When taking high resolution aerial photos, in general, satellites, drones or airplanes are used. Now this new balloon system claims it can deliver high resolution images at a significantly lower price.
Surely you’ve ever wondered how Google Maps and Street View photos are made. Since 2016 Google Maps uses images taken by the Landsat 8 satellite launched in 2013 by NASA. Now the Colorado-based company Urban Sky claims it is capable of delivering higher resolution images than satellite at a lower cost.
This is the Microballoon system
Each unit has a small stratospheric balloon that is reusable and has a payload module underneath that has a high resolution camera pointing downwards. A 2.5 meter diameter balloon partially filled with helium that expands in volume as the balloon rises. When it reaches the desired altitude (above 18,288 meters) the helium will have already been able to expand and fill the entire balloon. It has vents located at the bottom of the balloon so that any excess gas escapes and the balloon is able to stay at the desired altitude.
The Microballoon camera features a custom-designed lens capable of withstanding the harsh conditions of the stratosphere . As the balloon moves horizontally, the camera rotates to capture the widest possible area of the ground. The speed at which the camera rotates is determined by the speed of the balloon at each moment.
Aerial photos with a balloon
Images taken by Microballoon are digitally stitched to create a gap-free composite photo of the entire area to be captured. Urban Sky co-founder and CEO Andrew Antonio states that “it is possible to get images of approximately 1,000 square kilometers per hour .”
Once the process is complete, a ground crew remotely activates the payload module to release from the bottom of the balloon. In this way the balloon gradually loses all the helium and a parachute unfolds. Once the balloon lands on the ground it can be used again without any problem.
This Microballoon system is already in use and Urban Sky recently won a contract from the United States Air Force to develop a version of the system for real-time monitoring of wildfires.
“They are really interested in flight modeling and the balloon reuse aspect of our system,” says Antonio. “No one (including governments) has successfully flown a reusable stratospheric balloon wrap, and now we are consistently reusing the same balloon wraps, so that’s pretty amazing.”