Over the last decade DigitalGlobe (DG) has built and launched a series of remote sensing satellites with steadily
increasing capabilities: QuickBird, WorldView-1 (WV-1), and WorldView-2 (WV-2). Today, this constellation acquires
over 2.5 million km2 of imagery on a daily basis. This paper presents the configuration and performance capabilities of
each of these satellites, with emphasis on the unique spatial and spectral capabilities of WV-2. WV-2 employs high-precision
star tracker and inertial measurement units to achieve a geolocation accuracy of 5 m Circular Error, 90%
confidence (CE90). The native resolution of WV-2 is 0.5 m GSD in the panchromatic band and 2 m GSD in 8
multispectral bands. Four of the multispectral bands match those of the Landsat series of satellites; four new bands
enable novel and expanded applications. We are rapidly establishing and refreshing a global database of very high
resolution (VHR) 8-band multispectral imagery. Control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) on both WV-1 and WV-2 improve
collection capacity and provide the agility to capture multi-angle sequences in rapid succession. These capabilities result
in a rich combination of image features that can be exploited to develop enhanced monitoring solutions. Algorithms for
interpretation and analysis can leverage: 1) broader and more continuous spectral coverage at 2 m resolution; 2) textural
and morphological information from the 0.5 m panchromatic band; 3) ancillary information from stereo and multi-angle
collects, including high precision digital elevation models; 4) frequent revisits and time-series collects; and 5) the global
reference image archives. We introduce the topic of creative fusion of image attributes, as this provides a unifying theme
for many of the papers in this WV-2 Special Session.
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