For people who worry that it’s impossible to escape from Google’s amazing search capabilities, the ability to hide just got harder. Last month, Google helped sponsor the launch of the high-resolution GeoEye-1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. After a month of calibration and testing, the satellite’s first image was released Friday by Satellite Imaging, a Houston-based remote sensing and survey company.
The stunningly clear image shows the campus of Kutztown University, located midway between Reading and Allentown, Penn. According to GeoEye executives, the image was formed by blending panchromatic and multispectral data to create a true-color image; it has a resolution of one half meter, or about a foot and a half.
“This image captures what is in fact the very first location the satellite saw when we opened the camera door and started imaging,” said Brad Peterson, GeoEye’s vice president of operations. “We expect the quality of the imagery to be even better as we continue the calibration activity.”
The Geo-Eye-1 satellite is arguably the most accurate mapping satellite ever launched. The bird’s panchromatic camera can take photographs at .41-meter resolution, which means objects as small as 16 inches across will be visible. One byproduct of the heightened resolution is that objects on Earth can be mapped to within an accuracy of three meters of their true location on the planet. The satellite’s capabilities are all the more remarkable since it orbits 423 miles above the Earth’s surface.
Under the terms of Satellite Imaging’s contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees U.S. satellite imagery, only the U.S. government will have access to the most detailed images. One-half of the satellite’s cost was provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which evaluates satellite imagery as part of the homeland security effort.
For other customers, including Google, Satellite Imaging will…