Vantor has enhanced Vivid Mosaic to achieve an industry first: a global, satellite imagery basemap at 30 cm resolution built on innovations in tasking and image processing. A globally consistent, high-resolution imagery basemap is a critical component for most mapping methodologies, feature extraction techniques, virtual simulations and as the visualization layer in mobile mapping applications.

Technology and location-based services (LBS): Navigation and LBS applications and consumer platforms need a current, clear view of Earth to provide the foundation for extracting features and to act as a datum for aligning multisource data.

Transforming imagery strips into global basemaps

Vantor has been providing 30 cm resolution imagery since WorldView-3 became operational in 2014, but there is a lot of work that goes into turning those imagery strips into a complete global basemap. We have strict parameters on the quality of image strips used to build our Vivid Mosaic basemap products because a derivative product can only be as good as the foundational source imagery. Our global basemap includes about 400,000 individual image strips that together offer the following Vivid Mosaic coverage:

• Visually consistent: Images from spring and summer are used to ensure a similar seasonality across the global basemap.
• Virtually cloudless: Images are stitched together to create a cloud-free view of Earth. This can be difficult in equatorial regions, where cloudy days are the norm.
• Current: The most recent images are used to provide an up-to-date view of the ground.
• Seamless: A blending along image boundaries enables us to produce a basemap that looks like a continuous, single image over large areas.

Images come together in the Vivid Mosaic basemap without visible seamlines. We include seamline files and image metadata with the basemap products so end users have pixel-level source information when needed. The above image of Lima, Peru, shows how different images were stitched together (gold lines) to create a cloudless view.

HD technology enables global 30 cm coverage

To create a global imagery basemap at 30 cm resolution, Vantor leverages our proprietary HD technology. This technology intelligently increases the number of pixels and enhances visual clarity, enabling us to increase the number of images available in our image library for building the Vivid Mosaic 30 cm imagery basemap.

A global basemap built to fit customers’ needs

High-quality global imagery basemaps provide the foundational image layer for mapping applications, realistic simulation environments and contextual layers for visualizations, like the satellite view on your mobile mapping applications.

By combining our proprietary HD technology and innovative collection planning, Vantor produced a current, visually consistent, global imagery basemap. We continuously update this basemap and are consistently innovating new enhancements to meet the requirements of our customers.