Academic researchers can now scan the United States and Canada via a newly available, high-resolution satellite image catalog developed under a deal between the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Terra Image USA, the company announced.

The catalog contains imagery collected by French Spot satellites dating back to 1986. The collaboration between UCSB and Terra Image USA cuts the cost of such imagery, normally between $2,400 and $7,800 per digital scene, by nearly 90 percent.

Researchers can use the imagery to track changes in land use and land cover, vegetation, urban change, transportation, water resources, mineral resources, geomorphology changes, plate tectonics, coastal resources, and more.