Shanghai Container Terminal Port & Changxing Island

The Shanghai Container Terminal Port is in a region that is typically very cloudy, making it difficult to capture imagery through electro-optical (EO) satellites. In Capella's Stripmap image, in contrast, you can see the port and Changxing Island clearly and gather rich information about the port in real time. This is a significant advantage because port data is only produced at a monthly level in aggregate. Using SAR, analysts can view different types of vessels in the port, such as oil tankers and bulk carriers, and overlay that with automatic identification system (AIS) data. They can also gather information about the number of containers, track the fill rate of container lots, and monitor activity at the lots. For example, in this image you can see that at some lots there are just cranes while at others there are ships.