Search For Missing Plane Gets Help From Satellite Imagery In Colorado
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4)- Investigators are traveling to the Indian Ocean to get a closer look at possible debris spotted in the water in the search for a Malaysian Airlines jet that's been missing for nearly two weeks. The images come from DigitalGlobe, a satellite imagery company in Longmont.
Aerial crews have flown the massive search area for Flight 370 while Naval vessels from around the world have scoured the ocean but some clues to finding the missing Boeing 777 may come from DigitalGlobe -- a company capturing images from 400 miles above the earth.
The satellite is taking millions of pictures of the ocean in large swaths.
Then millions of people are logging onto their computers to see the images and then help investigators by marking what they might see.
"They see little parts of the image and they try to identify boats, oil slicks or other anomalies in the debris," said DigitalGlobe Senior Director Shay Har-Noy.
The images are of such high quality users could pick out something as small as a brief case or a seat cushion.
Many are hoping searchers on the internet and on the ground can find the object captured by the satellite or other clues. Without them the investigation may not move forward as quickly as hoped.
"We need to get there, find them, see them, assess them to know if they are meaningful or not," said satellite imagery expert Tim Brown.
