Where did the ostriches go? Start here - Location Overview The coordinates 49.0° N latitude and 118.9° W longitude point to a remote, forested area in northeastern Washington state, USA, near the border with British Columbia, Canada. This region is part of the Colville National Forest, characterized by rugged terrain, lakes, and coniferous forests. It's within the coverage area of numerous Earth observation satellites, as it falls under North American monitoring zones.
Types of Satellites Imaging This Area Satellites capturing images here are primarily polar-orbiting (for detailed, periodic scans) or geostationary (for continuous weather monitoring). Coverage is global for most polar-orbiters but prioritized for North America by geostationary ones. Below is a categorized list of key active satellites (as of December 2025) that regularly image this location, based on their orbital paths, sensors, and regional focus.Geostationary Weather Satellites (Continuous Coverage, Lower Resolution ~1-2 km)These orbit at ~35,800 km altitude, providing near-real-time visible, infrared, and multispectral imagery every 5-15 minutes for weather, fires, and environmental monitoring.
Satellite
Operator
Key Features
Coverage Notes
GOES-18 (GOES West)
NOAA (USA)
Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) with 16 bands; detects clouds, temperature, lightning.
Primary for western U.S., including Washington; full-disk scans every 10 minutes.
GOES-19 (GOES East)
NOAA (USA)
ABI similar to GOES-18; enhanced space weather monitoring.
Overlaps western coverage; supports continental U.S. views.
Polar-Orbiting Earth Observation Satellites (High-Resolution, Periodic Passes ~1-2x Daily)These orbit at ~700 km altitude in sun-synchronous paths, offering detailed multispectral and panchromatic imagery (15-30 m resolution) for land use, vegetation, and change detection. They pass over this latitude twice daily.
Satellite
Operator
Key Features
Coverage Notes
Landsat 8 & 9
NASA/USGS (USA)
Operational Land Imager (OLI) & Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS); 11 bands, 15-100 m resolution.
Global coverage; scenes for Washington updated every 16 days; free data via USGS EarthExplorer.
Terra (EOS AM-1)
NASA (USA)
MODIS & ASTER sensors; 36 bands, 250 m-15 m resolution.
Daily global passes; HD imagery updated twice daily for North America.
Aqua (EOS PM-1)
NASA (USA)
MODIS & AIRS; focuses on water vapor, clouds; 250 m-1 km resolution.
Complementary to Terra; twice-daily North American coverage.
Suomi NPP
NOAA/NASA (USA)
VIIRS sensor; day/night band for low-light imaging; 375 m resolution.
Precursor to JPSS series; frequent passes over U.S. West.
Commercial High-Resolution Satellites (On-Demand, Sub-Meter Resolution)These provide ultra-detailed panchromatic/multispectral imagery (0.3-1 m) for specific requests, with global tasking capabilities.
Satellite
Operator
Key Features
Coverage Notes
WorldView-3 & 4
Maxar (USA)
Panchromatic at 0.31 m; 8 multispectral bands; SWIR for material identification.
Taskable over any location; archives include Washington state.
Pléiades Neo (1-3)
Airbus (France)
Panchromatic at 0.3 m; VNIR multispectral; rapid revisit (daily).
Global, including U.S.; high-res samples available for Washington.
SkySat constellation (~20 satellites)
Planet Labs (USA)
Panchromatic at 0.5 m; daily global mosaics.
High-frequency monitoring; covers Washington for agriculture/forestry.
Additional Notes
Accessing Imagery: Free data from Landsat/GOES via USGS EarthExplorer or NASA Earthdata.
Commercial options (e.g., Maxar, Planet) require purchase/tasking.
Frequency & Resolution Trade-Off: Geostationary satellites offer constant but coarser views; polar-orbiters provide sharper details but less often.
Other Potential Coverage: International satellites like ESA's Sentinel-2 (10 m resolution, free)
or China's Gaofen series may pass over, but U.S.-focused ones dominate for this region.
For specific recent images or custom tasking, tools like Google Earth Engine or Zoom Earth can visualize live/near-real-time data from these satellites.