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! During May we checked out a star fortress in northeast Spain, and for this edition of the 30-cm Color WorldView-3/4 Image of the Month we actually stay in Spain traveling to the western border with Portugal where an entire wall-protected cathedral city, Ciudad Rodrigo, is located.
Unlike many of the star fortresses we have looked at in this series, Ciudad Rodrigo is actually an entire cathedral city that is protected by a star-shaped wall. Originally constructed during the 12th Century, the walls were reinforced in the 17th Century with bastions and artillery ports. Today the city is considered a historic landmark though one of its most famous artworks, the Retablo of the Cathedral of the Ciudad Rodrigo, was removed in 1961 after being restored and now resides at the University of Arizona Art Museum. This 30-cm WorldView-3 imagery was collected on March 31, 2015 and has been processed by Apollo Mapping for improved clarity and colors. (Satellite Imagery © 2021 Maxar Technologies)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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