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Since Open Cosmos was founded, its mission has been clear - to simplify access to space in order to solve some of the world's biggest challenges. Today, the company is one of the fastest-growing space infrastructure providers in the sector, providing fully managed satellite missions which incorporate design, build, launch and operations. 

Reliable, cost effective and fast, Open Cosmos is making it easier than ever for customers to access data and insights from space to make better, more informed decisions on Earth.

Their end-to-end space mission capability can be used for all domains, including IoT technology, Earth Observation, Telecommunications and PNT (Positioning, Navigation, Timing).

January 3rd 2023 saw the successful launch of Menut, the second satellite of the Catalan NewSpace strategy. Menut is a 6U form factor satellite featuring a high resolution multispectral imager. The earth observation payload monitors seven bands, from RGB to 3 red edges plus Near InfraRed with a 4.75 Ground Sampling Distance (GSD at 500 km) and a 19.5km swath. The data received from Menut will help to improve spatial planning and allow the data users to better understand the effects of the climate crisis worldwide.

In the following 12 months, Open Cosmos plans to launch and operate another 5 satellites in the form factor range between 6U to 16U.

Combining satellite imagery and next gen AI

Some of the most significant developments for Open Cosmos have been their work on edge computing and AI applications - all of which are designed to automate the process of data collection and dissemination. The upcoming Phisat-2 mission with ESA, for example, will include six different AI applications ranging from sat to map to automatic vessel detection. Combining earth observation imagery with onboard applications means real time decision making can take place within the platform, removing the process of manual decision making on the ground and delivering only the valuable insights that the customer requires.

Similarly MANTIS (Mission and Agile Nanosatellite for Terrestrial Imagery Services) a compact 12U satellite which is due to be launched in October this year, will provide remote sensing capabilities for the monitoring of natural resources. MANTIS is particularly suitable for energy and mining applications which are predominantly found in remote and hostile regions.

MANTIS will use a high-resolution optical payload with onboard recognition and change detection algorithms to enable the processing of data on the ground using the latest machine learning techniques.

DataCosmos - turning data into actionable intelligence

Critical to driving the sector forward is the ability to see more than simply what the image on screen is telling us, by advancing the technologies which allow advanced insights to be drawn from data.

Open Cosmos’ innovative data platform, DataCosmos, is a powerful interface which brings together different types of satellite imagery, data from complementary sources, results from algorithms and a roster of applications to make satellite imagery useful and valuable. Among numerous other applications, DataCosmos offers tools allowing customers to monitor the direction of travel of lava flow after a volcanic eruption, identify dangerous oil spills near desalination plants or even detect algal bloom locations.

All DataCosmos functionalities are available through APIs and can be embedded into automated decision making workflows, with DataCosmos applications running in the background as soon as new data becomes available. This ensures customers are always working from the latest information, by integrating timely, actionable and scalable insights into their business-critical processes.

Open Constellation  - launching the world’s biggest mutualised constellation 

Despite advancements in both upstream satellite infrastructure development and downstream technology, there is often a bottleneck between the two. Either the budget needed to fund an entire constellation is cost prohibitive, or the data generated from one or two satellites cannot provide the revisit times needed to form a rich picture. A solution was required that allowed institutions, organisations and governments to benefit from increased regularity of data without the need to invest in complex satellite infrastructure. OpenConstellation, the flagship offering from Open Cosmos,  is a mutualised satellite infrastructure, comprising 25 earth observation satellites. Using this shared capacity reduces overall costs and increases access to better quality, more frequent data. With more satellites in orbit, more areas can be covered more frequently, giving partners of the OpenConstellation a greater global coverage.

Open Orbit - End to end mission management

Open Cosmos truly is a one-stop shop for every single aspect of satellite missions. Their extensive experience in managing entire missions, from concept design through to manufacture, test and launch allows customers to focus on mission output. Alongside this, they work collaboratively with customers to develop tailored payloads, customised to the needs of the mission requirement. 

