The NOAA extreme weather events map for September 2021 shows that South America had its warmest September on record, while it was the coolest September in Europe since 2013 and in Oceania since 2018–that said, both regions still had above average temperatures in the month.
  • The September 2021 NOAA global climate report is out and, well, as you might expect, we saw temperatures far above the 20th Century average. Temperatures in the month were some 1.62°F (0.90°C) above the 20th Century average making it the fifth warmest September on record, behind 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020. Record warmth was noted over 6.43% of the world’s surface in the month–the fourth highest percentage for a September.
  • November 18th is the Great American Smokeout and in honor of this important holiday, our Google search of the month was, “Smokeout and GIS.” And of course, we found an excellent research paper by Yu et al. that looked at the relationship between tobacco sales and cultural demographics. As is common with this sort of research, there was a direct correlation established between lower socio-economic status and an increased density of tobacco sales locations.

Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com

This map shows the areas imaged by the WorldView-2/3 constellation from June 1 to August 31, 2021 over Indonesia and the Philippines. Please note that in many instances, multiple images were collected over the same area which is difficult to portray on this static map.

In this monthly piece, we give our readers a sense of the high-resolution imagery coverage collected over a geography during a specified window. To do this, we pick a high-resolution satellite constellation, a defined time period and area of interest, then report key statistics on the total amount of imagery collected in square kilometers (sq km). Without further delay, let’s jump into our analysis.

Graphic Region of Interest: Indonesia and Philippines plus off-shore islands

Land Mass Covered: 2,180,911.0 sq km

Time Period: June 1 to August 31, 2021

High-Resolution Satellite Constellation: WorldView-2/3

WorldView-2/3 Constellation Imaging Statistics–Indonesia and Philippines

Total Area Collected: 2,403,823.3 sq km; 13,064.3 sq km per satellite/per day

Area Collected @ 20% or Less Clouds & 30 Degrees or Less Off-Nadir: 391,390.8 sq km; 2,127.1 sq km per satellite/per day; 16.28% of total

The Spanish city of Seville is a hub of culture and adventure. Take a peek with the help of 30-cm Pléiades Neo. (Images Courtesy: Airbus Defense and Space)

Today is the day! Airbus’ new 30-centimeter (cm) Pléiades Neo constellation is live and ready for commercial purchase! The two satellites, Neo 3 and Neo 4, will double the 30-cm resolution imagery currently available by collecting some 500,000 square kilometers of 30-cm data per day, per satellite. With plans to launch two more identical satellites in the near future, Pléiades Neo will be the most-robust high-resolution satellite constellation on the market, capable of imaging the same area twice a day at 30-cm.

Along with the 30-cm panchromatic band, Neo has six 1.2-meter resolution multispectral bands, including blue, green red, near infrared, deep blue and red edge. Pléiades Neo is ideally situated for new 30-cm collections while it quickly amasses an archive of historical data. 

Airbus is still working on integrating Neo imagery into their API and firming up per square kilometer price. That said, we expect to have archive and tasking pricing by the time you read this Geospatial Times article. 

Contact us at sales@apollomapping.com for an updated price list and any other question about the new Pléiades Neo constellation.

Italy has its own ancient city accompanied with scenic canals, i.e. Venice. Zoom in to see the boats and ferries. (Images Courtesy: Airbus Defense and Space)

In the meantime, here are some key specifications of the Pléiades Neo constellation:

  • Spectral Bands:
    • Panchromatic
    • 6 Multispectral Channels
    • Blue, green, red and NIR, Deep Blue and Red Edge
  • Sensor Resolution:
    • At nadir–30-cm panchromatic & 1.2-m multispectral
  • Spectral Band Wavelength Range: (in nm)
    • Panchromatic–450 to 800
    • Deep Blue–400-450
    • Blue–450 to 520
    • Green–530 to 590
    • Red–620 to 690
    • Red-Edge 700-750
    • NIR–770 to 880
  • Dynamic Range: 12-bits
  • Daily Collection Capacity: up to 500,000 sq km per satellite, per day
  • Georeferenced Horizontal Accuracy: < 5-m CE90 (global average, dependent on terrain); expected 3.5-m with refined data

In conjunction with our Out of This World article this month, we’re highlighting one of the finalists of the Earthshot prize awarded by Prince William. Restor was a finalist for the Protect and Restore Nature prize and missed out on the award but made a big splash. The science-based platform connects people and organizations across the planet to support their restoration efforts. Project managers can track and manage their projects through the application. The open data model is collaborative and user-derived. It helps connect volunteers and investors with local restoration projects and to share data between users. Anyone can go on the website to learn more about their local environment and how to restore its biodiversity.

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hacZ8jwJ6A” /]Learn what Restor is all about.




Here is a 40-cm image collected over Chicago, Illinois, USA that gives our readers a sense of what to expect from 40-cm data over Israel. This 40-cm GeoEye-1 image was collected on August 3, 2013 and has been processed by Apollo Mapping for improved colors and clarity. (Image Courtesy: Maxar, 2021)

Given changes in 2020 to the Kyl-Bingaman rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we are pleased to announce that all Maxar imagery orders over Israel can now be delivered at a maximum resolution of 40-centimeters! We are very excited about this change that applies to all Maxar imagery products including archive and tasking orders and then mono and stereo data too. The process to order up to 40-cm imagery over Israel is no different than any other order now–just sent us your area of interest, then we will source the data, quote you and deliver it in a timely fashion.

