DigitalGlobe, a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services, today announced its Crisis Event Service, a new web service providing timely and accurate pre- and post-event satellite imagery to aid in emergency planning, response and recovery.
The new online service is designed to provide a comprehensive picture for global crisis including at least three high-resolution imagery versions of each affected area: the most current pre-event imagery from DigitalGlobe’s extensive ImageLibrary archive, imagery during or just after the event, and a follow-up image within 30 days following the event. Crisis Service images will be available online within one to three days of any given event through DigitalGlobe’s online platform. DigitalGlobe will determine events included in the Service based on definitions set by the International Charter of Space and Major Disasters.
DigitalGlobe’s Crisis Event Service supports emergency preparedness risk and planning analysis for local, civil and federal governments, defense and homeland security, insurance and reinsurance agencies, and multinational and humanitarian agencies. Satellite imagery is a useful decision support tool when on-ground accessibility is difficult or dangerous.
Imagery for the Crisis Event Service is collected from DigitalGlobe’s QuickBird and WorldView-1 satellites. Imagery from DigitalGlobe’s 8-band multi-spectral satellite, WorldView-2, will be added to the service upon successful launch and product availability. The DigitalGlobe ImageLibrary contains over 660 million square kilometers of earth imagery and contains a historic record of many natural and man-made disasters and world events.