Colorado, USA, 28 March 2007: DigitalGlobe has teamed up with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), NASA and the Medallion Foundation to launch a new research and development project designed to help improve aviation safety in Alaska. Alaska is one of the world’s most aviation-dependant regions in the world, with approximately 600 public airports and more than 3,000 airstrips.
Using cutting edge high-resolution satellite imagery, the DMVA will be able to develop 65,000 square kilometers of extremely accurate terrain datasets for Alaska’s most deadly mountain passes and transportation corridors in order to reduce the number of aircraft accidents.
“High-resolution imagery is a vital resource in situations that involve extreme conditions,” said Marc Tremblay, vice president and general manager of DigitalGlobe’s commercial business unit. “To survive, both pilots and emergency responders require the most up-to-date and accurate data, and we are proud to be a part of this life changing project.”
Additionally, with the help of the Medallion Foundation, the AASP is developing advanced training technologies. Pilots now have access to state-of-the-art flight training that will help prepare them for navigating dangerous passes with three dimensional simulations of the exact mountainous terrain. Prior to the AASP, Alaska had generated 35 percent of the nation’s commercial aviation accidents. The DMVA is forecasting that by 2008 that statistic will drop to 20 percent.
