAND INFO for pricing and an imagery search of your project area.

SPOT 6 fully operational, SPOT 7 launch anticipated

In 2013, Airbus started commercial operations with their SPOT 6 satellite (launched in 2012). SPOT 7 has the same technical specifications as SPOT 6, with an anticipated launch of June 30, 2014. In addition to improved resolution (1.5m), accuracy (better than 10m CE90), agility, production and the addition of a blue band, imagery from the new SPOT satellites is now available by area of interest instead of fixed scenes. SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 are designed for 1:25,000 mapping; with daily constellation collection of up to 6 million sq. km. the satellites are ideal for broad area coverage. The minimum order area for SPOT-6 archive imagery is 100 sq. km and 500 sq. km for new tasking imagery. Contact LAND INFO for pricing and an imagery search of your project area.

SPOTMaps Product Updates

In addition to the already complete SPOTMaps 2.5 product (available for over 110 countries at 2.5m resolution), Airbus is now working on creating a SPOTMaps 1.5 product that will be generated from its SPOT-6 (and soon SPOT-7) satellites. The new SPOTMaps product will be available at a resolution of 1.5m and will be a natural/true color (RGB) ortho mosaic suitable for working at scales up to 1:25,000 (absolute accuracy between 6-10m CE90). Contact LAND INFO today for more information about the SPOTMaps 2.5 and SPOTMaps 1.5 products.

WorldDEM™ – 12m Global Radar DEMs

Created from radar data collected by the TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X satellites, WorldDEM™ commercial availability has now commenced with additional areas scheduled to be released by region. With a vertical accuracy of 2m (relative)/4m (absolute) and 12m resolution, WorldDEM™ will be the most complete, highest resolution, global DEM on the commercial market. Contact LAND INFO today for WorldDEM™ pricing and availability for your project area.

RapidEye / BlackBridge

RapidEye Name Change

As of November 2013, RapidEye’s corporate name has changed to BlackBridge – the name change does not apply to the satellites. BlackBridge (formerly Iunctus) acquired RapidEye in 2011.

RapidEye Off-the-Shelf Mosaics

RapidEye mosaics offer country or regional level coverage with minimal cloud cover. They are uniformly color-balanced to create ready-to-use high quality natural color ortho mosaics. Contact LAND INFO for a list of available RapidEye mosaics.

RapidEye+ Constellation Announced

BlackBridge has announced that in 2019 it expects to launch its next generation RapidEye+ 5 satellite constellation. In addition to providing continuity to the current RapidEye constellation, planned enhancements include daily re-visit, larger swath width, improved imaging capacity, high resolution imaging (better than 1m pan band) and expanding the number of bands from 5 to 14.

Intermap Technologies

NEXTMap World 30 v2.0 released

Utilizing over 204 million ground control points, NEXTMap World 30 is up to three times more accurate than other global 30m resolution DEM products such as ASTER GDEM. Version 2.0 enhances data north of 60 degrees latitude in addition to improving global accuracy to 7m RMSE. The World 30 product is ideal for end-users that require large-area seamless Digital Surface Model (DSM) coverage.

LAND INFO – New Product Offerings

Object Based Image Analysis

LAND INFO has enhanced its classification services to include Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA). OBIA is industry-leading technology that lowers costs and speeds turn-around extracting information from imagery (our satellite imagery or your aerial/UAS). Examples of remote sensing projects that benefit from OBIA include land-use/land cover, vegetation mapping, impervious surface mapping and change detection. For additional information please visit landinfo.com/classification_object-based-image-analysis.htm.

LAND INFO now offering LiDAR

To complement traditional DEM sources such as optical stereo satellite imagery and topographic maps, LAND INFO is now offering LiDAR, both custom acquisition and off-the-shelf data (where available). Numerous projects have been successfully completed where LAND INFO delivered both a cost and time savings to our customers. Contact us for additional information on using LiDAR on your next terrain mapping project.

Landsat 8

Landsat 8 Operational Land Imagery Update

Landsat 8, the newest satellite in the Landsat family of satellites, was launched on February 11, 2013. Commercial operations started after a 100-day commissioning period where the satellite was raised to its near-polar operational orbit of 705km (identical to Landsats 4, 5 and 7.) The new Landsat 8 satellite offers 15m panchromatic, 30m multi-spectral and 100m thermal imagery. The 8 multispectral bands are: Coastal/Aerosol (deep blue), Blue, Green, Red, Near-Infrared, SWIR-1, SWIR-2 and Cirrus. Landsat 8 has been collecting 550 scenes per day (100+ more than Landsat 7), with dynamic range enhanced to 12-bit (4,096 potential levels compared to only 256 in previous 8-bit instruments) and accuracy improved to 12m CE90. Landsat 8’s 16 day revisit is offset 8 days from Landsat 7; data is available for download within 24 hours of reception. Contact LAND INFO for information on Landsat-8 processing and analysis.

On behalf of LAND INFO, we look forward to meeting your imagery and map data needs.

The LAND INFO Imagery Team
Tel. +1.303.790.9730 ext. 2
FAX +1.303.790.9734
sales@landinfo.com
www.landinfo.com

LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC is a leading provider of satellite imagery and value-added remote sensing solutions such as ortho mosaics, DEMs/contours, planimetric feature extraction and spectral classification/Object-Based Image Analysis for land-use/land-cover, impervious surface mapping and change detection. The company also offers aerial photography, LiDAR, UAS and an extensive archive of global digital map data. LAND INFO is an AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE Image Partner, DigitalGlobe Distribution Partner, RapidEye Authorized Reseller, Authorized Intermap Data Distributor and Esri Business Partner. Please contact us for data recommendations, searches, academic pricing and volume purchase discounts.