[SatNews] RapidEye's Brazilian distributor, Santiago & Cintra Consultoria, has provided RapidEye images to the State of Minas Gerais. As part of the agreement, RapidEye became the sole provider of satellite imagery for three different coverage periods of the State, which began in September 2009 and lasted until the end of July 2010. Additionally, RapidEye is currently acquiring images of major forested areas across Europe and North America. These images will be also used in RapidEye's forest cover analysis and forest inventory services such as tree species determination and stem volume estimation in boreal forests. These services are of high value to the forestry industry. They prevent having to send forestry experts into the field and are much more cost effective than aerial photography.