Atlas Speaker Series -‘Earth Imagery Industry’

For the Atlas Speaker Series, I chose the Earth Imagery Industry.  Walter Scott was the presenter; he is the founder and chief technology officer of DigitalGlobe.  DigitalGlobe is a provider for commercial high-resolution imagery products.  Going into the presentation I knew very little about satellite and commercial imagery products, all I really knew is that the quality of images has greatly improved in the recent years with the increasing technology.  I’ve always been interested in how location providers like Google maps collected there data, and curious about how they were able to collected so many specific images across the entire globe.

         I liked that Scott began the presentation with the history of satellite images, beginning in the 1970s. It made me realize what a dramatic difference has been made with the creation of new technologies in such a short period of time.  He started with images that only portrayed relatively blurry outlines and eventually moved to satellite images of today which were crystal clear pictures where one can pin point their house. The improvement in quality images began with the improvement of resolution and accuracy.  I thought it was interesting that he said the accuracy has improved to the point of being able to hit a quarter from three miles away. Scott also discussed how drastically the capacity of the industry has increased, meaning the area that can be collected in a certain time and space.  The capacity of the Earth’s area that can be collected has increased by a factor of 25 since 2002.  I thought it was interested that the satellites orbit the Earth from pole to pole.  I’m curious how many satellites are currently in orbit collecting this type of data.  I also wonder if all the data and images collected by the satellites is shared among many different organizations and the government.

         Many of the advantages of this new technology were discussed.  One was the location-based service that consumers use all the time.  As increases in technology is made, and consumers have more and more data and information available, the expectation for this instant information is created.  Another advantage that was discussed was how these images are used to help with disasters. One example was the wild fires in Colorado, this new technology allowed us to better track the fire and allowed for quicker notify of any changes.  Scott also discussed that these high-resolution images have helped with our national defense.  I think this can be seen as both a helpful tool but also another factor we must protect ourselves against.

         Scott mentioned that in the future the goal is to have real time video with sound included.  I don’t like the idea of this; I would feel like I was constantly being monitored and recorded.  I think there needs to be a boundary for how far this technology should be taken. From the presentation, I realized many of the benefits high-resolution imagery can provide.  It also made me consider where this technology is headed in the future and at the current rate it is increasing where will we be in 30 years?