DEBRE BERHAN UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSNESS AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM AND HOTEL MANAGEMENT
MASTERS OF ART IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) AND REMOTE SENSING (MTHM514)

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT ON LANDSAT AND QUICK BIRD POLAR SATELITE

STUDENT NAME ID NO

1. TAZEBEW DEMESIE…………………………………… DBU1700060

SUBMISSION DATE: 26/12/2024

SUBMITTED TO: ALI GEBEYEHU (ASSISTANT PROFESSOR)

DECEMBER 2024
DEBRE BERHAN, ETHIOPIA
Acknowledgement

First and for most I would like to honour Almighty God for give me my strength. Next, my heart-felt
appreciation goes to Ali gebeyehu. (Asst.prof) for his invaluable teaching and sharing of experience.
his expertise and guidance have been instrumental in enhancing my conceptual and analytical
thinking in this project work.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................... 2
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1: An Overview Of Landsat And Quick Bird Polar Satellite ................................................ 4
1.1.1 Overview of LandSat Polar Satelite ............................................................................ 4
1.1.2 Overview of Quickbird Polar Satelite ......................................................................... 4
2. Land Observation Satellites/Sensors ............................................................................................. 5
2.1 Landsat .................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Characteristics of landsat satellite ........................................................................................ 8
2.3. The band designations for the Landsat satellites ................................................................9
2.4 Satellite Chronology ............................................................................................................. 13
2.5 Significance's of Landsat satellites ...................................................................................... 16
3. Quick-Bird Satellite .......................................................................................................................17
3.1 Classification Of Quick Bird Satellite .................................................................................18
3.2. Characteristics of Quick bird satellite ........................................................................ 19
3.3. Advantages and disadvantages of Quick bird satellites ................................................... 20
5. Recommendations: ........................................................................................................................ 22
6. References ..................................................................................................................................... 24

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1. Introduction

1.1: An Overview Of Landsat And Quick Bird Polar Satellite

1.1.1 Overview of LandSat Polar Satelite

The Landsat program was proposed in 1965 by William T. Pecora, the director of the USGS at the
time. The program was developed in response to the growing need for global imagery, which was
driven by the start of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo program.
The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth.
On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually
renamed to Landsat 1 in 1975. The most recent, Landsat 9, was launched on 27 September 2021.
Landsat is a series of satellites that record and image the Earth's land surface, providing a space-
based record of the planet: Landsat is a collection of satellites that use sensors to measure the light
reflected by the Earth's land. The measurements are then converted into images. Landsat data is used
by land managers, planners, and policymakers to make decisions about the environment and natural
resources. The imagery is open-source, providing access to geographic data at a high quality and
depth. Landsat satellites orbit the Earth at an altitude of 705 km, collecting data over a 185-km
swath. They have a 16-day, 233-orbit cycle, with a swath overlap that varies by latitude. The first
Landsat satellite, Landsat 1, launched in 1972. The tenth mission, Landsat Next, is currently in its
preliminary phases and is scheduled to launch in 2031. The Landsat program is jointly managed by
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is responsible for processing,
distributing, and archiving Landsat data. Landsat imagery has a moderate spatial resolution of 30
meters. This allows users to see detailed human-scale processes, like urbanization, but not individual
houses.

1.1.2 Overview of Quickbird Polar Satelite

Quick-Bird images are multi-spectral image data covering a spectral range from 450 to 900 nm.
As very high-resolution satellite imagery, its ground-level pixel size is approximately 2.4 × 2.8 m.
The Rapid Eye data set has five spectral bands ranging from 400 to 850 nm. Its spatial resolution
was 5 × 5 m. Quick-bird was a high-resolution commercial Earth observation satellite, owned by
Digital Globe, launched in 2001 and reentered after orbit decay in 2015. Quick Bird used Ball
Aerospace's Global Imaging System 2000 (BGIS 2000). The satellite collected panchromatic (black

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and white) imagery at 61 centimeter resolution and multi-spectral imagery at 2.44- (at 450 km) to
1.63-meter (at 300 km) resolution, as orbit altitude is lowered during the end of mission life.