High performance, reliable satellite infrastructure can be developed in months, tested and manufactured on site, launched from a host of global locations and operated by experienced engineers to deliver the data and insights that make a difference to those organisations looking to solve global challenges.

If you have an idea you’d like to get into orbit simply, quickly and cost effectively - contact Open Cosmos today.

E-mail: sales@open-cosmos.com

www.open-cosmos.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/opencosmos

Wasat has launched Irriget (www.irriget.com) – the EO service that provides growers with precise information on current crop water requirements. Based on the analysis of Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3 and meteorological data, it generates intuitive charts and maps facilitating the optimal irrigation decision-making.
A fusion of satellite thermal and optical data, and application of precise parameters for individual crops enables monitoring of plant water needs. Algorithms based on machine learning produce maps presenting the current condition of crops, actual evapotranspiration and water balance with 20 m resolution. For calculation of potential evapotranspiration, local meteorological data are merged with forecasts and modelled data, and all the processed data are resampled to a higher accuracy. The resulting information determine the optimal irrigation strategy. Irriget allows to indicate proper dates of irrigation and water doses that ensure optimal plant development. Farmers can check on a graph the right water dose that should be applied on a field with specific crop. There is a possibility to divide a field into narrow zones related to the actual operation of a reel irrigation system and to treat each strip independently. Farmers can save time and take full advantage of their irrigation equipment by watering crops with doses calculated on the basis of actual evapotranspiration and water balance. The choice of water quantities and periods of irrigation allows for the optimal coverage of plant needs and has a positive
impact on quantity and quality of yield.

Development of the service has been co-funded by the European Space Agency. Irriget has quickly received positive feedback from Polish growers who irrigate potatoes and other field crops. In January 2023 the organizers of Polagra Premiery International Agricultural Fair in Poznań awarded Irriget with the Gold Medal – the prize which goes to products that are distinguished by a high level of innovation and are appreciated by farmers and agronomists. Growers usually start with free testing of Irriget and most of them subsequently subscribe to the service. As of today, the complete set of functions is available only in Poland, but the work is underway to expand the geographic coverage of the service.

An IoT sensor is great for collecting data on the state of air quality from the moment it is deployed but that data tells us nothing about what happened previously to create the current environmental conditions. If data is to truly help us build more sustainable, safer, healthier and greener cities, we need technologies that enable us to understand what has happened in the past and predict how a situation might evolve in the future. It isn’t a lack of datasets standing in the way of doing this but rather knowing how to use the ones that already exist.
In Europe and around the world, initiatives such as the EU’s Climate-Neutral & Smart Cities mission, the Race to Zero and the Covenant of Mayors Climate-Adapt are helping to galvanise climate action but nobody is under-estimating the scale of the challenge. What these initiatives have in common is the need for constant monitoring of a city’s territory and environment to assess the current situation and check progress. Moreover, this monitoring needs to be put in context with information from decades past to gain the necessary deeper understanding.
This was the aim when developing the climate change adaptation and mitigation platform Latitudo 40, that allows cities to be constantly monitored. It uses raw data generated by earth observation satellites, combined with artificial intelligence (AI), to understand how the earth’s systems have changed and predict how they will evolve in the future. It is designed to provide a more sustainable and resilient approach to urban climate action. In our specialist field of satellite remote sensing, we see a lot of valuable data available, but cities are using only a small portion of it to support key decision-making. To change this, we combine data from satellites with data produced within the city and, through a fusion of the two, create information models that help inform urban planners where to invest money and resources when it comes to protecting and futureproofing their cities. A typical example is our dataset for estimating urban thermal comfort, which brings together information on urban heat island areas, tree canopy (or lack of it) and the age distribution of the resident population. A digital representation of a city can be created in a matter of hours
that quickly highlights and offers insight into key climate and sustainability issues.
Satellite technologies are now several decades old but, due to their complexity, have never reached a mainstream level of usage in the market. Image search and image processing requires specific skills and complex processing systems that aren’t typically available within cities. To make the best possible use of the information potential of these images, we have developed what we call “complexity simplification,” a cloud-based processing workflow that automates image search, analysis, and interpretation. Computer vision and AI algorithms complete the process by extracting the parameters of greatest interest to cities and presenting a simple representation of the evolution of the urban scenarios over time. 

