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Posted on June 7th, 2022

30-cm Color WorldView-3/4 Image of the Month – Austin, Texas



When a satellite tilts at a high angle with respect to the ground below, this is known as high off-nadir imagery and it lends a unique side-view perspective not often seen in satellite imagery. So, this month we feature a WorldView-3 image collected over Austin, Texas at a high off-nadir with about 66-cm resolution. In these three samples, you can see imagery collected over the downtown corridor, over Q2 Stadium and over a neighborhood of homes. This 66-cm, high off-nadir WorldView-3 imagery was collected on March 30, 2022 and has been processed by Apollo Mapping for improved perspective, clarity and colors. In fact, this WorldView-3 imagery was collected on the same day as the Pléiades 1 image featured in our stadium of the month series. (Satellite Imagery © 2022 Maxar Technologies)

Every time we look at WorldView-3 and WorldView-4 (WV3/4) imagery, we are blown away. And we hope you are equally impressed with the data! Last month we checked out a major metropolitan on the west coast of the USA, and for this mid-year edition of the 30-cm Color WorldView-3/4 Image of the Month we travel south to a rapidly expanding American city in Texas, i.e. Austin, with satellite data collected from a unique perspective.

WorldView-3 launched in late 2014 and WorldView-4 launched in late 2016; taken together they are the most advanced satellite constellation the commercial marketplace has ever had access to. Here are a few of the features that really set these satellites apart from the competition:

    • Improved Resolution
      • Higher resolution means you can see more detail in WV3/4 imagery.
      • Data collected at nadir will have 31-centimeter (cm) panchromatic, 1.24-meter (m) visible and near infrared, 3.7-m SWIR (WV3 only) and 30-m CAVIS (WV3 only) bands. 
      • At 20 degrees off-nadir, the resolution is 34-cm panchromatic, 1.38-m visible and near infrared and 4.1-m shortwave infrared.
  • Additional Spectral Bands
      • If spectral analysis is part of your project, then no other satellite can match WV3 with its: 8 bands of visible and near-infrared data; and 8 shortwave infrared bands which are crucial for geological studies. 
  • Better Positional Accuracy
      • With accuracies of 3.5-m CE90% or better (without ground control even!), WV3/4 has no rivals for its enhanced positional accuracy.
  • Daily Revisits
      • At 40 degrees latitude, WV3 is able to image every location daily with 1-meter or better resolution and then every 4.5 days at 34-cm resolution or better.
      • WV4 is no longer collecting new imagery.
  • Increased Collection Capacity
    • WV3/4 feature 13.1-km swath widths (at nadir) with the ability to collect up to 680,000 square kilometer (sq km) of high-resolution data per day per satellite (though WV4 is dead now).
    • Improved control movement gyros translate into larger maximum contiguous collection areas per pass, with up to ~7,500 sq km of mono imagery and ~3,000 sq km of stereo possible.

If you are interested in WorldView-3 and/or WorldView-4 imagery for your next project, please let us know by phone, 303-993-3863, or by email, sales@apollomapping.com.

You can also find more WV3 samples and technical information on our website here and then WV4 samples and information can be found here.

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