At this resolution, detail such as buildings and other infrastructure are easily visible. However, this
resolution is insufficient for working with smaller objects such as a license plate on a car. The
imagery can be imported into remote sensing image processing software, as well as into GIS
packages for analysis. Contractors included Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Kodak and Fokker
Space. Original plans called for a constellation of three Quick-bird satellites scheduled to be in orbit
by 2008. In the end, two Quick-bird satellites, Quick-bird I and II, made it to launch pad. However,
only Quick-bird II made it successfully into orbit (Quick-bird I suffered launch failure). Thus Quick-
bird II satellite is usually referred to simply as Quick-bird, and by the name Quick-bird is usually
meant the satellite Quick-bird II.

Prior to Quick-bird I and II, Digital Globe launched the Early Bird 1 successfully in 1997 but the
satellite lost communications after only four days in orbit due to power system failure.

2. Land Observation Satellites/Sensors

2.1 Landsat

Although many of the weather satellite systems (such as

those described in the previous section) are also used for
monitoring the Earth's surface, they are not optimized for
detailed mapping of the land surface. Driven by the exciting
views from, and great success of the early meteorological
satellites in the 1960's, as well as from images taken during
manned spacecraft missions, the first satellite designed
specifically to monitor the Earth's surface, Landsat-1, was
launched by NASA in 1972. Initially referred to as ERTS-1,
(Earth Resources Technology Satellite), Landsat was
designed as an

experiment to test the feasibility of collecting multi-spectral Earth observation data from an
unmanned satellite platform. Since that time, this highly successful program has collected an

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abundance of data from around the world from several Landsat satellites. Originally managed by
NASA, responsibility for the Landsat program was transferred to NOAA in 1983. In 1985, the
program became commercialized, providing data to civilian and applications users. Landsat's
success is due to several factors, including: a combination of sensors with spectral bands tailored
to Earth observation; functional spatial resolution; and good areal coverage (swath width and
revisit period). The long lifespan of the program has provided a voluminous archive of Earth
resource data facilitating long term monitoring and historical records and research. All Landsat
satellites are placed in near-polar, sun-synchronous orbits. The first three satellites (Landsats 1-3)
are at altitudes around 900 km and have revisit periods of 18 days while the later satellites are at
around 700 km and have revisit periods of 16 days. All Landsat satellites have equator crossing
times in the morning to optimize illumination conditions.
A number of sensors have been on board the Landsat series of satellites, including the Return
Beam Vidicon (RBV) camera systems, the Multi-spectral Scanner (MSS) systems, and the
Thematic Mapper (TM). The most popular instrument in the early days of Landsat was the
MultiSpectral Scanner (MSS) and later the Thematic Mapper (TM). Each of these sensors
collected data over a swath width of 185 km, with a full scene being defined as 185 km x 185
km. The MSS senses the electromagnetic radiation from the Earth's surface in four spectral
bands. Each band has a spatial resolution of approximately 60 x 80 metres and a radiometric
resolution of 6 bits, or 64 digital numbers. Sensing is accomplished with a line scanning device
using an oscillating mirror. Six scan lines are collected simultaneously with each west-to-east
sweep of the scanning mirror. The accompanying table outlines the spectral wavelength ranges
for the MSS.

MSS Bands
Channel Wavelength range(µm)
Landsat 1,2,3 Landsat 4,5

MSS 4 MSS 1 0.5-0.6 (green)

MSS 5 MSS 2 0.6-0.7 (red)
MSS 6 MSS 3 0.7-0..8 (near iinfrared)

MSS 7 MSS 4 0.8-1.1 (near iinfrared)

Routine collection of MSS data ceased in 1992, as the use of TM data, starting on Landsat 4,
superseded the MSS. The TM sensor provides several improvements over the MSS sensor
including: higher spatial and radiometric resolution; finer spectral bands; seven as opposed to four