Crucially, unlike the aforementioned IoT sensor, satellite imagery allows for a historical representation of the city, almost a time machine that facilitates an understanding of the starting- and end-point and what happened in between, as well as continuous and frequent monitoring into the future. 
Thanks to satellite imagery, we can easily understand whether there has been land
consumption and how much the relationship between green areas and urbanisation has changed; the state of urban green spaces and how they contribute to mitigating environmental phenomena; and what phenomena have triggered a specific event, such as a flood or the failure of urban infrastructure in the past, and activate the best monitoring systems to prevent them occurring in the future.
It’s one thing having the data and tools, though, and quite another ensuring they are
accessible to those who need them. If they are to be truly effective, they need to be embedded in the daily operations of urban planners and decision-makers just like spreadsheets and email.
This thinking underpinned the development of Latitudo 40, which we describe as “a digital information factory in the cloud”. It can be accessed by a standard web browser and the processing made available through APIs that allow easy integration with existing spatial information systems. No special knowledge of data processing and geospatial analysis technologies is required and analyses provide a representation of the city with an easy-to-understand map, graphs and automated reports. 
From this information, cities can set specific sustainability goals such as increasing green space per inhabitant, reducing the incidence of urban heat islands per inhabitant, and improving climate comfort in metropolitan suburbs. Every city can verify these goals and achievements via monitoring.
Our experience has made us realise that when it comes to data collection and reporting, city managers often allocate high-end budgets for consulting services that can stop with the creation of a static product. What’s needed going forward is a more agile approach facilitated by business models such as software-as-a-service (SaaS) and backed by real-time, accessible data and services. Only then will we be able to turn data into actionable information and use it to build more sustainable, resilient safer, healthier and greener cities.

 Acquisition will allow customers to more easily extract insights from Earth Observation data

SAN FRANCISCO, California and LJUBLJANA, Slovenia – March 29 –  Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the business of Holding Sinergise d.o.o. (“Sinergise”), a leading developer platform for earth observation (EO) data. By reducing the complexity of analysis and insights extraction, as well as the cost of EO data storage, Planet aims to continue expanding into new vertical markets with products and applications where EO data is highly relevant such as agriculture, civil government, insurance, financial markets, and sustainable supply chain management. 

Sinergise’s technology powers the European Union-backed Sentinel Hub, an advanced API-driven, cloud streaming platform that allows customers to access multi-source EO data for processing, analysis, and insight extraction. Planet and Sinergise have been partners since 2016 and this acquisition reinforces that making EO data more accessible and actionable to decision makers is critical to businesses and governments. 

“The technology at Sinergise is first class,” said Will Marshall, CEO and co-founder of Planet. “Our integration with Sentinel Hub will meaningfully accelerate our Earth Data Platform plans, in particular by lowering barriers to access for EO data expanding the market, and by allowing partners to quickly and easily build applications, lowers the time to  value creation. Furthermore, this acquisition underscores our strong commitment to investing in Europe, and building and enabling the downstream market ecosystem there.”

Planet expects this acquisition to lower the barriers for current and new Planet customers to access and act on EO data. The addition of Sinergise’s platform capabilities is expected to further enable customers to more easily extract insights from various sources of satellite data and partners to build their own applications on top of Planet’s platform to gain additional value from EO data. 

“We are thrilled to integrate our technologies to together build a powerful Earth Data Platform to unlock the full potential for EO data,” says Grega Milcinski, co-founder of Sinergise. “Partnering with Planet over the years has inspired us to accelerate the adoption of EO driven applications at scale.”

Sinergise’s Sentinel Hub enables businesses, governments, and farmers to transform their management practices and report their sustainable impact. These data sources and distribution services allow governments and agricultural companies to visualize and analyze a variety of data products at an unprecedented speed. The European Space Agency (ESA) recognizes the importance of innovative technologies and awareness of EO-based services, and has facilitated easy access to Planet data in Sentinel Hub.

