THE INTERVIEW:
Five Questions for . . . Jeff Liedtke
Jeff Liedtke is
DigitalGlobe’s Director of Commercial Applications. His
job is to turn the company’s wealth of raw data into
valuable products and solutions to solve real-world
problems for its customers.
1. Satellite-based sensors
typically collect quite a lot of data during each hour
they operate. Can you explain the path that raw data takes
from collection to a user downloading an image from
GlobeXplorer?
The QuickBird satellite collects about 50 100mi2
images per orbit, with 15 orbits per day, resulting in the
acquisition of about 75,000 mi2 of imagery a day. Imagery
and associated metadata collected on each orbit is
downloaded to one of three ground stations located in the
northern hemisphere, then transmitted directly to
DigitalGlobe’s world headquarters in Longmont, Colorado.
As the data is ingested into the DigitalGlobe archive,
called the ImageLibrary, it is automatically analyzed by
signal processing procedures for integrity, and an
“overview” image, called a browse image, is visually
inspected for cloud cover and other physical and
environmental effects. The browse images and associated
quality information resides in the ImageLibrary, and are
viewable and searchable by anyone with access to the
internet via our website, www.digitalglobe.com.
All products are produced once the imagery and
other necessary ancillary information are collected in the
ImageLibrary. Good quality imagery of different geographic
locations is produced into georeferenced image products
and distributed via ftp or other media to our partners
such as GlobeXplorer and Keyhole for inclusion in their
online stores. DigitalGlobe typically produces a terabyte
a month of georeferenced imagery for these partners.
2. DigitalGlobe has made
“productization” of its data for the commercial sector
a new priority. How does that fit in with the company’s
maturation over the last few years?
It has always been DigitalGlobe’s goal to create
value-added products for customers and markets, not just
provide imagery data. Product development usually follows
a progression over time from data, to value-added data,
value-added information, applications and complete
solutions. Product development must also consider product
inter-relatedness and inter-operability to address a
variety of applications and build towards complete
solutions. Because customers and markets dictate which
products DigitalGlobe produces, a certain amount of
maturation is necessary for the company to clearly
identify and define product requirements, then implement
them into our production and commercial business systems,
and roll them out to the market.
After the launch of QuickBird in 2001, the company
initially focused on producing standard imagery products
meeting specifications and delivery timeframes designed to
meet industry standards for quality and accuracy.
DigitalGlobe has worked closely with organizations such as
the Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE)
committee (made up of NASA, NGA and the USGS), which
verifies that these standard products meet specifications.
The JACIE Committee and other organizations have verified
through rigorous evaluation procedures that
DigitalGlobe’s products meet or exceed the published
specifications.
Customers and markets for data and value-added data
are generally well-defined because savvy users know how to
process imagery to extract the information they need. For
example, since most applications require map creation and
updating based on orthorectified data, customers may
orthorectify QuickBird lower level data called Basic
(i.e., raw) and Standard (i.e., georeferenced) QuickBird
data themselves using standard COTS packages, or
DigitalGlobe may produce and deliver value-added data such
as orthorectified 1:4,800 (1”=400’) or 1:12,000
Digital Orthoimage Quarter Quads (DOQQs) directly to
customers. These “foundation” products are the
building blocks used to construct useful information
products.
While DigitalGlobe worked to ensure the production
of standard data and value-added data products, the
company was also gathering input and requirements from
customers and markets to identify and define value-added
information products and services. DigitalGlobe has
produced and delivered a suite of agriculture products to
aid farm and agribusiness in making informed management
decisions for a couple of years. Recently, DigitalGlobe
released a few information products such as DGStormWater,
designed to help local government organizations establish
stormwater utility fees and comply with EPA regulations
(Figure 1), and the Strategic Wildfire Risk Assessment
System (Figure 2) which addresses the needs of wildland/urban
interface communities who need to identify and mitigate
potential wildfire risks, as well as develop strategic
emergency response plans. Developing sustainable Community
Wildfire Protection Plans (documents that identify and
prioritize areas for hazardous fuel) also provides
communities with a means to qualify for available federal
dollars to assist in targeted fuel programs and emergency
services development. These value-added information
products address specific applications that build toward
complete solutions.
3. How does DigitalGlobe decide
which products will “sit on the shelf” ready for
shipment, vs. those that will be created “on demand?”
Have products moved from one type to the other?
At this time, DigitalGlobe is working with several
Web portal business partners to provide standard products
that meet their current customer requirements, such as
Standard georeferenced imagery accessible in GlobeXplorer
and Keyhole. Depending on customer input and demand,
DigitalGlobe will host additional products either on our
partners’ Web portal sites, or on our own Web-based
ecommerce store. For example, many customers are asking
for online access to current 2-foot resolution DG DOQQs to
update their landbase (Figure 3), and help them respond to
emergency situations in a timely manner.
4. Do other sensing
technologies have similar challenges? For example, are
there productization issues associated with LiDAR or IFSAR?
Data producers will always be challenged to offer
and deliver more user friendly and useful products.
Customers usually want the information necessary to solve
a problem or make a decision in a timely fashion. They do
not necessarily want data that has to be further processed
by experts using specialized applications packages to
derive the needed information; an analogy is a person that
is hungry and wants bread—not wheat, yeast, sugar, etc.
Data producers fill an important role—they
provide the source data from which to develop necessary
information products. These producers may choose to
develop more advanced information products based on their
source data, usually in combination with other types of
data and/or services. Or data producers may team with
value-added resellers to produce or tailor products to
address specific applications and customer needs.
5. What sorts of new products
can users expect from DigitalGlobe in the coming months
and years?
DigitalGlobe will focus mainly on two types of
products and services based on leveraging our core
competencies. First, information products will be based on
information extracted from a wide variety of imagery such
as QuickBird and other digital orbital and airborne
imagery having different resolutions and spectral
characteristics, LiDAR, GIS and other geospatial
information to address applications and solutions. Second,
products are based on data maintenance or subscription
services where data, value-added data, and information
products are updated according to the requirements of our
customers.
DigitalGlobe plans to extend its product families
and services as the company’s capabilities evolve with
the launch of the WorldView constellation of satellite
sensor systems, which will enable daily coverage of any
location on the globe.
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