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DigitalGlobe

Media Contact for DigitalGlobe:

Chuck Herring
Director of Marketing Communications
303.682.3820 (Direct)
cherring{at}digitalglobe.com
(800) 496-1225 (Customer Service line for publication)

June 18, 2003

STATE OF ALASKA USES QUICKBIRD SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR FIRE RESPONSE

LONGMONT, Colo. -- DigitalGlobeTM announced today that its QuickBird
satellite images were recently used by the State of Alaska's Forestry
Division to help firefighters navigate wildfires. Fires began blazing
through forested areas about 80 miles south of Fairbanks on May 26
and have since been contained. 

The 60-centimeter resolution black-and-white QuickBird(tm) images,
collected in August 2002, show trails and roads, building structures
and fire prone vegetation. Firefighters used the images for
locational mapping to determine where endangered structures existed,
which residents should be evacuated, where emergency personnel should
be dispatched and where firelines should be constructed. 

Large print-outs of the QuickBird images were posted on fire
department dispatch walls so fire dispatches could quickly map out
response routes, while smaller copies were distributed to division
supervisors for key emergency personnel as they were dispatched to
fight fires. 

According to Marc Lee, Fairbanks Area forester for the Alaska
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forestry Division, the
QuickBird images proved to be critical resource for quick responses
by the Division of Forestry and cooperating fire departments. "Using
the images, we were able to better locate threatened structures and
improve our deployment of firefighting forces. We identified several
structures and one house that had been destroyed," said Lee. 

"We also added power line coverages in a geographic information
system (GIS) so we would know which power lines were threatened and
where to turn off electricity, so firefighters' lives wouldn't be
endangered," Lee added. 

Wildfires are a common occurrence in the interior of Alaska, where
black spruce trees, an extremely fire prone species, are abundant.
The 2.44-meter resolution, multispectral QuickBird images were used
to identify black spruce as well as trails and ponds. In the past,
Alaska firefighters had relied on one-inch-to-the-mile quadrangle
maps to help them navigate their way around an area during a fire.
The quad maps do not indicate trails, roads, structures, vegetation
such as black spruce, and many other features important to
firefighters. QuickBird imagery, by contrast, depicts these details. 

"Using the imagery, one can see which ponds helicopters can access
for dipping buckets, where firelines should be constructed, which
creeks to set a back burn from, and which trails a light fire engine
can navigate," explained Lee. 

The Alaska DNR started acquiring QuickBird data in May 2002 to
provide basic mapping services for several of the state's local
communities. The image products of the Fairbanks area provide a
critical resource for emergency service organizations in support of a
project called "Community Fire Planning Using GIS," funded by the
National Fire Planning Initiative. 

In addition, QuickBird imagery covering an 11,475 square-mile area in
Alaska's Tanana Valley supports a NASA grant the state won in 2001. A
long-term goal of the NASA proposal is the development of base data
necessary to support fire behavior software that predicts wildfire
spread. The project will include the creation of a database of fuel
models based on vegetation mapping to help the Division of Forestry
identify fire prone areas, calculate rates of spread and demonstrate
parameters associated with fire spread such as fuel types, weather
and wind speed.

"Threat from wildfire is an annual danger faced by Alaska's towns and
villages. During the last decade in the Tanana Valley, numerous
wildfires consumed valuable resources and threatened and destroyed
people's properties and homes," said Lee. "Coupled with this
challenge, Alaska's large size and remote access severely limits the
traditional ground intensive mapping approach. Knowledge and
management of forest fuels, community facilities and transportation
systems are essential to minimize fire losses and maximize fire
protection. 

"Because of its high-resolution and accuracy, QuickBird is perhaps
the only practical solution to solving this mapping dilemma and
providing resources for emergency service organizations," Lee
concluded. 

About DigitalGlobe: www.digitalglobe.com

DigitalGlobe is an Earth imagery and information company in Longmont,
Colorado, USA. With the 2001 launch of its QuickBird satellite,
DigitalGlobe has established a market leadership position. The
company provides the world's highest resolution commercial satellite
imagery, the greatest collection capacity, the most up-to-date
archive and the largest image size of any other satellite imagery
provider. The competition has no plans to launch a comparable
commercial satellite until at least 2006. In addition to offering
technical superiority, DigitalGlobe distinguishes itself in the
market through its commitment to excellent customer service,
relationships with business partners and open-systems philosophy.
More information can be found at www.digitalglobe.com .

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