New Benchmark for GeoEye-1: High-Res Imagery

02 September 2009, 10:13am

Today, AAMHatch confirms the hype to be true. GeoEye-1 stereo satellite imagery is capable of
producing Digital Terrain Models (DTM) with better then 0.5m vertical accuracy.

AAMHatch tasked the GeoEye-1 satellite to capture stereo data over a 270sqkm area in Eastern Australia. The application was an engineering study for the energy sector with the client requiring a 0.5m ortho-image with 2m contours.

GeoEye-1’s unsurpassed agility and maneuverability assists in rapid stereo capture. This image was cloud-free, and delivered to AAMHatch for processing within 48 hours of capture.

Survey accurate ground control points, distributed evenly across the area, were used in the image processing. These points enabled consistent accuracies to be derived throughout the project area.

The accuracies achieved after generating both the ortho-image and the DTM are unsurpassed by
any existing optical satellite system, exceeding the client’s and AAMHatch’s expectations. In both vertical and horizontal planes, accuracy results of better then 0.5m were achieved.

Contours at 2m interval are normally created from a DTM with Z accuracy of 0.6m RMS. The
GeoEye-1 DTM was found to have an accuracy of 0.39m RMS, which is equivalent to a contour
interval of around 1.3m. These results are pleasing to both our clients and GeoEye.

Users should note that in practice anyone can generate contours at any interval desired, however, these products may not be ‘fit for purpose’. Most clients should be confident about how accurate their products really are! From a purist view, the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy specification states that DTMs can be used to create contours with an interval approximately 3.25 times the vertical accuracy of the DTM. The results will then conform to the standard of having 90% of the contours within half the contour interval.

AAMHatch will supply more quantitative studies about our products in the coming months,
however, feel free to send us your results to share with others.

AAMHatch is the authorised reseller of GeoEye products in the Oceania region and has been
supplying satellite imagery from the IKONOS satellite for several years. GeoEye-1 is the new sister satellite to IKONOS, and was launched in September last year. GeoEye-1 is currently the highest resolution earth imaging colour satellite commercially available, capturing 0.5m imagery.

GeoEye-1 can image almost any region of the earth and is being used by a range of industries including mining, engineering, environment, agriculture, government and defence.

Contact AAMHatch for information about GeoEye-1 and how it will benefit your organisation.

Further details from the web

Geo: International