In November, we looked at Franz Josef Glacier, a 12-kilometre-long temperate maritime glacier in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. This month for the Pléiades 1 – Pléiades Neo Point of Interest, we travel over to Europe to check out one of the continent’s tallest peaks, Matterhorn.

These two satellite images show the Matterhorn from above with blankets of pristine white snow stretching as far one can see. In the February 28, 2020 Pléiades 1A 50-cm color image, we can see sporadic splotches of black and gray portions of the mountainside without snow. The second photo captured January 2, 2022 is from 30-cm Pléiades Neo 4 with vivid expanses of white snow and the texture of snow drifts layered across the mountain, and more terrain poking through the deep snow. These images have custom processing and color balancing applied by Apollo Mapping. PLEIADES © CNES 2024, Distribution Airbus DS. 

About the Point of Interest: The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478-meters above sea level, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.

Fun Factoids: (1) The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the northeast; and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, which has been a trade route since the Roman Era. (2) The first ascent of the Matterhorn was in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper, but during the descent, a sudden fall claimed the lives of four of the seven climbers. This disaster, later portrayed in several films, marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. (3) It is estimated that more than 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world. (4) There are a wide variety of different attractions to be discovered around the Matterhorn. A top excursion is Gornergrat. On this 3,000-meter mountain ridge there is a viewing platform with a truly unforgettable view of the Matterhorn and the surrounding mountain world. Or if you prefer, the Matterhorn can also be admired from the Rothorn casting a spell on young and old alike. The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is the highest summer ski region in Europe and is open 365 days a year. (5) The pyramid-shaped colossus of a mountain, which is very difficult to climb, is said to be the most-photographed mountain in the world. (6) There are several ways to see and experience Matterhorn, including via paraglider. Two flying schools offer tandem flights and give courses to those who are daring enough to try it on their own.

The 50-cm Pléiades 1 High-Resolution Satellite Constellation

The Pléiades 1 constellation (or at least part of it!) has been in orbit since December 2011 and if you have not had a chance to check out any sample imagery, take a few moments and have a look at the gallery on our website. If you work with high-resolution imagery, you should consider Pléiades 1 and Pléiades Neo for your next geospatial projects.

A variety of Pléiades 1 products are available from both a well-established archive and as a new collection, including 50-centimeter (cm) pansharpened imagery and 50-cm panchromatic – 2-meter (m) 4-band multispectral bundles. We are happy to discuss the technical specifications, pricing and tasking options available with both of these satellite constellations.

The 30-cm Pléiades Neo High-Resolution Satellite Constellation

Pléiades Neo is our newest high-resolution satellite constellation. The first Neo satellite went up in April 2021 and the second in August of the same year. This 30-centimeter resolution constellation will add two more satellites in the next few months and upgrade from daily to intraday revisits. Pléiades Neo has six multispectral bands with 1.2-meter resolution, including a deep blue and two infrared bands, along with a 30-centimeter resolution panchromatic band.

The archive is growing every day, and the satellites are available for new collections, making Pléiades Neo the perfect solution for site monitoring. Check out our beautiful sample images in the Pléiades Neo gallery.

More sample images and technical information about Pléiades 1 can be found on our website here; while the same can be found here for the Pléiades Neo constellation.

The Apollo Mapping sales team can answer any questions you might have about Pléiades 1 and/or Pléiades Neo. We can be reached at (303) 993-3863 or sales@apollomapping.com.