NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program recently added digital elevation model and imagery products from Satellogic and Vantor (formerly Maxar). Each of these products, described below, is accessible through the CSDA's Satellite Data Explorer (SDX) data access and discovery tool.
The first of these is a Level 1D Orthorectified multispectral archive and tasked data product from Satellogic. This product, which is equivalent to a NASA-defined Level 1C data product, provides imagery with 99-centimeter resolution and Top of Atmosphere radiometric correction and is derived from satellites in Satellogic’s NewSat constellation.
CSDA is also offering 30-cm black/white and color imagery from Vantor's 125-petabyte archive dating back to 1999. The imagery comes from Vantor’s constellation of Legion satellites, each of which offer 8-band visible and near-infrared multispectral imagery at a resolution of up to 30-centimeters. This imagery is suitable for use in a variety of applications ranging from agriculture and natural resources monitoring to disaster response and environmental surveillance.
And finally, CSDA has added three digital elevation and digital terrain products from Vantor to the SDX: a 3D Digital Surface Model (DSM) at 1-meter resolution, a 3D Digital Terrain Model (DTM) at 1-meter spatial resolution that offers bare-earth elevation data, and an Elevation Bundle, which combines the DSM and DTM products to provide detailed views of both above-ground features and the underlying bare earth at 1-, 2-, and 4-meter resolution.
Researchers interested in accessing these data product in SDX can use their Earthdata Login for authentication and initiate data download requests. Use of these products is governed by the United States government End User License Agreement (USG EULA).
"The mission of the CSDA Program is to identify, evaluate, and acquire data from commercial sources that support NASA's Earth science research and application goals," said CSDA Project Manager Dana Ostrenga. “The addition of these products from Satellogic and Vantor to the SDX demonstrates the CSDA Program’s ongoing commitment to its mission, as well as to our objective of bringing high-quality, Earth observation data from NASA’s commercial partners to the Earth Science community.”
About SDX
The SDX allows users to search, discover, and access a variety of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), digital elevation model (DEM), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), multispectral, and precipitation radar data acquired through the CSDA program. It also provides streamlined data download, automated quota tracking, and a new coverage map that provides a high-level overview of the spatial coverage of the data discoverable through the SDX for any specified month and year. For a summary of the NASA commercial partner datasets available in SDX, visit the SDX website.
To order data from SDX, users must create an account with and be logged in to NASA Earthdata. (The initial attempt to use SDX will redirect users to Earthdata Login, where they will be prompted to enter their Earthdata credentials and accept the terms of the EULA.) Users must agree to the terms of the EULA before any data can be requested. Note: All data requests must be approved by CSDA data managers.