GPS World

Tag: PAZ

  • Airbus and Hisdesat process first TerraSAR-X/PAZ radar interferogram

    Airbus Defence and Space and Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos S.A. have generated the first joint TerraSAR-X/PAZ radar interferogram. This milestone demonstrates the missions’ capacity for cross-sensor interferometry, whose processing is among the most challenging.

    Interferograms are typically used to derive the topographic elevation and deformation of the Earth’s surface, and are created using at least two different images acquired at different date. This flattened cross-sensor-interferogram has been created from a mixed image pair with four days’ temporal separation acquired by TerraSAR-X and PAZ (StripMap scenes from Nov. 22-26, 2018). The area covers the oil and gas production site Burgan (Kuwait) and parts of the Persian Gulf. The oil field is the world largest sandstone oil field with the total surface area of about 1,000 km².

    As PAZ is positioned in the same orbit as TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X and features exactly identical ground swaths and acquisition modes, they all three form a high-resolution SAR satellite constellation, jointly exploited by Hisdesat and Airbus. With the launch of PAZ, the observation repeat cycle has been divided by half, which improves the monitoring of fast ground deformation phenomena that can endanger lives and infrastructures.

    “This is a major step towards achieving the implementation of our TerraSAR-X/PAZ radar constellation,” said Hanjo Kahabka, head of production and radar constellation manager at Airbus. “The level of accuracy obtained with this interferogram is a guarantee for our customers to continue to rely on the high quality standard we have set with TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, but with an improved monitoring capacity,”

    “In Hisdesat we are very proud of reaching this milestone. Interferometry is one of the most technically demanding applications, and thanks to this successful joint exercise with Airbus we have not only demonstrated the top performance of our PAZ satellite but its full compatibility with TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X,” said Miguel García Primo, CEO at Hisdesat. “Now operation in constellation can become a reality and we will be able to provide to our customers full set of images and services with the constellation.”

  • Airbus and Planet bring new geospatial products to market

    (From left) Francois Lombard and Dirk Hoke, Airbus, sign agreement with Will Marshall, Planet.

    Airbus and Planet have entered into a partnership to facilitate access to each other’s data and the co-development of new geospatial solutions.

    The companies are establishing a framework agreement to explore opportunities for joint cooperation in new and existing markets, product offerings, sales and marketing efforts.

    Both companies aim to provide a comprehensive suite of global satellite data at multiple temporal and spatial resolutions, and develop new analytic products for a wide range of applications to benefit their customers.

    Benefitting from both companies’ constellations, customers will have access to the entire Earth’s landmass every day at 3m resolution with PlanetScope satellites, as well as to intra-daily sub-meter resolution imagery with Pléiades and SkySat constellations.

    In addition, they will also have the capability to order images with resolutions of 1.5m (SPOT 6/7), 5m (Rapideye) and 22m (DMC Constellation).

    Lastly, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and PAZ radar satellites will allow the acquisition of images regardless of weather and daylight conditions, ensuring access to any place on Earth independent of cloud coverage.

    “By combining our strengths, we will provide a key capability to address all market needs, both in terms of data and value-added products, and to best serve our clients, whatever their industry and their requirements,” said François Lombard, director of the Intelligence Business at Airbus Defence and Space.

    “Airbus and Planet are truly complementary partners. Airbus brings long-standing success in serving reliable, high resolution remote sensing, and Planet brings its unique global coverage and temporal cadence, as well as agile aerospace iteration to get sensors quickly to space,” said Will Marshall, CEO and co-founder of Planet. “Together we will be able to deliver sophisticated offerings to fit customer needs across international markets.”