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spectral bands; and an increase in the number of detectors per band (16 for the non-thermal
channels versus six for MSS). Sixteen scan lines are captured simultaneously for each non-thermal
spectral band (four for thermal band), using an oscillating mirror which scans during both the
forward (west-to-east) and reverse (east-to-west) sweeps of the scanning mirror. This difference
from the MSS increases the dwell time and improves the geometric and radiometric integrity of
the data. Spatial resolution of TM is 30 m for all but the thermal infrared band which is 120 m. All
channels are recorded over a range of 256 digital numbers (8 bits). The accompanying table
outlines the spectral resolution of the individual TM bands and some useful applications of each.
TM Bands
Wavelength Ranges (m) Application
Channel µ Application
TM 1 0.45 - 0.52 (blue) soil/vegetation discrimination; bathymetry/coastal
mapping; cultural/urban feature identification
TM 2 0.52 - 0.60 (green) green vegetation mapping (measures reflectance peak);
cultural/urban feature identification
TM 3 0.63 - 0.69 (red) vegetated vs. non-vegetated and plant species
discrimination (plant chlorophyll absorption);
cultural/urban feature identification
TM 4 0.76 - 0.90 (near IR) identification of plant/vegetation types, health, and biomass
content; water body delineation; soil moisture
TM 5 1.55 - 1.75 (short wave sensitive to moisture in soil and vegetation;
IR) discriminating snow and cloud-covered areas
TM 6 10.4 - 12.5 (thermal vegetation stress and soil moisture discrimination related
IR) to thermal radiation; thermal mapping (urban, water)
TM 7 2.08 - 2.35 (short wave discrimination of mineral and rock types; sensitive to
IR vegetation moisture content

Data from both the TM and MSS sensors are used for
a wide variety of applications, including resource
management, mapping, environmental monitoring, and
change detection (e.g. monitoring forest
clearcutting). The archives of Canadian imagery
include over 350,000 scenes of MSS and over 200,000
scenes of TM, managed by the licensed distributor in

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Canada: RSI Inc. Many more scenes are held by
foreign facilities around the world.
 In General, The Multi-spectral Scanner (MSS) carried on Landsat 1,2,3,4 and 5 collected data in
four ranges (bands); the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor on Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 included
those bands found on earlier satellites and introduced a thermal and a shortwave infrared band.
A panchromatic band was added to Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)
sensor. While the earlier satellites carried just one sensor, Landsat 8 was designed to acquire
data in a total of 11 bands from two separate sensors: the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and
the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). Landsat 9 carries improved copies of the Landsat 8
sensors.
2.2 Characteristics of landsat satellite
Landsat satellites are part of the U.S. Landsat program, which has been in operation since 1972.
The Landsat program aims to provide continuous global monitoring of Earth's surface, with a focus
on land use, land cover, and environmental changes. The satellites in the Landsat series have evolved
in terms of technology, sensor capabilities, and coverage.

Key Characteristics are the following:-

 Orbit: Landsat satellites are launched into a polar, sun-synchronous orbit, which means they
orbit the Earth in a way that keeps them in sync with the sun.
 Altitude: Landsat satellites orbit at an altitude of 705 km (438 mi).
 Cycle: Landsat satellites have a 233-orbit cycle, which means they cover the entire globe every
16 days, except for the highest polar latitudes.
 Inclination: Landsat satellites are inclined at 98.2°.
 Equatorial crossing time: Landsat satellites cross the equator at around 10 AM local time.
 Sensors: Landsat satellites have different types of sensors, including the Multi-spectral
Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+).
 Calibration: Landsat satellites use vicarious calibration approaches to update their thermal
calibration.
 Swath overlap: The swath overlap of Landsat satellites varies from 7% at the equator to
almost 84% at 81° north or south latitude.
 Spectral bands: Landsat instruments measure the wavelengths of light, which are known as
spectral bands.

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 Temporal Resolution: Landsat satellites revisit the same location every 16 days, providing
repeated and consistent data for monitoring changes over time. Some overlap may occur when
multiple Landsat satellites are in operation.
 Sensors and Imagery: Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+), and
Operational Land Imager (OLI): These are the primary imaging sensors on Landsat satellites.
These sensors capture a variety of electromagnetic spectrum bands, including visible, near-
infrared (NIR), and thermal infrared (TIR) bands.
 OLI (Operational Land Imager): Found on Landsat 8 and later, with 11 spectral bands
ranging from visible to shortwave infrared (SWIR).
 ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus): Found on Landsat 7, with 8 bands and enhanced
spatial resolution in the panchromatic band.
 Spatial Resolution: Landsat data typically offers a 30-meter resolution in most bands, which is
suitable for mapping large-scale land features. The panchromatic band (on Landsat 8 and
Landsat 7) has a 15-meter resolution.
 Radiometric Résolution: Landsat's sensors provide a radiometric resolution of 8 bits per pixel,
corresponding to 256 possible digital values. This allows for distinguishing small variations in
reflectance in the observed land features.
 Applications: Landsat data has been extensively used in land cover classification, urban
planning, forestry, agriculture, water management, environmental monitoring, and disaster
response. It is particularly valuable in analyzing long-term land use changes, monitoring
deforestation, urban sprawl, and climate change.
 Landsat Data Access: Landsat imagery is freely available, making it widely accessible for
research, government, and commercial applications. Data can be accessed through the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Explorer or other platforms that host satellite imagery.

