How to access satellite images
BY READERS DIGEST
18th Aug 2019 Home & Garden
We are living in a world where technology continuously grows and new ways to help us with any task are developed. Who would have thought that a satellite can capture a decent and clear picture from tens of thousands of miles away? There are many ways for you to get a hold of these images, take a look below at some ways to make that happen.
How Many Satellites Are Out There?
It may surprise you that more than 5000 satellites have been launched into space since Sputnik in 1957, but fewer than 1000 are actually still operational. It's more than enough for anyone though if they want to purchase satellite images that can be captured anywhere around the world. Various cool apps can help you gain access to satellite imagery archives, and you can pretty much take a new satellite picture of any location directly from your mobile device or computer. They are all high-definition pictures, and you just have to search for many different platforms to get better ones.
What Space Agencies and Website Tools Have To Offer
The amazing thing about this is that there are countless websites from agencies around the world that will equip you with high-quality satellite imagery. Some are for free but with low quality, and some would require payments to get a better image. Basically, you can get numerous satellite data which can stretch up to 40-years of history of our Earth with consistent spectral bands. You can vertically position yourself with NASA’s ASTER and shuttle radar topography missions global digital elevation models. You can also gain full access to NASA’s land data products and services including Hyperion's hyper-spectral data, MODIS & AVHRR land surface reflectance, and disperse radar data. So many exciting things exist that we can get our hands on.
Tasking A Satellite For A Picture
Through the different platforms or tools, you can task it by centering and pinpointing the location of where you want it to capture an image. There are certain setups for you to make, the desired start and end times which will be used to calculate when the image will be taken, and the size ranging from 2 to 7 km square. You will be getting notifications through the apps or platforms you're using on the status of the tasking request. It includes confirmation, planned imaging time, image acquired, and the delivery information of it.
Close To Real-Time Images
Thanks to NASA, which developed in recent years different platforms for people, you can be provided with near real-time data to those needing it. It would be available as quick as within 3 hours give or take of when the imagery was taken. While such imagery access is relatively rapid, it still prevents people and organizations from getting data images that need to be quicker. There are developments made to make it available, but it just depends on your budget.
This Type of Imagery Is Remarkable
It's amazing to think that you can actually see things better through satellite images, tasking it can cost some money for the best image possible. But it would be totally worth it if it's for a good cause and it helps you or your research.
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