DigitalGlobe owns and operates the most agile and sophisticated constellation of high-resolution commercial earth imaging satellites. QuickBird, WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 together are capable of collecting over 500 million km2 of quality imagery per year and offering intraday revisit around the globe. Add to that our aerial program offering wall-to-wall coverage of the U.S. and Western Europe.
The QuickBird satellite is the first in a constellation of sub-meter spacecraft that DigitalGlobe has developed that offers highly accurate, commercial high-resolution imagery of Earth. QuickBird’s global collection of panchromatic and multispectral imagery is designed to support applications ranging from map publishing to land and asset management to insurance risk assessment. DigitalGlobe completed an orbit raise in April of 2011 designed to extend the mission life of the QuickBird sensor. An operational altitude of 482 km was achieved with an expected gradual descent to 450 km by early 2013.
Today, DigitalGlobe’s QuickBird satellite offers sub-meter resolution imagery, high geolocational accuracy, and large on-board data storage.
Acquire high quality satellite imagery for map creation, change detection, and image analysis
High image accuracy
Stable platform for precise location measurement
3-axis stabilized, star tracker/IRU/reaction wheels, C/A Code GPS
Geolocate features to within 23 m and create maps in remote areas without the use of ground control points
High image quality
Off-axis unobscured design of QuickBird's telescope
Large field-of-view
High contrast (MTF)
High signal to noise ratio
11-bit dynamic range
Extend the range of suitable imaging collection targets and enhance image interpretability
Design and Specifications
Design and Specifications
Launch Information
Date: October 18, 2001
Launch Vehicle: Delta II
Launch Site: SLC-2W, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Orbit
Altitude: 450 km
Type: Sun-synchronous, 10:00 am descending node
Period: 94.2 minutes
Mission Life
Extended through early 2014
Spacecraft
2400 pounds, 3.04-meters (10-ft.) in length
Sensor Resolution and Spectral Bandwidth
Panchromatic
65 centimeter Ground Sample Distance (GSD) at nadir
Black & White: 405 to 1053 nanometers
Multispectral
2.62 meter GSD at nadir
Blue: 430-545 nanometers
Green: 466-620 nanometers
Red: 590-710 nanometers
Near-IR: 715-918 nanometers
Dynamic Range
11-bits per pixel
Swath Width and Area Size
Nominal Swath Width: 18.0 kilometers at nadir
Accessible ground swath: 564 km centered on the satellite ground track (to ~30° off-nadir)
Area of interest:
Single Area: 18.0 km x 18.0 km
Strip: 18.0 km x 360 km
Attitude Determination and Control
3-axis stabilized
Star tracker/IRU/reaction wheels, C/A Code GPS
Pointing and Agility
Accuracy: less than 0.5 milliradians absolute per asis
Knowledge: less than 15 microadians per axis
Stability: less than 10 microradians per second
Time to slew 200 km: 37 seconds
Onboard Storage
128 gigabits capacity
Communications
Payload Data
320 Mbps X-band
Housekeeping
X-band from 4, 16 and 256 Kbps
2 Kbps S-band uplink
Revisit Frequency
2.5 days at 1 meter GSD or less
5.6 days at 20 degrees off-nadir or less
Metric Accuracy
23 meter circular error, 17 meter linear error (without ground control)
WorldView-1, launched September 2007, is the first of our next-generation satellites—the most agile satellites ever flown commercially. The high-capacity, panchromatic imaging system features half-meter resolution imagery. Operating at an altitude of 496 kilometers, WorldView-1 has an average revisit time of 1.7 days and is capable of collecting over one million square kilometers per day of half-meter imagery. The satellite is also equipped with state-of-the-art geolocation accuracy capabilities and exhibits stunning agility with rapid targeting and efficient in-track stereo collection.