2.3. The band designations for the Landsat satellites

The sensors onboard each of the Landsat satellites were designed to acquire data in different
wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Band pass Wavelengths for all Landsat Sensors

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Detailed Description of the above image

This image shows the spectral bandpasses for the sensors on all Landsat satellites.

 Landsat 1-5 Multi-spectral Scanner System (MSS): the sensor onboard each satellite
acquired data in four spectral bands in the visible and near infrared spectrum’ s
 Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM): the sensor onboard each satellite
acquired data in seven spectral bands, and included shortwave infrared and thermal data
 Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+): acquired data in a total of eight
spectral bands, including a 15-meter panchromatic band
 Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared
Sensor (TIRS): the sensors onboard each satellite acquire data in a total of eleven bands,
including:

 Band 1 – “Coastal / Aerosol Band”: helps scientists measure ocean color in coastal regions and
is also useful for aerosol detection
 Band 9 – “Cirrus Band”: For measuring light in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum where
the clouds are most visible for enhanced cloud and shadow detection
 Bands 10 and 11 thermal bands for measuring thermal infrared radiation
 Landsat Next increases the acquisition of data in the number of bands drastically, with a total of
26 spectral bands acquired by each satellite in the triplet constellation.

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 Landsat MSS = the numbers shown are for Landsat 4 and Landsat 5; Landsat 1-3 band numbers
are 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Common Landsat Band Combinations

Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)
images consist of nine spectral bands, and two thermal bands. The approximate scene size is 170 km
north-south by 183 km east-west (106 mi by 114 mi).

Wavelength Resolution
Bands
(micrometers) (meters)
Band 1 - Coastal aerosol 0.43-0.45 30
Band 2 - Blue 0.45-0.51 30
Band 3 - Green 0.53-0.59 30
Band 4 - Red 0.64-0.67 30
Band 5 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.85-0.88 30
Band 6 - Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) 1 1.57-1.65 30
Band 7 - Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) 2 2.11-2.29 30
Band 8 - Panchromatic 0.50-0.68 15
Band 9 - Cirrus 1.36-1.38 30
Band 10 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 1 10.6-11.19 100 (resampled to 30)*
Band 11 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 2 11.50-12.51 100 (resampled to 30)*
Source: USGS Earth Explorer) March 19,2024
Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images consist of eight spectral bands All
of the bands can collect one of two gain settings (high or low) for increased radiometric sensitivity
and dynamic range, while Band 6 collects both high and low gain for all scenes. The approximate
scene size is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west (106 mi by 114 mi).
Wavelength Resolution
Bands
(micrometers) (meters)
Band 1 - Blue 0.45-0.52 30
Band 2 - Green 0.52-0.60 30
Band 3 - Red 0.63-0.69 30
Band 4 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.77-0.90 30

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Band 5 - Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) 1 1.55-1.75 30
Band 6 - Thermal 10.40-12.50 60 (resampled to 30)*
Band 7 - Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) 2 2.09-2.35 30
Band 8 - Panchromatic .52-.90 15
Source: USGS Earth Explorer) March 19,2024
Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images consist of seven spectral bands The approximate
scene size is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west (106 mi by 114 mi).
Wavelength Resolution
Bands
(micrometers) (meters)
Band 1 - Blue 0.45-0.52 30
Band 2 - Green 0.52-0.60 30
Band 3 - Red 0.63-0.69 30
Band 4 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.76-0.90 30
Band 5 - Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) 1 1.55-1.75 30
Band 6 - Thermal 10.40-12.50 120 (resampled to 30)*
Source: USGS Earth Explorer) March 19,2024
Landsat 1-5 Multispectral Scanner (MSS) images consist of four spectral bands. The approximate
scene size is 170 km north-south by 185 km east-west (106 mi by 115 mi). Specific band
designations differ from Landsat 1-3 to Landsat 4-5.
Landsat Landsat Wavelength Resolution
1-3 4-5 (micrometers) (meters)
Band 4 - Green Band 1 - Green 0.5-0.6 60
Band 5 - Red Band 2 = Red 0.6-0.7 60
Band 6 - Near Infrared (NIR) Band 3 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.7-0.8 60
Band 7 - Near Infrared (NIR) Band 4 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.8-1.1 60
Source: USGS Earth Explorer) March 19,2024

