Spot 5 National Mosaic 2012 Released By South African National Space Agency (SANSA)

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) released the Spot 5 National Mosaic 2012 at a recent event with key stakeholders in government departments and private industry.

According to SANSA, the imagery which is collected over a period of 12 months is downloaded and processed by SANSA into the comprehensive tool which is delivered free to stakeholders who utilize this information to address issues facing South Africa, such as planning for infrastructure and housing, agriculture, water and environmental management and national census, amongst others.

The mosaic is made up of 485 images taken by the SPOT 5 satellite which has been processed and compiled to make up the entire map of the country. The detail within each of the tiles of the mosaic provides information of an area 60km by 60km.

“The information and data from SANSA have been used by the Department of Human settlements to understand urban spread and how to address the concern of informal settlements”, said Aubrey Matshego, Department of Human settlements directorate: Spatial information at the launch of the mosaic.