Acquire high quality satellite imagery for map creation, change detection, and image analysis
High image accuracy
Stable platform for precise location measurement
3-axis stabilized, star tracker/IRU/reaction wheels, C/A Code GPS
Geolocate features to within 5 m to create maps in remote areas, maximizing the utilty of ground control points
High image quality
Large field-of-view
High contrast (MTF)
High signal to noise ratio
11-bit dynamic range
Extend the range of suitable imaging collection targets and enhance image interpretability
Design and Specifications
Design and Specifications
Launch Information
Date: September 18, 2007
Launch Vehicle: Delta 7920 (9 strap-ons)
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Orbit
Altitude: 496 kilometers
Type: Sun synchronous, 10:30 am descending node
Period: 95 minutes
Mission Life
7.25 years, including all consumables and degradables
(e.g. propellant)
Spacecraft Size, Mass and Power
3.6 meters (12 feet) tall x 2.5 meters (8 feet) across,
7.1 meters (23 feet) across the deployed solar arrays
2500 kilograms (5500 pounds)
3.2 kW solar array, 100 Ahr battery
Sensor Bands
Panchromatic: 400 - 900 nm
Sensor Resolution
(GSD=Ground Sample Distance)
50 cm GSD at nadir
55 cm GSD at 20° off-nadir
Dynamic Range
11-bits per pixel
Time Delay Integration (TDI)
6 selectable levels from 8 to 64
Swath Width
17.7 kilometers at nadir
Attitude Determination and Control
3-axis stabilized
Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs)
Sensors: Star trackers, solid state IRU, GPS
Pointing Accuracy and Knowledge
Accuracy: < 500 meters at image start and stop
Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting Agility
Acceleration: 2.29 deg/s/s
Rate: 4.45 deg/s
Time to Slew: 200 kilometers: 10 seconds
Onboard Storage
2199 gigabits solid state with EDAC
Communications
Image and Ancillary Data: 800 Mbps X-band
Housekeeping: 4, 16 or 32 kbps real-time, 524 kbps stored, X-band
Command: 2 or 64 kbps S-band
Max Viewing Angle/ Accessible Ground Swath
Nominally +/-45° off-nadir = 1,035 km wide swath
Higher angles selectively available
Max Contiguous Area
Collected in a single Pass
(30° off-nadir angle)
Mono: 111 x 112 km (6 strips)
Stereo: 51 x 112 km (3 pairs)
Revisit Frequency
(at 40°N Latitude)
1.7 days at 1 meter GSD or less
5.4 days at 20° off-nadir or less (0.55 meter GSD)
Geolocation Accuracy
(CE90)
Specification of 5.0 m CE90 at nadir, with actual accuracy in the range of 4.0 - 5.5 m CE90 at nadir, excluding terrain and off-nadir effects
With registration to GCPs in image : 2.0 meters (6.6 feet)
* All imagery is resampled to .50 meters pan and 2.0 multispectral to comply with U.S. Regulation.
WorldView-2, launched October 2009, is the first high-resolution 8-band multispectral commercial satellite. Operating at an altitude of 770 kilometers, WorldView-2 provides 46 cm panchromatic resolution and 1.85 meter* multispectral resolution. WorldView-2 has an average revisit time of 1.1 days and is capable of collecting up to 785,000 square kilometers (303,000 square miles) of 8-band imagery per day, greatly enhancing the DigitalGlobe multispectral collection capacity for more rapid and reliable collection.
The WorldView-2 system, offering incredible accuracy, agility, capacity and spectral diversity, allows DigitalGlobe to substantially expand its imagery product offerings to both commercial and government customers.
3-axis stabilized
Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs)
Sensors: Star trackers, solid state IRU, GPS
Pointing Accuracy and Knowledge
Accuracy: < 500 meters at image start and stop
Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting Agility
Acceleration: 1.43 deg/s/s
Rate: 3.86 deg/s
Time to Slew: 200 kilometers: 10 seconds
Onboard Storage
2199 gigabits solid state with EDAC
Communications
Image and Ancillary Data: 800 Mbps X-band
Housekeeping: 4, 16 or 32 kbps real-time, 524 kbps stored, X-band
Command: 2 or 64 kbps S-band
Max Viewing Angle/ Accessible Ground Swath
Nominally +/-45° off-nadir = 1,651 km wide swath
Higher angles selectively available
Max Contiguous Area
Collected in a single Pass
(30° off-nadir angle)
Mono: 138 x 112 km (6 strips)
Stereo: 63 x 112 km (3 pairs)
Revisit Frequency
(at 40°N Latitude)
1.1 days at 1 meter GSD or less
3.7 days at 20° off-nadir or less (0.52 meter GSD)
Geolocation Accuracy
(CE90)
Specification of 5.0 m CE90 at less than 30 degrees off-nadir, with predicted performance in the range of 4.6 to 10.7 m (15 to 35 ft) CE90, excluding terrain and off-nadir effects
With registration to GCPs in image: 2.0 m (6.6 ft)
*All imagery is resampled to comply with U.S. Regulation.