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2.4 Satellite Chronology
Instrument Picture Launched Terminate Duration Notes
d
Landsat 1 23 July 1972 Originally named Earth
Resources Technology
Satellite 1. Landsat 1
carried two vital
instruments: a camera
5 years, built by the Radio
6 January
6 months and Corporation of America
1978
14 days (RCA) known as the
Return Beam Vidicon
(RBV); and the Multi
spectral Scanner (MSS)
built by the Hughes
Aircraft Company.
Nearly identical copy of
Landsat 1. Payload
consisting of a Return
7 years,
22 January 25 February Beam Vidicon (RBV) and
Landsat 2 1 month and
1975 1982 a Multi spectral Scanner
3 days
(MSS). The specifications
of these instruments were
identical to Landsat 1.

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Landsat 3 Nearly identical copy of
Landsat 1 and Landsat 2.
Payload consisting of a
Return Beam Vidicon
(RBV) as well as a Multi
spectral Scanner (MSS).
Included with the MSS
31 March 5 years and
5 March 1978 was a short-lived thermal
1983 26 days
band. MSS data was
considered more
scientifically applicable
than the RBV which was
rarely used for
engineering evaluation
purposes.
Landsat 4 Landsat 4 carried an
updated Multi Spectral
11 years,
14 December Scanner (MSS) used on
16 July 1982 4 months and
1993 previous Landsat
28 days
missions, as well as a
Thematic Mapper.
Landsat 5 Nearly identical copy of
Landsat 4. Longest Earth-
observing satellite mission
in history. Designed and
29 years, built at the same time as
March 1984 5 June 2013 3 months and Landsat 4, this satellite
4 days carried the same payload
consisting of a Multi
Spectral Scanner (MSS)
as well as a Thematic l
Mapper.

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Landsat 6 Failed to reach orbit.
Landsat 6 was an
upgraded version of its
predecessors. Carrying the
5 October 5 October same Multi spectral
0 days
1993 1993 Scanner (MSS) but also
carrying an Enhanced
Thematic Mapper, which
added a 15m resolution
panchromatic band.
Landsat 7 Operating with scan line
corrector disabled since
May 2003. The main
component on Landsat 7
was the Enhanced
25 years, Thematic Mapper Plus
19 January
15 April 1999 8 months and (ETM+). Still consisting
2024
5 days of the 15m-resolution
panchromatic band, but
also includes a full
aperture calibration. This
allows for 5% absolute
radiometric calibration
Landsat 8 Originally named Landsat
Data Continuity Mission
from launch until 30 May
2013, when NASA
11 years,
11 February operations were turned
active 10 months and
2013 over to United States
9 days
Geological Survey
(USGS).[15] Landsat 8
has two sensors with its
payload, the Operational

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Land Imager (OLI) and
the Thermal Infrared
Sensor (TIRS).
Landsat 9
3 years,
27 September Landsat 9 is a rebuild of
active 2 months and
2021 its predecessor Landsat 8.
23 days

2.5 Significance's of Landsat satellites

Land imaging from moderate-resolution Earth-observing satellites, such as Landsat, offer the critical
and irreplaceable capability to observe land use and land cover change across global, national, and
regional scales. Landsat’s space-based land imaging is essential because it provides repetitive and
synoptic observations of the Earth otherwise unavailable to researchers and managers who work
across wide geographical areas and applications. Landsat data informs good decisions and
management in many disciplines. To learn more about the benefits of the Landsat Program, explore
the topics below.

Agriculture & Food Security Worldwide, millions of people are helped by Landsat-data-based
decisions that impact food and water management. Food and farming organizations rely on the
unbiased, accurate and timely information provided by Landsat satellites. The data enable people to
analyze the health and vigor of crops as they mature over the growing season.

