DigitalGlobe 8-Band Imagery Research Results

Winners of the Inaugural DigitalGlobe 8-Band Research Challenge have formally presented their research findings, further demonstrating the benefits of high-resolution 8-Band Imagery from DigitalGlobe for remote sensing based analysis.

The studies, presented at the recent Geospatial World Forum in Hyderabad, India, also described how 8-Band Imagery will lead to practical applications in areas such as coral reef conservation, precision agriculture and forestry management. Some of the most notable studies found that with 8-Band Imagery, these researchers could:

* Create accurate bathymetry maps (+/-77 cm) over near-shore coral reefs in Florida, and support more comprehensive coral reef conservation programs;
* Map invasive alien plant species at a 95% accuracy rate, enabling more efficient monitoring and eradication programs in Swaziland;
* Create highly accurate clutter maps with only a +/-0.5% error rate to support more effective wireless network infrastructure planning in South Africa;
* Delineate 10 commercial tree species within a heterogeneous forest with 90% accuracy, information that is vital for forest conservation management and forestry-related biodiversity research;
* Extract key vegetation parameters (leaf angle, chlorophyll, brown pigments) which support precision agriculture, by providing indications of plant health, growth rates and the impacts of disease or drought.

"It is very exciting to see the sophisticated research that has been accomplished through this challenge," said DigitalGlobe CTO Walter Scott. "The results speak clearly to the value of 8-Band Imagery and how it will enable us to deliver greater information and insight to our customers."

The 8-Band Research Challenge encourages researchers to investigate how 8-Band Imagery, available exclusively from DigitalGlobe, can enhance analysis and classification research and enable the development of next generation geospatial applications. A summary of all the research findings is available on the website www.8bandchallenge.com, along with the 15 recognized papers.

List of the 8-Band Challenge Winners:

* James F. Bramante – National University of Singapore, Tropical Marine Science Institute
Derivation of Bathymetry from Multispectral Imagery in the Highly Turbid Waters of Singapore’s South Islands
* Jeremy M. Kerr – Nova Southeastern University, National Coral Reef Institute
WorldView-2 Offers New Capabilities for the Monitoring of Threatened Coral Reefs
* Christoph C. Borel – Air Force Institute of Technology
Vegetative Canopy Parameter Retrieval Using 8-Band Data
* Hamdan Omar – Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)
Commercial Timber Tree Species Identification Using Multispectral WorldView-2 Data
* Antonio Wolf – Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Using WorldView-2 Vis-NIR MSI Imagery to Support Land Mapping and Feature Extraction Using Normalized Difference Index Ratios

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