The transaction is expected to close during Q2 of Planet’s current fiscal year and is subject to certain closing conditions. This will be Planet’s sixth acquisition (BlackBridge group of companies in 2015, Terra Bella business from Google in 2017, Boundless Spatial, Inc. in 2019, VanderSat B.V. in 2021, and Salo Sciences, Inc. in 2023). 

Forward-looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, implied and express statements regarding: the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity; whether and when the Company will be able to execute on its growth initiatives; whether the Company will be able to successfully close the agreement to acquire the business of Holding Sinergise d.o.o. in a timely manner, or at all; the successful integration of and ability to achieve potential benefits from strategic acquisitions; how the Company will execute on its partnerships and contracts and how the Company’s partners and customers will utilize the Company’s data and technology; and the Company’s financial outlook. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “can,” “should,” “would,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “strategy,” “opportunity,” “aim,” “continue” and similar expressions or the negative thereof, or discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, intentions, estimates, forecasts, outlook, assumptions, or goals, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: whether the market for the Company’s products and services that is built upon its data set, which has not existed before, will grow as expected; the Company’s ability to manage its growth effectively; whether current customers or prospective customers adopt the Company’s platform; the Company’s international operations creating business and economic risks that could impact its operations and financial results; downturns or volatility in general economic conditions; and the other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and any subsequent filings with the SEC the Company may make. Copies of each filing may be obtained from the Company or the SEC. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

Paris, France – April 20, 2022

CGG, a global technology and HPC leader, and Paragon Geophysical Services, Inc., a leading seismic acquisition company based in Wichita, Kansas and offering subsurface mapping services across the United States, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combine their respective capabilities in support of energy transition customers and, more specifically, add value to the development, operation, and monitoring of carbon sequestration sites in North America. 

CGG can draw on its subsurface imaging leadership, proven geoscience expertise, high-tech Sercel solutions for acquiring subsurface information, and more than 15 years of experience supporting high-profile carbon sequestration projects globally in areas such as storage site characterization, selection of optimal geophysical technologies for monitoring, and operational monitoring best practices, to optimize the design, development and operation of carbon sequestration sites. 

Paragon has thirty years of experience in geophysical data acquisition and project execution for oil & gas and carbon capture storage applications, including, more recently, participation in the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project under development in the Midwestern United States. Its crews are equipped with the very latest Sercel technology to deliver the highest-resolution, most accurate geophysical data available in the industry.

Together, the two companies will support key forward-thinking energy transition customers in North America to explore, develop and execute technically demanding carbon sequestration projects in order to efficiently and effectively operate storage sites and optimize operational monitoring of the CO2 in the subsurface. 

Peter Whiting, EVP, Geoscience, CGG, said: “Our collaboration with Paragon, to support the development of subsurface carbon sequestration assets in North America with our innovative technologies, reflects CGG’s ongoing commitment to provide essential services for the energy transition. With our combined strengths in this key area for achieving net-zero targets, we will provide clients with critical insight, enabling them to optimize their storage and monitoring plans, reduce costs and have greater confidence in site conformance for improved operations and public acceptance.”

Aaron Bateman, President of Operations, Paragon, said: “We are delighted to combine our capabilities with CGG, with whom we share the same spirit of technological innovation and dedication to customer service, to address this growing market and societal demand for energy transition solutions. We see significant opportunity to add substantial value to our customers through enhanced integration of data acquisition and subsurface imaging to facilitate cost-effective carbon sequestration project development and operational monitoring.”

CGG provides leading geological carbon storage and monitoring expertise to support safe, long-term carbon storage from point source capture and direct air capture (DAC) facilities (image courtesy of CGG).

CGG provides leading geological carbon storage and monitoring expertise to support safe, long-term carbon storage from point source capture and direct air capture (DAC) facilities (image courtesy of CGG).