Precision Aerial delivers the industry’s first high-quality, wall-to-wall collection of 30 cm natural color (RGB) and 60 cm color infrared (CIR) aerial orthomosaics covering the contiguous United States and Western Europe; 15 cm natural color in Germany. Through agreements with Microsoft™, premium quality imagery is being acquired exclusively with UltraCamG® digital imaging technology to provide comprehensive coverage with industry-leading accuracy, quality and aesthetics.
Collected in 1 degree by 1 degree longitude blocks (~10,000 km2) in a grid pattern for complete country coverage. High Value Urban Areas are collected and processed contiguously to ensure high quality within highly populated areas.
Comprehensive, wall-to-wall collection of orthomosaics at 30 cm natural color and 60 cm color infrared and committed refresh schedule of the contiguous United States and Western Europe ensures up-to-date premium quality imagery.
Optimized on a single standard and is application ready using standard format, common platform, uniform resolution, and single sensor contribute to providing a consistent mosaic that will easily mesh with other datasets.
Procurement is fast, simple, and carries no risk. Precision Aerial offers competitive pricing and in most cases, provides cost savings without compromising quality. And often, we have the data you need on the shelf; which alleviates the uncertainty and complexity of imagery procurement.
Important ancillary information is included such as cutline .shp files, acquisition dates, sun elevation, sun azimuth, collection azimuth, and cloud cover percentage.
Flexible use rights allow users to copy, save, download, distribute, transmit, or manipulate our photographic imagery.
Benefits
Industry-leading, planimetric, best-in-class accuracy allows customers to use imagery confidently for planning, measuring, and assessment.
Simplified procurement saves users time and money. Comprehensive aerial coverage with scheduled refreshes makes DigitalGlobe your single source solution. Multiple contracts with individual providers are no longer necessary.
Elaborate collection plan ensures that Precision Aerial imagery is provided with faster delivery at a lower cost. Order select areas or subscribe to the entire collection. Users get the imagery they need, when they need it, at an affordable price. Complete coverage means no aggregation, no hassles, and no missing data.
Unlike aggregated aerial imagery, Precision Aerial imagery is collected using a common sensor and platform at a uniform resolution with standard specifications. This provides consistent country/regional coverage, making easier integration and analysis possible.
Leverages proven UltraCamG® digital imaging technology from Vexel. The UltraCamG® imaging system is specifically designed for collecting large image swaths with the highest consistency, accuracy and aesthetic quality. Cities are free of clouds, cloud shadows, haze, fog, pollution, and snow. Rural areas have less than 1% cloud cover.
Specifications
Initial coverage of the U.S. and Western Europe (over 10 million km2) will be completed by mid 2012. An additional 6 million km2 of refreshed coverage will be acquired in the following 30 months.
Parameters
Product Options
Natural Color
Color Infrared
Resolution
30 cm
60 cm
Bit Depth
8 bit
File Format
GeoTIFF
Seamless Color Balanced Mosaics
Yes
Projections and Datums
UTM WGS84
Tiling
25k x 25k pixels
12.5k x 12.5k pixels
Product Specifications
High Value Areas
Standard Blocks
Remote Blocks
Area
Defined by Market
1° cells ~ 10,000 km2
1° cells ~ 10,000 km2
Circular Error 90% confidence (CE90)
2.7 m
4.0 m
5.3 m
Radial Accuracy 95% confidence (NSSDA)
10 ft
15 ft
20 ft
Equivalent RMSE in X and Y
4 ft
6 ft
8 ft
Cloud Cover
0
0
< 1%
Cloud Shadows and Haz
0
< 2%
< 3%*
Smoke and Pollution
0
0
< 1%*
Minimum Sun Angle
30°
20°
20°
Standing Water (flood, rain)
no
no
< 1%
Snow and Ice
Permanent snow only
Above timberline
< 3%**
Leaf-Off
Required in US
Desired in US
NA
* Details will be clearly visible
** Exceptions for ski areas, etc. by review
Delivery
High Value areas and 1 degree blocks will be delivered to customers in their entirety, including metadata.