 Disaster Management:- Fire, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters can be
particularly tragic and costly when critical facilities such as power plants, airports, roads, and
hospitals are threatened. When a disaster strikes, remote sensing is often the only way to get a
big-picture view of what is happening on the ground.
 Energy Resources;- Energy is a growing necessity for people worldwide. As the demand for
energy grows, Landsat plays an important role in identifying new energy sources. Decision
makers can also monitor the environmental impact of mining and energy generation and track
ecological recovery after operations end.
 Rangeland Management:- Rangelands are natural and uncultivated landscapes in the form of
grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild
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herbivores. Since rangelands encompass a diversity of habitats and cover more than half of the
Earth’s terrestrial land surface, Landsat data provides a key method for managing and
monitoring vegetation health and forage production.
 Urban Development:- Using Landsat data, people can monitor urban change and also forecast
patterns of change in future urban landscapes. Landsat sensors employ a spatial resolution of 30
m, an ideal scale for observing human impacts on the land. The sensors detect urban growth
with visible and infrared reflectivity consistently, objectively, and dependably over time.
 Water Resources:- Water is essential for life. Landsat-based decisions on how to manage
limited water resources have impacted millions of people worldwide. From finding water for
refugees in arid nations to reducing pollution in our national waterways, Landsat enables
decisions that directly help people.
 Wildland Fires:- Worldwide, fire plays a critical role in maintaining healthy forests, but fire
can also be damaging. Homes are destroyed and the effects on air quality can be felt for miles.
Forest fires are occurring more often and with greater intensity than in years past, and Landsat
plays a critical role in understanding the impact.

3. Quick-Bird Satellite
Quick-Bird was a high-resolution commercial Earth observation satellite, owned by Digital Globe,
launched in 2001 and reentered after orbit decay in 2015. Quick Bird used Ball Aerospace's Global
Imaging System 2000 (BGIS 2000). The satellite collected panchromatic (black and white) imagery
at 61 centimeter resolution and multi-spectral imagery at 2.44- (at 450 km) to 1.63-meter (at 300 km)
resolution, as orbit altitude is lowered during the end of mission life.

At this resolution, detail such as buildings and other infrastructure are easily visible. However, this
resolution is insufficient for working with smaller objects such as a license plate on a car. The
imagery can be imported into remote sensing image processing software, as well as into GIS
packages for analysis.

Contractors included Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Kodak and Fokker Space. Original plans
called for a constellation of three Quick Bird satellites scheduled to be in orbit by 2008. In the end,
two Quick Bird satellites, Quick Bird I and II, made it to launch pad. However, only Quick Bird II
made it successfully into orbit (Quick-Bird I suffered launch failure). Thus Quick Bird II satellite is
usually referred to simply as Quick-Bird, and by the name Quick Bird is usually meant the satellite

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Quick-Bird II. Prior to Quick-Bird I and II, Digital Globe launched the Early Bird 1 successfully in
1997 but the satellite lost communications after only four days in orbit due to power system failure.

QuickBird Satellite Sensor (0.651m)

3.1 Classification Of Quick Bird Satellite

1. Quick-Bird I

The first Quick-Bird, Quick-Bird I (or Quick-Bird 1, QB 1, COSPAR 2000-074A) was launched 20
November 2000, by EarthWatch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia by a Kosmos-3M rocket.
QB-1 failed to reach planned orbit due to launch vehicle failure and was declared a failure. The
satellite re-entered next day still attached to the upper stage of the rocket. The QB-1 satellite was in
construction similar to Quick-Bird 2 satellite (described above and below in this article), which
became later known simply as Quick-Bird.

2. Quick-Bird II

Quick-Bird II (also QuickBird-2 or Quick-bird 2, QB-2, COSPAR 2001-047A) or as it was later

known, simply Quick-Bird, was launched for Digital Globe October 18, 2001 from the Vandenberg

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Air Force Base, California, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. The satellite was initially expected to
collect at 1 meter resolution but after a license was granted in 2000 by the U.S. Department of
Commerce / NASA, DigitalGlobe was able launch the Quick-Bird II with 0.61 meter panchromatic
and 2.4 meter multi-spectral (previously planned 4 meter) resolution.

QuickBird Satellite Sensor (0.65m) - Decommissioned

MAXAR's QuickBird satellite sensor was successfully launched on October 18, 2001, at
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA.

Using a state-of-the-art BGIS 2000 sensor (PDF), Quick-Bird satellite collected image data to 0.65m
pixel resolution degree of detail. This satellite was an excellent source of environmental data useful
for analyses of changes in land usage, agriculture, and forest climates. Quick-Bird's imaging
capabilities had applied to a host of industries, including oil and gas exploration and production
(E&P), engineering and construction and environmental studies.