About CGG

CGG (www.cgg.com) is a global technology and HPC leader that provides data, products, services and solutions in Earth science, data science, sensing and monitoring. Our unique portfolio supports our clients in efficiently and responsibly solving complex digital, energy transition, natural resource, environmental, and infrastructure challenges for a more sustainable future. CGG employs around 3,400 people worldwide.

Contacts

Carbon StorageKyle ManleyTel: + 1 314 757 9513E-Mail: kyle.manley@cgg.com




Media RelationsSara Pink-ZerlingTel: +33 1 64 47 38 83E-mail: media.relations@cgg.com

More and more often we see satellite images on media around the world. This is because they offer a clear and honest vision of the Earth to understand and observe events such as climate change, drought, floods, temperatures, volcanic activity. 

Social media has accustomed us to sharing and re-sharing photos and videos, making some places suddenly famous because they are 'instagrammable', can be replicated form anyone with some “special filter” to make each picture unique. Earth Observation satellite images have become equally acceptable in recent years, but maintaining a natural 'objectivity'. 

MEEO developed the ADAM platform to facilitate accessing a large amount of geospatial environmental data. Besides traditional commercial land scientific applications, ADAM turned to be the optimal tool to speed up the creation of media contents: satellite images, pollution information, climate data and trends can be easily extracted, elaborated within the platform and distributed to the media.

From remote sensing expertise to communication, MEEO started the activity of ADAM in the social media world with a small internal team: from 2018 to now the satellite images have travelled from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and recently also Mastodon. 

(heatwave in India and Pakistan (April, 29th 2022)

As seen by Copernicus Sentinel3 LST (Land Surface Temperature). The tweet got more than 6 Millions of Impressions and 118 K of Engagements. This image was used by climate activists, political personalities and a lot of media all over the World (ex. The Washington Post).

From the web to the classic media (Newspaper and Television Broadcast) the step is short!

In 2020 MEEO started a collaboration with the Italian National Broadcast RAI: since then a lot of satellite images have entered in the Italian’s houses. With different communication guidelines, contents are created for the regular weather reporting (in close cooperation with the RAI Meteo team), but also to explain phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, extreme events, drought, climate change, coastal erosion. It’s great to see how many common people can understand and are able to interpret satellite images that until few years ago were only pertinent to the scientific community. The use of Adam's images in the children's section of the television program ‘Green Meteo’, broadcast on RaiGulp, was a great success.

This growing communication activity of MEEO is made up of constant comparison, research and study. Performance results of the social media accounts are rewarding, as well as seeing the use of the products by the scientific community and the approach and growing interest by the general public, also by the children. 

ADAM is the optimal link between the large amount of data generated every day by Copernicus, ESA and NASA, and the media community.

( 3D view of the La Palma volcano - Sentinel-2 image true color enhanced with short wave infrared channel, September 30th 2021)

UP42 has had an interesting journey since our founding in 2019, and 2022 was especially exciting. But before we dive into those updates, let’s start with a short introduction. UP42 is a platform and marketplace that provides API-first access to a wide range of geospatial data and analytics. We’re on a mission to simplify access to satellite imagery, expand the earth observation market, and make it easier than ever to access data and extract insights at scale. 

With this in mind, we launched the UP42 data platform, a one-stop-shop for all geospatial data needs, to overcome the challenges of ordering data from different providers. The UP42 catalog hosts archive data from providers such as Airbus, Capella Space, 21AT, Near Space Labs, and more. We’ve got optical, radar, and elevation data integrated into our platform. Here’s why this matters: 

● Instead of contacting or setting up accounts with a range of providers, which often means different compliance and maintenance needs, multiple contracts, and integrations, our users get one single interface (available via API, SDK, or console). Here, users can search for and order data, get price estimates and updates, and download their data, independent from data host capabilities. 

● Users can also activate automated status updates with webhooks, saving further time and effort. 

● The best part is: image previews are available for all products, and real-time requests in the catalog show which products are immediately available. 

