In October, we checked out the stadium where the annual Florida-Georgia SEC football battle goes down, and this month we move to Stanford Stadium, the site of the key November 10^th Pac-12 match up between the University of Washington and Stanford University, for this Pléiades 1 Stadium of the Month.

Name & Its Origin: Appropriately named after the university it serves, Stanford Stadium is home to the Pac-12 college football team, the Stanford Cardinal.

Location: Stanford Stadium is located on the north side of Stanford University’s campus at about 60 feet (~18.2 meters) above sea level. Part of the megalopolis that surrounds San Francisco Bay, the stadium is some 3.3 miles (5.3 kilometers) from the shores of the bay and then some 14.6 miles (23.6 kilometers) from the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

A 50-cm color image of Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California, USA collected on April 23, 2017 by Pléiades 1B. To see this stadium in SPOT 6/7 1.5-meter resolution, check out this month’s feature on SPOTMaps. This image has custom processing and color balancing applied by Apollo Mapping. © CNES 2017, Distribution Airbus Defense and Space / Spot Image S.A., France, all rights reserved.

Stadium Capacity/Size, Architect & Build Date: The original Stanford Stadium first opened for a Stanford-University of California game on November 19, 1921. Built in just 5 months for a cost of a bit over $500,000, the stadium featured some 60,000 to 85,800 seats (depending on the source you believe) and was based on ancient Greek amphitheater designs. In June 2005, the Stanford Board of Trustees agreed on a significant redesign (some call it a complete rebuild hence Stanford Stadium version 2) with a price tag around $100 million. The 2006 redesign shrunk the stadium to 50,858 seats while increasing the overall size of the structure as well as significantly modernizing it.

Type of Field Surface: While Stanford Stadium was purported to have a “lousy playing field” in 2011, it appears the surface was reseeded with natural grass – variety unknown though – in 2012.

Key Sports Teams: As mentioned above, Stanford Stadium is the home of the university’s college football team, the Cardinal.

Most Popular Yearly Event: And given that it is home to the Cardinal football team, the 6-plus home games they play each year are the most popular events at Stanford Stadium. That said, the stadium has hosted a variety of events, including a presidential nomination acceptance speech in 1928, MLS soccer matches, FIFA men’s and women’s soccer matches and even Super Bowl XIX.

Fun Factoids: (1) The Friday night football matchup between Washington and Stanford could help determine who plays in the Pac-12 Championship Game for the North division, as both teams are considered to be among the elite in the conference. (2) Stanford Stadium was the largest privately owned stadium as of 2011 – it is unclear if that has changed in recent years. (3) The $100 million redesign that started in 2005 only took 42-weeks and the stadium opened in time for the 2006 college football season.

The 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 for your next geospatial project.

A variety of Pléiades 1 products are available from both a growing 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 this satellite constellation.

Working with Pléiades 1 since the launch of the first twin satellite, P1A, we have noticed that:

• Airbus Defense and Space is able to deliver on their tasking feasibilities.

The Apollo Mapping sales team can answer any questions you might have about the high resolution satellite constellation, Pléiades 1. We can be reached anytime at (303) 993-3863 or sales@apollomapping.com.

More sample images and technical information about Pléiades 1A and 1B can be found on our website here.