Contract for Radar Mapping in South America

EarthData International (EarthData) (MD, USA) has been awarded a US$4.3 million contract from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to map portions of one of South America’s largest countries using the GeoSAR radar mapping system. GeoSAR, owned and operated exclusively by EarthData, will produce high-resolution image and terrain maps to support a variety of land and information management activities.

Mounted on a jet aircraft and using two radar bands (X- and P-bands) simultaneously, the GeoSAR system will fly over the area and collect extremely accurate images and three-dimensional models of the forest canopy surface as well as the terrain beneath the canopy. “GeoSAR is a system that can map through trees and clouds, which makes it exceptionally valuable for mapping regions such as this where dense vegetation and perennial cloud cover make conventional mapping techniques impossible or cost-prohibitive,” explained EarthData CEO Anne Hale Miglarese.