It’s easy. Customers simply define order parameters (AOI, certain cloud coverage, start/end date) and integrate all the products they need. The same set of parameters

applies to all providers in an order, so adding a new product takes about 3 seconds: just enter the data product ID and the ID of the image needed for the order. This is especially important for projects that need a highly customized solution and a combination of different temporal, spectral, and spatial resolutions. Complete projects on time and within budget, further benefiting from an AOI-based pay-as-you-grow pricing model, with no volume commitments. 

And if a user can’t find the right archive data, they can task a satellite to capture the area needed. This gives the freedom to define exact parameters, collect the perfect image, and support informed decision-making. Last year, we introduced our streamlined tasking interface and brought all tasking actions together in one place. Whether placing a new tasking order or monitoring an existing request, the whole tasking process can now be managed within the platform. Below, we’ve broken down the tasking process into steps. 

● Place an order: choose a collection, draw an AOI, fill out the form, and submit ● View order status: view order AOI, status, and pending actions 

● Review feasibility: when the feasibility study is ready, review and choose from the options 

● Pay and activate: view and confirm the price to pay and activate the order ● Track progress and download your assets: when assets are ready, download directly from order details 

The UP42 tasking platform gives direct access to satellites from Airbus, Capella Space, ICEYE, and BlackSky, so users can benefit from different types of data and resolutions.

We’re always ready to process urgent requests. When dealing with budget constraints and a tight window, or simply needing to task satellites from different providers, UP42 can help. 

Acquired archive or tasked imagery can easily be processed externally, or even better: on our platform, where users can analyze data, enabling easy collaboration with team members. Data will be delivered to UP42’s cloud-based storage, where it’s available for further processing. Users can combine data from multiple providers, augment SAR with optical data and vise-versa, combine data with 3rd party analytics capabilities, or even bring their own data and algorithms. 
Data is also available for integration with other ecosystems, such as QGIS or Esri. Existing Esri users can immediately access UP42 storage and projects directly from their ArcGIS Pro account
And what does 2023 hold for us? Expect even more providers on our data and tasking platforms with Head Aerospace, Hexagon, and Satellogic, to name just a few. We’ll also be introducing an even better discovery experience on our catalog, along with multiple AOI support for tasking, STAC & one set of common geospatial metadata, processing capabilities for ARD, and much more.

  • GAF web portal enables cross-authority provision of very high-
    resolution satellite data via the Remote Sensing Service Centre at
    the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG)
  • GAF to present the state-of-the-art GAFportal at Intergeo 2022:
    Hall 2, Stand A2.006

The signing of a comprehensive framework agreement has expanded the
successful cooperation between GAF and the German Federal Agency for
Cartography and Geodesy (BKG Bund). The state-of-the-art web portal
developed by GAF runs with guaranteed availability on the Open Telekom
Cloud (OTC). It offers comprehensive access to the capacities of
numerous very high-resolution, commercial earth observation optical and
RADAR satellites. The core functionality of the GAFportal includes
searching for data, submitting requests for new image acquisitions,
processing orders, and data provision and visualisation. Simple AI-based
analysis tools are also available. More than 400 federal authorities in
Germany have had access to the portal since early July 2022. With the
GAFportal, the BKG has added a modern new element to its range of
services in the field of geodata, products and services for federal
authorities. The GAFportal will be presented on the GAF AG stand at
Intergeo 22 (Hall 2, Stand A2.006).

Thomas Wiatr, the responsible departmental head of the Satellite-Based Crisis
and Spatial Information Service (SKD) at the BKG, explains: “It is particularly
important for us to be able to comprehensively meet the specific needs and
requirements of federal authorities by providing a modern range of services.
Very high-resolution satellite data, derived products and services from all the
relevant commercial earth observation satellites have now become an
indispensable element in this regard. We want to promote the use of earth observation data by federal authorities, so we therefore also provide associated
consulting services in addition to the data.”

