FirstLook for MapBox Satellite Live
By Chris Herwig
We are getting closer to launching MapBox Satellite Live! Over the past month we focused on our pipeline’s integration with DigitalGlobe’s FirstLook imagery service. FirstLook is a custom monitoring service available through DigitalGlobe — the largest satellite company in the world — which will capture protests, monitor wild fires, and be the first to see post-disaster damage.
Update: The demo that supported this post is no longer available.
As you can see, the imagery quality looks amazing. But the most amazing thing about this image is what you can’t see: just how quickly we made it. Our automated pipeline constantly monitors DigitalGlobe’s FirstLook feeds, and in under 30 minutes every new scene that comes off the satellites as part of the FirstLook service is added to our MapBox cloud. We process and refine each scene to produce wicked fast web map layers, just like those you render from TileMill. When we formally launch all you will see is an “add this map” button, letting you add the map right to your MapBox account.
DigitalGlobe’s FirstLook imagery service will be part of the MapBox Satellite Live premium content offering and will be available to all of our media subscribers as part of a new package that Dave is working on. Ping @dhcole on twitter if you want to talk more about the new media package or sign up for beta access to MapBox Satellite Live.