3.2. Characteristics of Quick bird satellite

The Quick-Bird satellite has many characteristics, including:

 Orbit and Coverage: Quick-Bird was positioned in a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit, at an
altitude of approximately 450 km (280 miles).
 Swath Width: The satellite's swath width was around 16.5 km, which is much narrower than
that of Landsat, reflecting its focus on high-resolution, targeted observations.
 Temporal Resolution: The revisit time of Quick-Bird was approximately 3-4 days, depending
on the latitude. This allowed for more frequent observation of specific locations compared to
Landsat, though its coverage was more limited due to its narrower swath.
 Sensors and Imagery: Panchromatic (PAN) Sensor: Quick-Bird had a high-resolution
panchromatic sensor that provided 60 cm (0.6 meter) resolution imagery.
 Multi-spectral (MS) Sensor: Quick Bird also had a multi spectral sensor with 2.4-meter
resolution across four spectral bands—blue, green, red, and near-infrared.
 Spatial Resolution: Panchromatic: 60 cm, which was among the highest available for
commercial Earth observation satellites at the time.
 Multi-spectral: 2.4 meters, which was sufficient for analyzing land features at a medium scale.

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 Radiometric Resolution: Quick-Bird's sensors provided 11 bits of radiometric resolution
(2048 digital levels), allowing for more precise measurements of reflectance and better ability to
distinguish subtle variations in land cover and surface characteristics.
 Applications:Quick Bird was used in a variety of commercial and governmental applications
such as urban planning, disaster response, precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, and
infrastructure management. Its high-resolution imagery made it valuable for tasks requiring
detailed spatial information, such as identifying individual buildings, roads, or agricultural fields.
 Data Access and Usage: Quick-Bird's data was commercial, meaning it required purchasing
licenses. This limited its availability compared to public domain satellites like Landsat.
However, the high resolution made it highly sought after for detailed, localized studies.
QuickBird imagery is used for a variety of applications, including:

 Mapping
 Land use analysis
 Crisis response
 Coastal management
 Rangeland management
 Disaster management
 Military reconnaissance

3.3. Advantages and disadvantages of Quick bird satellites

Advantages of Quick-Bird Satellites:

 High Spatial Resolution: Quick-Bird provides very high spatial resolution (up to 0.61 meters in
panchromatic mode and 2.44 meters in multi-spectral mode), making it ideal for applications
that require detailed imagery, such as urban mapping, infrastructure monitoring, and small-scale
land-use classification.
 High Temporal Resolution: Quick-Bird has a relatively high revisit rate, with a global revisit
period of about 1–3 days, depending on the area. This is much higher than Landsat, which
makes Quick-Bird suitable for monitoring dynamic or rapidly changing environments.
 High Accuracy: The higher resolution of Quick-Bird allows for more accurate data collection,
which is particularly useful in applications like mapping, disaster response, and detailed land-
use analysis.

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
Commercial Use: Quick-Bird's high-resolution data is commercially available, meaning that
businesses and private companies can leverage the satellite’s imagery for various applications,
including agriculture, construction, and real estate development.

Reduced Cloud Interference: While Quick Bird can be affected by cloud cover, its high-
resolution data often enables it to penetrate smaller areas of cloud cover and provide clearer
images in comparison to satellites with coarser resolution.

 Disadvantages of Quick-Bird Satellites:

 Expensive Data: Unlike Landsat, Quick-Bird data is not free. Commercial access to Quick Bird
imagery can be expensive, particularly for high-resolution datasets, making it less accessible to
users with limited budgets (e.g., small organizations, developing countries).
 Limited Historical Archive: Quick Bird does not have the same long historical data record as
Landsat. The satellite was launched in 2001 and operated until 2015, and thus, the time series of
Quick Bird data is much shorter, limiting its ability for long-term environmental studies.
 Limited Spectral Bands: Quick Bird has fewer spectral bands than Landsat, which means its
capability for performing detailed environmental monitoring (e.g., vegetation analysis, water
quality) is less than that of Landsat.
 Narrower Coverage Area: Quick-Bird has a narrower swath compared to Landsat (16.5 km vs.
Landsat's 185 km), meaning it can cover less area per pass, which increases the cost of covering
large areas.
 Sensitivity to Weather Conditions: Like all optical satellites, Quick Bird can be hindered by
weather conditions, especially cloud cover and atmospheric interference, which can obstruct its
ability to capture clear imagery.
 Data Storage and Processing Demands: The high-resolution images produced by Quick-bird
require more storage space and more intensive processing compared to lower-resolution data
like that from Landsat. This can result in higher operational costs for processing and analysis.

