A Satellite's First Breath
A month ago, I blogged about the future of LandSat, public accessible earth imaging, and commercial providers of global remote sensing. One of the companies that I mentioned, DigitalGlobe, has a long relationship with Google Earth, dating back to its provision of image distribution to KeyHole, Earth's progenitor.
On Tuesday, September 18, DigitalGlobe will launch its first next generation satellite, WorldView-1. WorldView-1 will be able to produce one-half meter resolution images, with geo-locational accuracy at roughly 10' to 25'. It is conceivable that the satellite might have higher resolution capabilities, but the highest available commercial resolution permitted is half-meter. In addition to Google, and other companies like Garmin, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is expected to be a major contractor for WV-1's imaging.
The Aviation Week Defense blog recently discussed imaging trends in July 2007:
What users want today is timeliness (which means more and hence less costly satellites, orbital mechanics being the awkward things they are) and multi-spectral imagery, which is a matter of relatively inexpensive electronics rather than a massive and costly lens.
The launch of WorldView-1 will be available as a live netcast on the Internet, courtesy of Boeing Integrated Defense. The live launch window is here:
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bls/missions/worldview-1/
The coverage will start Tuesday, September 18 at approximately 11:20 AM PDT.
The launch is scheduled for 11:35 AM PDT.
tags: publishing
| comments: 5
| Sphere It
submit: 
0 TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.oreilly.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/5843
Comments: 5
Sorry, that was my mistake, and I corrected it in the main post. I should have said that the geo-locational accuracy was in that range, not object resolution. See DigitalGlobe's own spec sheet for WorldView-1 at http://www.digitalglobe.com/about/worldview1.html .
Thanks.
The geo-positional accuracy is a large concern for many using remote sensing data in the production of value-added products. While I suspect that the higher spatial resolution was one of the main reasons behind Microsoft’s purchase of Vexcel and Google’s more recent purchase of ImageAmerica, the positional accuracy is of equal important to image quality. At a critical spatial resolution (something less 0.5 meters?) positional accuracy is of primary importance. It will be interesting to see if the use of Worldview 1 data for urban areas (at least in US markets) will be as large as is anticipated.
The link to DG WorldView 1 is here http://www.digitalglobe.com/about/imaging.shtml
Initial operating capability on orbit is traditionally called first light...
http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/2007/09/launch-not-to-be-missed.html
Commercial imagery has come a long way indeed, largely a result of the unprecedented demand for IMINT in the post 9/11 world....
Anyone still monitor this blog? I have questions regarding earlier satilite imaging capabilities as they relate to resolution and "actual" time. (2000 and 2001)
Lawrence
Post A Comment:
STAY CONNECTED
RECENT COMMENTS
- Lawrence on A Satellite's First Breath: Anyone still monitor th...
- Kent's Imperative on A Satellite's First Breath: Initial operating capab...
- Paul Bissett on A Satellite's First Breath: The geo-positional accu...
- Peter Brantley on A Satellite's First Breath: Sorry, that was my mist...
- Louis Bone on A Satellite's First Breath: " WorldView-1 will be a...
RADAR TOPICS
Louis Bone [09.16.07 11:29 AM]
" WorldView-1 will be able to produce one-half meter resolution images, enough to isolate objects at roughly 10' x 25' "
Last time I checked 1 meter was 39" thus 1/2 meter should be about 18" ... a far cry from 10' x 25' that's closer to 3 x 8 meters ... Did I loose something there...