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Updated: Please note that EarthWatch and SecureWatch have unified under the name SecureWatch, becoming Maxar’s premiere source for Earth intelligence access. Learn more about it here.

The theme of this year’s Esri User Conference was “Inspiring What’s Next,” which is why we at DigitalGlobe, a Maxar Technologies company, decided that this event was the perfect time to launch EarthWatch. This new product will inspire users as they access a wealth of satellite imagery and leverage the massive amount of geospatial information to solve their challenges, such as mapping highways, digitizing wildfires and counting whales, leading to more confident decision-making.

Why EarthWatch? Mapmakers and analysts alike need high-resolution imagery. Some need every image available and some just want the best image we have, but all want to be able to access what they need when they need it. EarthWatch is a subscription-based product that enables users to select and stream the imagery they need, and to access it whenever they need it.

We asked attendees to share what outcomes they hope to achieve with EarthWatch.

Esri UC was a natural fit for launch because EarthWatch integrates seamlessly with ArcMap and ArcPro environments—providing direct access to our entire 18-year image library and premium global content with no area of interest (AOI) restrictions. EarthWatch also has a browser-based interface and additional options to integrate it through Web Services (WMS, WMTS, WFS, WCS) or Image Connect with a Connect ID.

We also spoke with a lot of end-users who were excited about the variety of content available. EarthWatch is designed for each organization to choose an annual downloading/streaming capacity to fit their needs, including a usage-based pricing model. Additionally, the simplified licensing allows users to not worry about the number of seats for access.

So, what’s included?

EarthWatch is a single point of access to DigitalGlobe satellite imagery content. It offers multispectral imagery to identify objects, monitor deforestation and identify the hotspots of wildfires through smoke, plus beautiful basemap mosaics, and more. A subscription includes access to current imagery (more than 3 million square kilometers each day), as well as our imagery library and FirstLook, a critical resource for asset monitoring or emergency response.

Here’s a look at a neighborhood in Boulder County, Colorado, my home base, that I got on EarthWatch, showing a lot of recent growth. Images taken from March 2012 through December 2017.

EarthWatch is all about delivering imagery on customers’ terms. If they’re surveying large areas multiple times a year or have diverse projects across the organization, EarthWatch offers a variety of subscription options to best fit customer projects.

Evaluate your imagery requirements—what type of imagery do you need, and how often? Of course, should you require more imagery, we have options to accommodate unexpected events, like a natural disaster, new interest, etc.

Welcome to a new era in accessible geospatial information.

How will you EarthWatch? Find more details and a usage capacity calculator on the EarthWatch product page.

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