4. Conclusion:

In this assignment, I explored two prominent Earth observation satellites—Landsat and Quick Bird.
Both have distinct capabilities and features that make them valuable tools for various applications in
remote sensing, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and disaster management.

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 Landsat satellites have a long history of providing continuous, multi-spectral imagery with a
moderate spatial resolution (30 meters), which has proven to be invaluable for global land cover
monitoring, environmental change detection, and scientific research. The advantage of Landsat
lies in its long-term archive (over 40 years of data), free and open access, and ability to provide
consistent temporal imagery, which is essential for analyzing trends over time. However, the
moderate spatial resolution and lower revisit frequency are some limitations, particularly for
applications requiring high spatial detail or rapid updates.
 QuickBird, on the other hand, offers high-resolution imagery (up to 60 cm), which makes it
ideal for applications that require detailed mapping, such as urban planning, infrastructure
development, and precision agriculture. Its high spatial resolution allows users to detect smaller
objects and finer details that Landsat cannot provide. However, Quick Bird has a shorter
operational lifespan compared to Landsat, and the data comes at a cost, which limits its
accessibility for large-scale or long-term projects.
 Both satellites offer significant advantages depending on the specific needs of the user. Landsat
is a preferred choice for large-scale environmental monitoring and historical analysis due to its
free data and long time-series. Quick Bird, in contrast, is more suited for projects requiring
detailed mapping and analysis of small-scale features, where high spatial resolution is critical.

5. Recommendations:
 For Large-Scale Environmental Monitoring: Landsat should be prioritized due to its long-
term data archive and global coverage. It is an excellent tool for detecting and analyzing
environmental changes, such as deforestation, urban expansion, and climate change over time.
 For Urban Planning and Infrastructure Development: QuickBird’s high-resolution imagery
is ideal for detailed mapping and analysis of urban areas, helping urban planners and engineers
design better infrastructure projects. It is particularly beneficial for mapping roads, buildings,
and other critical structures.
 For Agriculture and Precision Farming: Landsat can be useful for large-scale agricultural
monitoring and crop health analysis. Quick Bird, with its higher spatial resolution, is better for
localized crop monitoring, precision farming, and field-level assessments.
 Cost-Effective Long-Term Monitoring: For projects on a budget or those requiring access to
long-term data, Landsat’s free data access makes it the preferred choice. Its availability and
consistency over several decades offer unique insights into the earth’s surface and changes over
time.

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 For High Detail and Small Area Analysis: Quick Bird should be recommended for detailed
site-specific projects where the highest spatial resolution is necessary. However, its cost might
limit its use for broader and more repetitive applications, and users may need to balance the
need for resolution with budget constraints.

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6. References

 The Landsat Program – Technical Details Archived 2010-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
 Pennisi, Elizabeth (10 September 2021). "Meet the Landsat pioneer who fought to revolutionize
Earth observation".
 NASA Landsat Science, A Face Behind Landsat Images: Meet Dr. Valerie L. Thomas This
article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
 Folger, Peter (27 October 2014). "Landsat: Overview and Issues for Congress" (PDF). fas.org.
Congressional Research Service.
 Greenberg, Joel S.; Hertzfeld, Henry (1992). Space Economics. AIAA (American Institute of
Aeronautics & Astronautics). p. 372. ISBN 978-1-56347-042-4.
 "Landsat 7 - Landsat Science". landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 8
November 2016.
 "Landsat 8 Data Now Available!". USGS. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved
30 May 2013.
 "Landsat 9". NASA Landsat Science. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016.
Retrieved 21 December 2016.
 DigitalGlode History – QuickBird I Archived September 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
 "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details".
 "Quickbird 1, 2 (QB 1, 2)".
 "QuickBird-2". EOPortal.org. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
 "DigitalGlobe Completes Quickbird Satellite Orbit Raise". DigitalGlobe News Room. April 18,
2011.
 "QuickBird 2 was successfully launched on 18 Oct 2001". Center for Remote Imaging, Sensing
& Processing. 2001. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
 Krebs, Gunter D. “Quickbird 1, 2 (QB 1, 2)”. Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved December 24,
2024, from https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/quickbird.htm

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