Customers Now Have a New Tool to Visualize the Earth in 3-D

Space Imaging, the world’s leading
provider of Earth imagery and related services to commercial and government
markets, announced today that it is now offering one-meter resolution, stereo
imagery from its IKONOS satellite to the commercial marketplace.
These
products were previously offered only to government customers.

Stereo products consist of two IKONOS satellite images of the same
location on Earth, taken from two different perspectives during one orbital
pass.
The pair of images is collected in-track, or on the same ground path
just moments apart, to maintain the tonal consistency between each image,
enabling better interpretability.
One of the two images is taken at a high
elevation angle of greater than 72 degrees, which can be used to make a highly
accurate orthorectified image.

The primary advantage of stereo imagery is the ability to extract cultural
and geographic features in three dimensions such as buildings, roads and
elevation contours.
Stereo imagery is especially important for global markets
where accurate elevation data is not readily available.
Many commercial
markets will benefit from stereo imagery including mapping,
telecommunications, exploration and mining, transportation, environmental,
0›Ô©an planning and forestry.
For example, airport officials can use stereo
imagery for navigation and simulation; the telecommunications industry can
develop 3-D line-of-sight models to identify potential locations for wireless
towers; the exploration and mining industries can visualize and measure the
geographical features of a site; urban planners can extract GIS vector layers
to update and map geographic information; and forestry managers can determine
marketable timber and even calculate the amount of timber lost due to fire,
natural disasters or illegal harvesting.

Space Imaging’s stereo imagery product also includes an Image Geometry
Model (IGM) file, a mathematical way to express the complex sensor model of
IKONOS.
By incorporating the IGM and stereo pair images into commonly used
commercial imagery software suites, users will now be able to create their own
digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthorectify the high-angle image with
superior accuracy.
Software packages supporting IKONOS stereo imagery
include: BAE SYSTEMS’ SOCET SET, ERDAS’ Stereo Analyst and OrthoBASE, PCI’s
OrthoEngine, Z/I Imaging’s ImageStation and SSK.
All software packages are
registered trademarks of their respective companies.

“Feature extraction of the built and natural environment is significantly
enhanced using stereo pairs viewed in 3-D,” said Jeff Young, vice president of
Global Solutions Sales and Marketing.
“With the appropriate tools that are
available today the geospatial user can now extract elevation values of any
location on Earth.
This allows for the efficient extraction and analysis of
features, modeling of terrain and urban landscapes, and the ability to detect
changes in geographic position and elevation.”

“This is a fantastic enabling technology for our broadband, wireless
telecom customers,” said Russell Cowart, president of I-cubed and a
value-added reseller of IKONOS imagery.
“Accurate 3-D building models and
high-resolution canopy DEMs are critical components to establish the
infrastructure for the next generation of telecommunications.
The global
availability of IKONOS stereo products will ensure a consistent platform for
our customers to rely upon.”

Stereo products can be purchased as 11-bit or 8-bit data and are offered
in the same accuracy levels as other IKONOS products:

  • Precision 1m Stereo has a horizontal accuracy of up to four meters with
    1:4,800 NMAS for an area of interest (AOI) within North America (1:5000
    for AOIs outside North America) and a vertical accuracy of five meters.
    Base pricing begins at $175 per sq. km. for an AOI within North America
    and $250 per sq. km. for an AOI outside North America.
    Standard color,
    bundle and license upgrades apply with a minimum order of $10,000.
  • Reference 1m Stereo has a horizontal accuracy of up to 25 meters with
    1:50,000 National Map Accuracy Standard (NMAS) and a vertical accuracy
    of 22 meters.
    Base pricing begins at $52 per sq. km. for black-and-
    white (B&W) products for an AOI within North America and $128 for an
    AOI outside of North America.
    Standard color, bundle and license
    upgrades apply with a minimum order of 100 sq. km.

Ordering Products

Customers can order a product by calling the Customer Service Center at
800-232-9037 or 301-552-0537 or by contacting a Space Imaging Regional
Affiliate or authorized reseller.
Customers can also check to see if a
specific area is in the archive by accessing Space Imaging’s Web site
( www.spaceimaging.com ) and using CARTERRA Online(TM).
The site provides
detailed instructions about how to conduct an archived image search to obtain
the image scene identification number and latitude and longitude coordinates.
By using these tools, customers can select a specific image where multiple
archive images are available of the same area.

About Space Imaging

Space Imaging is a leading supplier of visual information products and
services derived from space imagery and aerial photography.
The company
launched the world’s first one-meter resolution, commercial Earth imaging
satellite, IKONOS, on Sept. 24, 1999.
Other products are produced from the
Indian Remote Sensing satellites, U.S. Landsat, and Canada’s RADARSAT.
Space
Imaging also delivers aerial-derived imagery products collected by its own
Digital Airborne Imaging System (DAIS-1(TM)).
For detailed information about
Space Imaging, visit its Web site at www.spaceimaging.com .