Satellite Imagery Purchasing Advice
Satellite imagery is offered in four formats: basic, georefenced, terrain rectified and orthorectified. For most users, georefenced data will have the horizontal accuracy required by their project. For those projects with horizontal accuracy requirements, terrain rectified or orthorectified data is the most appropriate. Basic satellite imagery is minimally processed and is therefore only appropriate for sophisticated geospat1al clients. Multiple combinations of spectral bands can be delivered with either of these formats:
| Product Name | Spectral Bands | Max. Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Panchromatic | Panchromatic (i.e. black & white) | GeoEye-1: 0.5-m IKONOS: 0.8-m QuickBird: 0.6-m WorldView-1: 0.5-m WorldView-2: 0.5-m |
| Natural Color | Blue, green and red | GeoEye-1: 0.5-m IKONOS: 0.8-m QuickBird: 0.6-m WorldView-2: 0.5-m |
| Color Infrared | Green, red and NIR | GeoEye-1: 0.5-m IKONOS: 0.8-m QuickBird: 0.6-m WorldView-2: 0.5-m |
| 4-Band Pansharpened |
Blue, green, red and NIR | GeoEye-1: 0.5-m IKONOS: 0.8-m QuickBird: 0.6-m WorldView-2: 0.5-m |
| Bundle | Panchromatic + multispectral (i.e. blue, green, red, NIR) |
GeoEye-1: 0.5-m Pan; 2.0-m MS IKONOS: 0.8-m Pan; 3.2-m MS QuickBird: 0.6-m Pan; 2.4-m MS WorldView-2: 0.5-m Pan; 2.0-m MS |
Data from the satellite OrbView-3 is also available through eMap International. OrbView-3 was capable of capturing data in either 1-meter panchromatic or 4-meter multispectral format. Currently, OrbView-3 imagery is only offered from an archive.
Purchasing digital imagery is a complicated task. As such, we encourage you to contact our Sales Team at (720) 470-7988 for advice on aligning project requirements with the various product offerings. In the meantime, the following table offers general recommendations to get you started with your imagery purchase:
| Imagery Application | Product Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Engineering planning & design; site survey; GIS back-drop; interesting picture | Georeferenced natural color |
| Impervious surface mapping; vegetation study; forestry; oil & gas; mining | Georeferenced 4-band pansharpened |
| Spectral analysis; classification; academic investigation | Georeferenced bundle |
| Feature extraction; urban planning | Terrain rectified or orthorectified Natural color |