The framework agreement for the GAFportal offers access to key components
of the GAF geodata, product and service portfolio. Dr Sebastian Carl, GAF
CEO, emphasises: “GAF is an excellent partner for the application-oriented use
of satellite-based earth observation data by public authorities. As a result of
having long-standing sales contracts and close partnerships with all the main
satellite operators, we offer exceptional and efficient access to global earth
observation capacities. Targeted innovation based on many years of experience
enables us to provide comprehensive consulting services, tailored development
and the efficient implementation of geographic information services in the fields
of environment, security and nutrition. We are very pleased to be contributing to
the further digitisation of the federal administration with our earth observation
services.”

On Wednesday March 18, we welcome all students at the Eurosense & Esri BeLux headquarters in Wemmel (Belgium) to discover remote sensing and GIS in practice !

What can you expect ?

  • Meet GIS and remote sensing experts
  • Practical cases – success stories – demo’s
  • Information on internships and careers at Eurosense and Esri BeLux

The Students’ Day is a must for everyone who wants to learn the full potential of remote sensing and GIS in practice.

You come in contact with other students and you can ask your questions to Eurosense & Esri BeLux experts. You will also hear testimonials and see use cases and demos.

Participation is free but registration in advance is required, via the Esri BeLux website.

Why did you found ExoLabs and what is the goal of the company?

Our planet is everchanging. Timely information about these environmental changes are valuable but not always readily available. ExoLabs’ mission is to quantify global changes by providing novel and user-friendly Earth Observation products and services. We use machine learning algorithms in a scalable cloud computing environment to process Earth Observation data on local to global scales. Hereby, we specialized on combining data from multiple EO constellations to provide near-real time products in a high spatial and temporal resolution. We strive to be the leading company in Switzerland for high-quality products and services based on EO. In addition, we also develop in-house solutions for data processing and advanced analysis.

Can you tell us more about your products and services? What makes them unique?  

Being based in Switzerland, monitoring snow is an obvious choice to start with. Our snow products are highly advanced as they combine multiple innovations under one hood. We monitor global snow cover changes on a daily basis in near-real time. Our product is based on a novel snow classification algorithm and features seamless snow cover gap free of cloud gaps. For selected mountain ranges (Alps, Rockies, Himalaya) we additionally provide snow cover in a high 20 m pixel resolution. Everyone can check out these products on our mobile app “ExoSnow”. On top, we developed a novel snow depth algorithm, that provides snow depth estimates in a 20 m resolution on a daily basis. Our PARSEC video further details our approach, which combines a high temporal resolution AND a high spatial resolution AND a very high thematic quality in a fully operational process. Next to the app, we provide direct data access (e.g. APIs, WMTS) based on our customer’s needs. Further state-of-the-art developments include a land cover and land use classification system based on deep machine learning algorithms using multimodal data inputs in a cm-scale spatial resolution for the area of Switzerland. Crucial to the success of this federal project were innovative, ready-to-use solutions for processing multiple TBs of geodata, highlighting our capabilities to extract meaningful information from diverse and extensive datasets.

What challenges did you face when starting your company? What is the biggest challenge as a young European company in the EO sector today?

Initially, we had to acquire new projects with industry partners and federal institutions to earn a reputation and co-finance our product developments. This path is not finished yet. But now, we further focus on extending our network, winning over new customers, and exploring new market opportunities. Our biggest challenge might be to make potential customers aware of the added value we can provide for them. Starting a company is a daring adventure, which we really enjoy. We consider these challenges along this path as opportunities to grow.

What are your plans for the future? Do you want to stay in the snow and ice domain or are you planning to serve also other markets?

Over the next 2-3 years, we plan to increase sales, acquire new projects and expand our EO-product offerings. Further snow products will include snow properties, forecasts, and long-term trends. In previous projects, we already provided products on global crop monitoring as well as regional land cover and land use changes. In addition, we plan to diversify our product pallet on further environmental changes based on customer needs. Transferring our processing chain with the same product characteristics of high spatial and temporal resolution to other thematic EO-products, such as forests, can be readily done. If you are interested to learn more about our products, services and capabilities, you are very welcome to contact us.