High and Very High Resolution Data

In recent years, access to satellite imagery with high and very high spatial resolution has expanded the range of applications on very small scales, typical of local governments and agencies. The databases created provide a valuable contribution to land management, supporting activities in surveying, cartography, digital photogrammetry, three-dimensional modeling, Geographic Information Systems, and, above all, Decision Support Systems.

MAJOR HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITES:

GeoEye-1
A commercial satellite launched in 2008, with a panchromatic resolution of 41 cm and a multispectral resolution of 1.65 m. It operates in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 684 km with an inclination of 98°, providing images up to 60° off-nadir.

IKONOS
The first commercial satellite to offer images with resolutions between 1 and 4 meters. It achieves 82 cm in panchromatic mode and 3.2 m in multispectral mode, with the ability to fuse data to produce very high-resolution color images.

WorldView-1
Launched in 2007, it offers a panchromatic resolution of 50 cm and precise stereo acquisitions used for Digital Elevation Models (DEM).

WorldView-2
Launched in 2009, it was the first commercial satellite with 8 multispectral bands. It has a panchromatic resolution of 46 cm and a multispectral resolution of 1.85 m, with a revisit time of 1.1 days and the capacity to acquire up to 785,000 km² per day.

WorldView-3 and WorldView-3
These satellites provide panchromatic resolution of 30 cm and multispectral resolution of 1.24 m, expanding the possibilities for detailed land analysis.

QuickBird
Operational since 2001, it acquires vast areas with high accuracy and covers up to 75 million km² per year. Ideal for land monitoring, natural hazard prevention, and change detection.

Pleiades
A French dual-satellite constellation launched in 2011 and 2012, offering orthorectified color imagery with a resolution of 50 cm, daily updates, and stereo imagery. Accuracy of up to 1 m when using Ground Control Points (GCPs). Also designed for emergency management with advance notice of up to 6 hours.

SPOT
A series of French satellites in operation since 1986, with resolutions of up to 1.5–2.5 m. Suitable for medium-scale mapping, environmental monitoring, agriculture, and urban planning. Archive of over 30 million scenes.

Jilin 1 A
Chinese satellite with a panchromatic resolution of 70 cm and a multispectral resolution of 2.88 m. Offers stereo-triplet mode for 1.5 m DEMs. Notable for its competitive cost.

GF-2
Chinese satellite with a panchromatic resolution of 80 cm and a multispectral resolution of 8 m, with a swath width of approximately 70 km. It offers very high-resolution imagery at an affordable cost.

TripleSat
A constellation of 3 satellites with a spatial resolution of 80 cm and a swath width of 23.4 km, equipped with 5 bands: one panchromatic and four multispectral (RGB + NIR).

Pleiades Neo
A new generation of French satellites offering 30-cm spatial resolution over large areas.

Planet
A constellation of over 200 multispectral satellites with resolutions ranging from 50 cm to 5 m, ensuring frequent global updates.