The [W]hat [I]s series
explains common terms used
in the geospatial industry.
What is EO used for?
Watch Earth observation refers to the collection of information about our planet’s physical, chemical, and biological systems using various technologies, such as satellites, aircraft, drones, and ground-based sensors. This data is gathered for a wide range of purposes and applications, including: 1. Environmental Monitoring: Climate change analysis: Tracking temperature, ice
What are the most common satellite image processing techniques?
Watch What are the most common satellite image processing techniques? Satellite image processing involves various techniques to enhance, analyze, and extract information from satellite imagery. Some of the most common techniques include image enhancement classification change detection image fusion vegetation index calculation geometric correction feature extraction and data visualization These
What is open data?
Watch What is open data? Open Data refers to data that organizations provide at no charge, and often with very permissive licensing. An example would be Sentinel-2 data from the European Space Agency, which is multispectral data from their Sentinel-2 satellites provided at no charge from their Copernicus service, as
What is the difference between an aerial photo and a satellite image?
Watch What is the difference between an aerial photo and a satellite image? Aerial photos and satellite imagery are two types of remote sensing data with different characteristics, advantages, and limitations. Aerial photos are captured at relatively low altitudes and offer higher spatial resolution than satellite imagery, which can provide
What is SAR?
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a specific satellite that can capture imagery in all weather conditions, day or night. SAR sends a microwave radar signal to the earth’s surface to detect physical properties.
What are indices?
Indices are calculated using the multispectral bands. These calculations result in the outputs being in the form of an index with values between 0-1. At the same time, the indices provide additional information about the ground surface being imaged.
What Are Multispectral Outputs?
Multispectral outputs are made up of bands within the multispectral spectral ranges. The different options include true colour, false colour urban, false colour infrared, and all optical bands.
What Is Image Output?
Image output is about determining the color or bands and indices you want to obtain in order to gain valuable information about your AOI.
What Is Archive?
Using a console like EarthCache, archive satellite imagery is a purchasing option for imagery that has already been collected. Archive imagery can be passively collected by satellites that constantly collect over the earth.
What Is Tasking?
Tasking is the act of “ordering” new satellite imagery from a specific satellite. To task a satellite, coordinates of an area of interest (AOI), time frame and interval are sent to the satellite provider.
What Is Remote Sensing?
In simple terms, remote sensing is the act of detecting objects in an area and measuring their movements from space.
What Is Latency?
For satellite data, latency refers to the time between satellite observation and the time data is available to users.
What Is Temporal Resolution?
Temporal resolution, also known as re-visit rates, vary from different providers. Temporal resolution provides information on the time difference between the acquisitions of two images over the same area.
What Is Spectral Resolution?
Spectral resolution is the ability of a satellite sensor to detect distinct ranges of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum.
What Is Spatial Resolution?
Resolution refers to the spatial resolution a data product has. Spatial resolution can be defined as the amount of data on the ground a single image pixel represents.
What Is Very High Resolution?
Very high resolution (VHR) refers to the spatial resolution size of a satellite image. In simple terms, the resolution type will determine the clarity of your optical image.
What Is High Resolution?
High resolution refers to the spatial resolution size of a satellite image. In simple terms, the resolution type will determine the clarity of your optical image.
What Is Medium Resolution?
Medium resolution refers to the spatial resolution size of a satellite image. In simple terms, the resolution type will determine the clarity of your optical image.
What Is Low Resolution?
Medium resolution refers to the spatial resolution size of a satellite image. In simple terms, the resolution type will determine the clarity of your optical image.
What Is TerraStream?
TerraStream is SkyWatch’s integrated services platform for satellite data providers.
What Is EarthCache?
EarthCache is a satellite imagery marketplace and API. It connects customers to one of the largest marketplaces of satellite data providers in the world.
What Is Mosaicking?
In a marketplace console like EarthCache, Mosaicking is an optional setting that allows for multiple images from the same satellite sensor to be mosaicked (aka “stitched”) together.
What is AOI?
AOI is an acronym for “Area of Interest.”
Knowing your desired AOI will help you in planning your data collection with satellites to ensure you get the right technology in the right place and at the right time.
