[SatNews] DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI) has just revealed the winners of the inaugural 8-Band Research Challenge.

The 8-Band Research Challenge encourages researchers to investigate how 8-Band Imagery, available exclusively from DigitalGlobe, can enhance analysis and classification research and enable the development of next generation geospatial applications. Judged by a panel of remote sensing experts, submissions were evaluated based on the quality of the science, innovative methodology and broad applicability of 8-Band Imagery to real-world challenges. The five winning papers demonstrated scientific excellence in terms of sound reasoning, problem definition, methodology and presentation. In addition to the five winners, the judges identified 10 additional high-quality papers that presented compelling research into how 8-Band Imagery adds substantial value in a wide range of applications. Overall, the 15 papers found that 8-Band Imagery provides measurable improvements across a range of multispectral, remote sensing applications. These results translate into practical applications in many areas including bathymetry, feature extraction, vegetative analysis, environmental monitoring and land cover classification. The complete list of recognized papers, along with their abstracts, can be found at www.8bandchallenge.com. The five winning submissions are:

• James F. Bramante – National University of Singapore, Tropical Marine Science Institute — Derivation of Bathymetry from Multispectral Imagery in the Highly Turbid Waters of Singapore’s South Islands
• Jeremy M. Kerr – Nova Southeastern University, National Coral Reef Institute — WorldView-2 Offers New Capabilities for the Monitoring of Threatened Coral Reefs
• Christoph C. Borel – Air Force Institute of Technology — Vegetative Canopy Parameter Retrieval Using 8-Band Data
• Hamdan Omar – Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) — Commercial Timber Tree Species Identification Using Multispectral WorldView-2 Data
• Antonio Wolf – Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. — Using WorldView-2 Vis-NIR MSI Imagery to Support Land Mapping and Feature Extraction Using Normalized Difference Index Ratios

Each winner will receive a cash grant of $5,000 USD to support their research and will present their findings at the Geospatial World Forum in Hyderabad, India in January. Plus, to accommodate overwhelming interest, the 8-Band Challenge has been extended to a second judging period in mid 2011, when five additional winners will be named.