In January, we looked at Singapore’s Supertree Grove. And for this month’s Pléiades 1 – Pléiades Neo Point of Interest, we’ll be traveling to France to explore the opulent palace of Versailles.
About the Point of Interest: The Palace of Versailles, built in France outside Paris by King Louis the XIV, was the final home of the French Monarchy before it fell in 1792. Originating in 1632 as a small hunting lodge, Versailles was then converted into a chateau between 1631 and 1634, and finally renovated into the grand palace between 1661 and 1715. The Palace was inhabited by Louis the XV, Louis the XIV, and, perhaps most famously, by Marie Antoinette. After the monarchy was overthrown during the French Revolution, the palace was abandoned until Napoleon Bonaparte used it as his summer residence between 1810 and 1814. The Palace and Park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its significance as a center of power, art, culture and science in France during the 17th and 18th Centuries.
These two images showcase the lovely Chateau de Versailles and a portion of the expansive, beautiful grounds. The first image was taken by 50-cm Pléiades 1A on August 12, 2020. The second image was captured by 30-cm Pléiades Neo 3 on September 2, 2021 and was the first Pléiades Neo image ever attempted of Versailles. These images have custom processing and color balancing applied by Apollo Mapping. PLEIADES © CNES 2022, Distribution Airbus DS.
Fun Factoids: (1) The Chateau de Versailles (i.e. the Palace of Versailles) actually includes a number of structures: The Palace, The Estate of Trianon, The Gardens, and The Park. (2) The illustrious Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), contains an astonishing 357 mirrors. (3) At the time when the Hall of Mirrors was constructed, Venice had a monopoly on mirror making. To combat this, Venetian artisans were lured to France. Once the artisans’ secrets had been revealed to the French, the Venetians ordered the assassination of the rogue mirror makers. (4) During the prime of the palace, the Gardens of Versailles covered more than 30,000 acres, and homed 400 sculptures and 1,4000 fountains.
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.
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved - 
Leave a Reply