April 21, 2023
Colloquium Topic: From the Open Ocean to the Ukraine War, Changing the way we see the World through Commercial Satellite Imagery
In the past couple of decades, access to and use of space has gone commercial and this has changed the space-based remote sensing world. The very first commercial imaging satellite Ikonos was launched in September of 1999 providing 1-meter spatial resolution and a new era in commercial space imaging. Since then, multiple companies offer either Electro-Optic (EO) or Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) space-based capabilities at resolutions as high as 30 cm. At APL, we have been using these resources to support our sponsors for many applications across multiple mission areas. This presentation will summarize these assets and highlight several APL-developed capabilities including automated change detection, maritime vessel detection, structural damage assessment, and even the means to decode a QR Code from space! Finally, the commercial imagery server and how to get access to it will be discussed so that you can take advantage of these resources for your projects and sponsors.
Colloquium Speaker: Marc Kolodner
Dr. Kolodner has over 25 years of experience as a remote sensing specialist and analyst. His physics-based spectral signature modeling and imagery exploitation efforts have supported multiple programs across APL's mission areas. He is also an active member of APL's Disaster Response Corps, delivering quick turnaround analysis products to decision-makers and first responders. Dr. Kolodner has served as the technical lead and project manager of several remote sensing projects using airborne, drone, and satellite imagery. He has been recognized as a Subject Matter Expert by multiple sponsors in geospatial, spectral, and temporal data processing and analysis. He regularly gives presentations, demos, and in-person training to government staff on the use of image-processing approaches and packages that he and his team deliver. This will be Dr. Kolodner's fifth APL Colloquium during his 22-year tenure at APL.