The Satellite Imagery Source

Search Image Hunter Now
Posted on April 2nd, 2019

30-cm Color WorldView-3/4 Image of the Month – Northstar California Ski Resort

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! In March, we checked out one of Central America’s largest cities, and for April we move back to the States with a look at the winter season over one of California’s ski resorts, Northstar.

PLEASE NOTE: Effective May 2016, WorldView-3/4 prices dropped again! Are you interested in finding out more about these price drops? If so, send us an email at sales@apollomapping.com.


Northstar California is managed by Vail Resorts so it’s one of the mountains folks here in Colorado can visit with the Epic Pass. Located in North Lake Tahoe, Northstar features 3,170 acres (12.8 square kilometers) of skiable terrain with 2,280 feet (694.9 meters) of vertical drop. These 30-cm WorldView-3 satellite images were collected on February 8, 2016 when there were multitudes of skiers and snow boarders on the slopes! The data here has been processed by Apollo Mapping for improved clarity and colors. (Images Courtesy: DigitalGlobe)

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.
    • Per US government regulation, all WV3 SWIR orders are produced at a maximum resolution of 7.5-m. CAVIS bands are not available for purchase at this time.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    The Geospatial Times Archive