If you have any questions about this change in the maximum Maxar imagery resolution to 40-cm for orders over Israel, send us an email at sales@apollomapping.com. 

A 75-cm color GEOSAT-2 image collected over Madrid, Spain on September 23, 2016. This image has been processed by Apollo Mapping for improved image clarity and color.

This will be a short article as well the title says it all! Effective immediately, the 22-meter Deimos-1 satellite has been renamed GEOSAT-1. And then the 75-centimeter Deimos-2 satellite has been renamed GEOSAT-2. This change was made effective when GEOSAT purchased these two satellites from the previous owner, Urthecast. As of now, there are no changes to the product format, resolution and/or pricing.

If you have any questions about this name change of Deimos-1 to GEOSAT-1 or Deimos-2 to GEOSAT-2, please let us know by email at sales@apollomapping.com. 

We love maps.

We love imagery.

We love work breaks.

We hope you like them as well!

With November comes crisp weather and even snow here in Colorado so while it’s called Fall still, it feels more like Winter now! Either way, walks during Winter are invigorating so they are the perfect midday activity when work has you dragging. So get out there on a work break! But before you head out, check out this 50-centimeter WorldView-2 image collected over Beijing, China on October 1, 2019. What’s the importance of October 1st in China? Well, the answer is their National Day. National Day commemorates the formation of the Communist central government on October 1, 1949, some 70 years before this image was collected. In this WorldView-2 imagery, you can see military equipment lining the street of Chang’an Avenue and also in Tiananmen Square–perhaps even more amazing are the geometric rows of people marching in the parade with colored costumes on.

Have a great rest of your workday! ☺

(Image Courtesy: DigitalGlobe. Processed by Apollo Mapping for improved color accuracy and clarity.)

The new ‘space’ cold war plows forward as countries, companies and CEOs with too much money partake in an epic and expensive pissing match. Meanwhile, 7.8 billion people on Earth confront more pedestrian problems and are caught in the rising tide of a climate crises that companies are selling as an exercise in personal responsibility instead of irresponsible corporate pollution. Prince William decided to poke fun at the Cold War-era Moonshot project, coined by John F. Kennedy during the space race, with his Earthshot Prize. 

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la4RFBZwtKQ” /]Watch Prince William announce the finalists for the Earthshot prizes.

Earthshot will award five, one million-pound prizes each year for the next ten years for innovative solutions to global climate change. Each category aims to answer a specific goal outlined by scientifically agreed targets gathered from global measures of sustainability. The first, is Protect and Restore Nature and aims to support people who conserve our existing green areas and biodiversity and those who are working to grow our natural environment. The Republic of Costa Rica won the award in 2021 for restoring their forests by paying citizens to plant trees and restore ecosystems. Pole Pole Foundation was a finalist for providing food and farming skills to people experiencing poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who often resort to poaching gorillas to feed their families. The other finalist was Restor, an open data platform connecting people and data in the name of conservation.

Other Earthshot categories include Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate. The winner of the prize for clean air demonstrates Earthshot’s focus on initiatives that have major impacts on local populations and change communities for the better. Takachar developed an affordable, portable technology that converts agricultural waste into bio-products in New Delhi, where burning agricultural waste has severe consequences on people’s health. Vinisha Umashankar, a teenager in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu came up with a design for a solar-powered ironing cart to replace charcoal carts. Meanwhile, the Blue Map App is China’s first public environmental database where citizens can advocate for change.

Coral Vita and their coral farms won the Revive Our Oceans prize for replanting coral into dying ecosystems. Leaving Seawalls in Sydney, Australia is bringing marine species back to lifeless seawalls; and Pristine Seas creates marine protected areas around the world. 

The City of Milan won the Waste-Free World award by enforcing a food-waste policy that redistributes uneaten food to food banks and charities, recovering 130 tonnes of food a year. Sanergy recycles sanitation and organic waste in Eastern Central Africa by using black soldier fly larvae to turn the waste into agricultural products for local farmers. As the world faces more catastrophic events and water stress, access to clean drinking water is a global concern. WOTA developed a highly-efficient, compact water treatment solution, turning wastewater into clean drinking water. 

The Fix Our Climate Winner and finalists are doing incredible work to replace non-renewable energy with renewable alternatives. Enapter won the award with technology that turns renewable electricity and water into emission-free hydrogen gas. Their AEM Electrolyser can replace common hydrogen with this green alternative, and its modular design allows users to easily scale. Reedi Capsules is renting out solar-powered energy capsules in Nigeria. SOLshare created the first peer-to-peer solar energy exchange network to provide renewable energy to underserved populations.

Our obsession with space and the actors on that stage often makes us lose sight of exciting technologies developed on Terra Firma. And let’s be real, most of us won’t live to see the day people readily fly into space, but we will live to see the devastation of climate change.