In February, we looked at the Palace of Versailles, France. This month for the Pléiades 1 – Pléiades Neo Point of Interest, we’ll be traveling to Thailand to explore the remarkable beauty of Doi Inthanon.

These images of the Doi Inthanon showcase the lush greenery of the forest and some of the structures that rest atop the mountain. Image 1 was captured on March 3, 2018 by Pléiades 1B at a 50-cm resolution. Image 2 is a 30-cm Pléiades Neo 3 image that was captured on June 3, 2022. This image includes some of the characteristic clouds that typically blanket the summit.  These images have custom processing and color balancing applied by Apollo Mapping. PLEIADES © CNES 2022, Distribution Airbus DS.

About the Point of Interest: Know as the “Roof of Thailand”, Doi Inthanon is the tallest mountain in Thailand, rising over 8,000 feet into the sky. The mountain is located in the Chom Thong District of the Chiang Mai Province; and it is part of the Thanon Thong Chai Mountain Range. Doi Inthanon was named after Inthawichayanon, the last King of Chiang Mai. The ruler requested his remains be interred on the mountain after his death. The mountain itself is a part of the larger Doi Inthanon National Park, which is one of the most popular national parks in Thailand. The park consists of beautiful vistas, scenic waterfalls, and lush plant life. The top of the mountain is home to lush gardens and the twin pagodas Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Phra Mahathat Naphaphonlphumisiri, known in English as the King and Queen’s Pagodas.

Fun Factoids: (1) The weather at Doi Inthanon is temperate throughout the year, and there is almost always a coating of fog on the ground. In the cool season, the phenomenon of the Mae Kha Ning, or frost flower, can be seen. (2) The King and Queen Pagodas were built by the Thai Royal Airforce to celebrate the 60th birthday anniversaries of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. (3) Doi Inthanon National Park is home to 65 known mammal species, half of which are bats. (4) Bird watching is a popular activity at Doi Inthanon, which provides habitats for over 500 species of birds. (5) One of the seasonal attractions of the park is the ephemeral blossoming of the Siamese Sakura (cherry blossom) trees, which occurs between late January and early February. The stunning pink blooms linger only a few weeks. (6) Doi Inthanon is home to many waterfalls, which make great spots for picnicking or picture taking.

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.