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Posted on October 1st, 2019

30-cm Color WorldView-3/4 Image of the Month – The 2018 US Open

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! We have been on a streak of high off-nadir images as were in Europe last month with a bird’s eye view of an iconic city, and the streak continues for this October 30-cm Color WorldView-3/4 Image of the Month where we check out a tilted image collected over the 2018 (tennis!) US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.

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.

High off-nadir imagery offers a side view of a landscape which can be a unique perspective especially when collected by a satellite. This WorldView-3 image was collected at about 44-centimeter resolution on September 2, 2018 – which was the first day of play in the Fourth Round at the US Open – at about 11:58 AM. The stands of the various courts are still filling up so this image would have been collected just before match play started for the day on ESPN. As a side note, we featured the 2017 US Open also collected by WorldView-3 at a similar tilt angle. These WorldView-3 images have been resampled and enhanced by Apollo Mapping for improved colors, clarity and perspective. (Images Courtesy: Maxar)

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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