WorldView 4
31 cm multispectral with 4 bands — archive only, sensor failed in orbit 2019
When to use
- Historical 30 cm archive between 2016 and February 2019
- Filling gaps in WorldView-3 coverage during that period
When it's the wrong fit
- Any work needing data after February 2019 (sensor failed in orbit)
- New tasking — only archive available
Processing levels
Five processing levels. Levels 1–3 are applied by default on every order; pansharpening (4) runs automatically when the sensor has a panchromatic band; mosaicking (5) runs automatically when the AOI spans multiple scenes. Specify any level explicitly if you need to override the default.
| L | Output | What's applied | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Raw | Digital numbers (sensor counts) with no calibration or geometric correction. Delivered as unprojected GeoTIFF with sensor metadata. | On request |
| 1 | Orthorectified | Geometric correction onto a DEM. Every pixel sits at its true ground position. Customer-supplied GCPs accepted at no extra cost. | Default |
| 2 | Surface reflectance | TOA radiometric correction plus atmospheric correction. Output is the actual fraction of light reflected by the ground, comparable across dates, sensors, and sun angles. | Default |
| 3 | Pansharpened | Gram-Schmidt fusion of panchromatic and multispectral bands. Spectral ratios preserved for downstream analytics. | Default |
| 4 | Mosaicked | Seamless multi-scene composite over the AOI with ML cloud/cirrus masking and custom seam-line path-finding. Applied automatically when the AOI spans more than one scene. | Default* |
*Mosaicking applies when the AOI spans more than one scene. Single-scene orders skip it.
Water masks, tree masks, glint handling, lidar-aligned reflectance, aquatic atmospheric correction, region-tuned models — anything your downstream pipeline requires. Quoted with the order.
DSM (digital surface model) and DTM (digital terrain model), priced per area. This sensor supports stereo capture, required for elevation products.
Specifications
| General | |
| Provider | Vantor (formerly MAXAR) |
| Country | United States |
| System type | Satellite |
| Product type | Multispectral |
| Availability | Archive only |
| Available since | 2016 to 2019 |
| Sensor | |
| Resolution | Panchromatic: 31 cm · Multispectral: 1.24 m |
| Bit depth | 16-bit; 8-bit Map-Ready also available |
| Swath width | 13.1 km |
| Off-nadir range | 5°–45° |
| Constellation | 0 satellites (WorldView-4 (failed in orbit January 2019)) |
| Orbit | Sun-synchronous, 617 km |
| Revisit | N/A — archive only — in practice N/A |
| Acquisition modes | Mono, Stereo (archive) |
| Reference | |
| CRS | UTM-WGS84 |
| Positional accuracy | < 5 m CE90 absolute |
| Processing levels | Primary (Basic), Georectified (Surface Reflectance), Orthorectified (Surface Reflectance, Display) |
| Tasking and catalog conditions | |
| Minimum AOI width | catalog 2 km wide |
| Minimum charge area | archive 25 km² |
| Geographic restrictions | Some areas restricted by US export controls |
Spectral bands
| Band | Designation and wavelength |
|---|---|
| Panchromatic | 450-800 nm |
| Blue | 450-510 nm |
| Green | 510-580 nm |
| Red | 630-690 nm |
| NIR | 770-895 nm |
Delivery manifest
Each order delivers as a single archive containing the following files.
worldview-4_[order_id].zip
├── data/ 5 band files, GeoTIFF, 16-bit; 8-bit Map-Ready also available
├── metadata.xml acquisition parameters, calibration coefficients
├── metadata.txt human-readable summary
├── masks/ ROI
├── thumbnails/ PNG previews
└── overviews/ JPEG quicklook
Compare with
Closest alternatives by resolution and product type.
| Spec | WorldView 4 | BJ3N | SuperView Neo | WorldView Legion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 31 cm | 30 cm | 30 cm | 34 cm |
| Provider | Vantor (formerly MAXAR) | 21AT (Twenty-First Century Aerospace Technology) | SPACEWILL (CASIC) | Vantor (formerly MAXAR) |
| Country | United States | China | China | United States |
| Type | Multispectral | Multispectral | Multispectral | Multispectral |
| Availability | Archive only | Tasking + catalog | Tasking + catalog | Tasking + catalog |
Spectral indices
106 spectral indices are compatible with WorldView 4. The most-used: NDVI,EVI,NDWI,SAVI,NDRE,GNDVI,MSAVI. See the full spectral profile for the complete list and band mappings.
Ready to order WorldView 4?
Browse the catalog, place a tasking order, or request a custom processing pipeline through the Geopera portal. We respond to quote requests within one business day.