Germany: RapidEye has completed a baseline image campaign covering the Helmand river basin in Afghanistan. The imagery is now available for purchase to clients and partners worldwide. Covering over 250,000 square kilometres, the Helmand river basin is the largest in Afghanistan, accounting for almost half of the country’s territory. It is the world’s largest opium production region. The project was initiated to obtain baseline imagery maps and ground cover information prior to the beginning of the 2010 growing season.Since the river basin contains the largest production of opium in Afghanistan, it is essential to understand growth patterns and estimate yields in this area as part of the United Nations (UN), US and other efforts to suppress production. The RapidEye constellation of five satellites has the ability to image individual fields, counties, states or countries on a frequent revisit cycle. The Helmand river basin project reinforced these capabilities, as the area around and including Lahkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand, was collected seven times in 23 days.

Sources : http://www.rapideye.de

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