Aerial Images, Inc., a pioneer provider of high resolution satellite imagery, has made available the world's largest collection of 2-meter resolution satellite imagery on the
World Wide Web.
Internet users can now view detailed satellite images of the globe and then download them for as little as $7.95 via a Web interface. In addition, viewers can also order high quality Kodak prints starting at $12.95. When they visit Microsoft TerraServer consumers will, for the first time, have access to new detailed satellite photos that will allow them to view their neighborhoods, vacation spots and other locations from space at a resolution never before available. In the imagery a viewer can distinguish objects as small as two meters across-detailed enough to see a truck or a car, or to spot a house in a photo taken from space.
Microsoft TerraServer consumers are free to browse the entire archive of
satellite images on the World Wide Web. Using their browser, users can
search for a photograph based on a city name or region or using latitude
and longitudinal coordinates. Users can then pan or zoom within the digital
picture by "pointing and clicking." When a purchase is made, the image will
be downloaded directly to a customer's PC and printed pictures can be
delivered via mail direct to a consumer's home.
"The opening of Microsoft TerraServer represents many firsts for the World
Wide Web," said John Hoffman president and CEO of Aerial Images. "For the
first time, consumers can get highly-detailed satellite pictures of the
Earth-delivered right to their door. For the first time an American
company, Aerial Images, Inc., has teamed up with the Russian Space Agency
to image the world. Most significantly, this is the beginning of a "new
geography" in which the world is not broken into abstract lines and colors
on a map, but visible as it really is. Now consumers can surf the world!"
Not only can Internet users view their favorite vacation spot directly on
their own PC, but Kodak Earth Imaging is also providing Microsoft
TerraServer customers with digital photographic print services. Kodak Earth
Imaging will quickly print and deliver to the customer's doorstep
photographic prints of purchased digital images, up to 20" x 26" poster
size. Introductory pricing will make prints available for between $12.95
and $39.95, depending on the size.
The most recent SPIN-2 imagery on the Microsoft TerraServer was collected
during a satellite mission launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
February and recovered in April. On this mission, Aerial Images focused on
gathering satellite photos of the southeastern United Sates and major
cities around the world. Aerial Images and SOVINFORMSPUTNIK have planned
two additional satellite missions during each of the next two years to
complete the imaging of the United States and major population centers
around the globe. When the images from the recent mission are transferred
onto the site, it will contain 1.2 terabytes of SPIN-2 data, the equivalent
of more than a trillion bytes of data, and will cover more than 2 million
square kilometers of the Earth's surface. To put that into perspective, all
the "html" pages on the World Wide Web combined do not equal one terabyte.
Technology Behind TerraServer
Microsoft TerraServer is made possible through a unique collaboration. Each
company in the TerraServer project has played a key role in the development
and implementation of Microsoft TerraServer. The site is a joint project of
Aerial Images, Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., Kodak, Microsoft Corp., SOVINFORMSPUTNIK and USGS.
Microsoft has provided the technology and database expertise to manage the
massive amount of digital information on Microsoft TerraServer. Running on
Microsoft SQL Server, Enterprise Edition 7.0 and Microsoft Windows NT
Server, Enterprise Edition, the site demonstrates the tremendous
scalability of these products that can support more than a terabyte of
data. To meet the demand of TerraServer users around the world, Microsoft
has selected the AlphaServer and StorageWorks from Compaq as the site
server system. This system enables Microsoft TerraServer to provide
consumers with rapid access to the enormous library of geographic
information.
"Microsoft TerraServer is unique for its technology and its partners,"
continued John Hoffman. "The system Microsoft and Compaq have created to
store and process terabytes of information represents the largest database
on the World Wide Web. Even in tests, the site was handling more than 2
million hits a day. Furthermore, Kodak brings a unique new service to the
Web by supplying high quality prints to TerraServer consumers. This site is
truly a showcase for the companies' state-of-the-art technologies."
In a related release today, Microsoft announced "Microsoft, Partners
Announce Microsoft TerraServer, Global Atlas is World's Largest Database on
the Web."
About Aerial Images, Inc.
Aerial Images, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, was founded
in 1988 to use advanced digital imagery to lead the way to the new
geography. Aerial Images, Inc., www.aerial-images.com, is a pioneer in
marketing high resolution data, CAD (computer aided dispatch) and
developing GIS systems in support of enhanced 9-1-1 emergency response
systems. Spin-2 Marketing, a division of Aerial Images, Inc., located in
Washington, D.C. is dedicated to the sale and marketing of 2-meter
resolution, geo-referenced, ortho-rectified imagery and digital elevation
models to the commercial marketplace.
About SOVINFORMSPUTNIK
SOVINFORMSPUTNIK was founded by the Russian Space Agency, and is
responsible for development, manufacturing and operation of modern remote
sensing systems. The strategic direction of SOVINFORMSPUTNIK's activity is
to conduct satellite mapping surveys, execute the commercial distribution
of remote sensing data and create exceptional products, including digital
topographic and thematic maps. As a part of its charter, SOVINFORMSPUTNIK
works with the various Russian agencies to organize satellite launches and
in-orbit imaging in order to support the international commercial
value-added community and additional applications of space information.
