DMCii International Imaging Is the Latest Addition to IPAD, Office of Global Analysis, FAS, USDA Prime Vendor Contract

Under the contract, DMCii International Imaging Ltd., (DMCii) will provide the IPAD/Office of Global Analysis/FAS/USDA with high quality 22m and 32m multispectral imagery from the DMC constellation of wide-swath (650km) satellites, which collectively offer a daily revisit. The latest satellites to join the constellation – UK-DMC-2 and Deimos-1 – were launched successfully on July 29, 2009 and will be fully calibrated and operational in November 2009, at which point they will join the existing constellation of four satellites. As well as offering enhanced resolution (doubling the number of pixels per hectare) these next generation satellites bring significantly increased imaging capacity to the constellation, creating the ability for multi-temporal monitoring at continental scale. USDA will be able to order new imaging campaigns for its global areas of interest and also access the extensive archive of DMC imagery. All DMC satellites acquire data in channels equivalent to Landsat bands 2, 3 and 4, and two product levels are available – L1R (band/bank registered and radiometrically corrected) and L1T (L1R steps plus orthorectification). Two further satellites will be added to the DMC in 2010, adding yet more capacity and continuity to the constellation.

Robert Tetrault, IPAD/OGA/FAS/USDA, Satellite Imagery Archive Manager, states, “The use of DMC satellite data allows the crop analysts to receive broad area, multi-temporal monitoring coverage which is critical in our operational global food security analysis.”

Paul Stephens, Director of Sales & Marketing at DMCii said, “DMCii is very pleased to work with IPAD/OGA/FAS/USDA to exploit the power of the DMC satellite constellation for global crop monitoring. The DMC’s ability to provide wide area coverage and rapid revisit is well suited to detail monitoring of crops within critical time periods on a country scale. The expanding constellation can make an important contribution to monitoring many aspects of our global environment, from food security to reducing emissions from deforestation.”

The IPAD/OGA/FAS/USDA is responsible for global crop condition assessments and estimates of area, yield, and production for grains, oilseeds, and cotton. The primary mission of OGA is to target, collect, analyze, and disseminate timely, objective, useful, and cost-effective global crop condition and agricultural market intelligence information. One of the IPAD/OGA/FAS/USDA key missions is to provide unbiased commodity estimates and forecasts to create a marketing edge for U.S. producers in world markets.  (Source: USDA and NASA) The Prime Vendor Contract vehicle allows them to obtain agriculture analysis solutions using satellite imagery and ancillary information quickly and cost effectively.

Derrick Williams, III, Division Director, IPAD, stated, “The purpose of this contract is to promote efficiency. We are making the best use of every taxpayer dollar. The Prime Vendor Contract helps the USDA achieve our goal – which is to have a contract in place that allows us to access products provided by the commercial industry and get the best price and performance possible. The Prime Vendor Contract provides the IPAD/Office of Global Analysis/ FAS/USDA with the best possible imagery based global agriculture analysis solutions at the best possible prices and meets our stringent delivery specifications and our clients’ needs which range from Global Food Security to Climate Change.”

About IPAD/Office of Global Analysis/FAS/USDA:
International Production and Assessment Division (IPAD), Office of Global Analysis (OGA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has the primary responsibility for USDA’s international activities—market development, trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection and analysis of statistics and market information.  As such a primary mission of IPAD/Office of Global Analysis/FAS/USDA is to target, collect, analyze, and disseminate timely, objective, useful, and cost-effective global crop condition and agricultural production information. The purpose is to provide unbiased commodity estimates and forecasts to create a marketing edge for U.S. producers in world markets. For more information contact Robert Tetrault, Satellite Imagery Archive Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 202-720-1071.

About DMCii International Imaging:
DMCii coordinates the DMC Consortium for commercial imagery supply from the constellation, and supplies value-added services. DMCii also represents the DMC Consortium in the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters. DMCii has extensive experience of managing large data acquisition campaigns aimed at facilitating access to high resolution EO data over very large areas and within narrow time windows. DMCii provides imagery for applications where timely, responsive and targeted imagery acquisitions are required, such as global crop monitoring, precision agriculture, land cover classification, tropical forest monitoring, disaster preparedness/response and environmental research. DMCii is a wholly owned subsidiary of Surry Satellite Technologies Ltd. (SSTL).      For more information contact Paul Stephens, Director of Sales & Marketing at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +44 1483 804299 or visit www.dmcii.com

About Global Marketing Insights, Inc.:
Since 1997, this woman-owned firm, Global Marketing Insights, Inc. provides a wide range of geospatial and remote sensing business planning and market research services, including targeted product/service market studies and competitive market research to government agencies and private sector firms seeking to increase their market share. Global Marketing Insights, Inc. is the prime vendor contract vendor liaison for the IPAD/Office of Global Analysis/FAS/USDA and is the author of the 2005-2015 International Remote Sensing Study and the 2006-2016 Asian Remote Sensing Study, and the 2008-2018 Africa Remote Sensing Study.   For more information contact Sherry Loy, Geospatial Market Specialist at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 216-525-0600.