WorldView-3 Satellite Sensor

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WorldView-3 Satellite Sensor (0.31m)

The WorldView-3 satellite sensor was licensed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to collect in addition to the standard Panchromatic and Multispectral bands, eight-band short-wave infrared (SWIR) and 12 CAVIS imagery. The WorldView-3 satellite was successfully launched on August 13, 2014. Watch satellite launch.

WorldView-3 Satellite Sensor (0.31m)

WorldView-3 Satellite Sensor (0.31m)

WorldView-3 is the first multi-payload, super-spectral, high-resolution commercial satellite sensor operating at an altitude of 617 km. WorldView-3 satellite provides 31 cm panchromatic resolution, 1.24 m multispectral resolution, 3.7 m short wave infrared resolution (SWIR) and 30 m CAVIS resolution. The satellite has an average revisit time of <1 day and is capable of collecting up to 680,000 km2 per day.

WorldView-3 satellite bears a strong resemblance to WorldView-2 launched on October 8, 2009, in terms of its performance characteristics. The WorldView-3 satellite sensor benefits from significant improvements including cost savings, risk reduction, and faster delivery for its customers.

Wildlife Monitoring and Tracking

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Sample Images

Airport

Madrid, Spain (40cm)

2016 Olympics

Brazil (30cm)

Solar Panels

San Jose (30cm)

Atmospheric Compensation - DigitalGlobe AComp Pre-Processing

WorldView-3 Satellite Image Gallery

WorldView-3 Satellite Sensor Specifications

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Launch Date	August 13, 2014
Orbit	Altitude: 617 km Type: SunSync, 1:30 pm descending Node Period: 97 min.
Life	Spec Mission Life; 7.25 years Estimated Service Life: 10 to 12 years
Spacecraft Size, Mass and Power	Size: 5.7 m (18.7 feet) tall x 2.5 m (8 feet) across, 7.1 m (23 feet) across the deployed solar arrays Mass: 2800 kilograms (6200 pounds) Power: 3.1 kW solar array, 100 Ahr battery
Sensor Bands	Panchromatic: 450-800 nm 8 Multispectral: (red, red edge, coastal, blue, green, yellow, near-IR1 and near-IR2) 400 nm - 1040 nm 8 SWIR: 1195 nm - 2365 nm 12 CAVIS Bands: (desert clouds, aerosol-1, aerosol-2, aerosol-3, green, water-1, water- 2, water-3, NDVI-SWIR, cirrus, snow) 405 nm - 2245 nm
Sensor Resolution ( or GSD, Ground Sample Distance; off-nadir is geometric mean)	Panchromatic Nadir: 0.31 m GSD at Nadir 0.34 m at 20° Off-Nadir Multispectral Nadir: 1.24 m at Nadir, 1.38 m at 20° Off-Nadir SWIR Nadir: 3.70 m at Nadir, 4.10 m at 20° Off-Nadir CAVIS Nadir: 30.00 m
Dynamic Range	11-bits per pixel Pan and MS; 14-bits per pixel SWIR
Swath Width	At nadir: 13.1 km
Attitude Determination and Control	Type: 3-axis stabilized Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) Sensors: Star trackers, precision, IRU, GPS
Pointing Accuracy and Knowledge	Accuracy: <500 m at image start and stop Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting Agility	Time to slew 200 km: 12 seconds
Onboard Storage	2199 Gb solid state with EDAC
Communications	Image & Ancillary: 800 & 1200 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: 4, 16, 32 or 64 kbps real-time, 524 kbps stored, X-band Command: 2 0r 64 kbps S-band
Max Contiguous Area Collected in a Single Pass (30° off-nadir angle)	Mono: 66.5 km x 112 km (5 strips) Stereo: 26.6 km x 112 km (2 pairs)
Revisit Frequency(at 40°N Latitude)	1 m GSD: <1.0 day 4.5 days at 20° off-nadir or less
Geolocation Accuracy(CE90)	Predicted Performance: <3.5 m CE90 without ground control
Capacity	680,000 km2 per day