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As cities and territories across the globe grapple with unprecedented challenges—from climate resilience to efficient resource management—the need for smarter, faster, and more innovative solutions has never been greater. Urban growth and densification, for example, are leading to increased pressure on infrastructure, public services, and housing. This is often exacerbated by climate change, which manifests in rising temperatures, urban heat islands, more frequent flooding, and strained water resources. In the face of these threats, cities are expected to reduce their carbon footprints, manage resources efficiently, and implement sustainable solutions while fostering economic growth and improving the quality of life for residents. 

The key challenge lies in the lack of real-time, actionable data. City planners, developers, and private companies often have to work with outdated or fragmented datasets, making it difficult to make informed decisions quickly. As urban spaces become more complex, predictive models and simulations that provide insights into future urban development scenarios are crucial. Without these tools, cities risk falling behind in managing their resources and meeting the demands of a changing environment. 

Green infrastructure and sustainability initiatives are also difficult to measure and assess in real time. Cities want to understand the effectiveness of their interventions—whether it’s the cooling effects of new parks or the impact of tree canopies on air quality—but traditional data collection and analysis methods often fail to capture the full picture. 

EarthDataPlace (EDP) is a cutting-edge marketplace designed to revolutionise how cities and urban planners manage their data and tackle pressing urban challenges. By leveraging satellite imagery, AI-powered analytics, and geospatial intelligence, EDP offers cities a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution for understanding and predicting urban dynamics. 

The EDP marketplace provides access to a wide range of geospatial datasets and analytical tools, enabling users to purchase and download satellite data for urban planning,

environmental monitoring, and decision-making processes. Users can explore and customise their data searches, ensuring they find relevant information for their projects. The platform’s ability to cover both vast geographical regions and specific local areas ensures that it meets the unique needs of its users. 

A key feature of EDP is the combination of tasking and archive access. Tasking allows users to commission satellites to capture fresh, high-resolution imagery of any location at a specific moment in the future. This real-time data is crucial for decision-making, whether it’s monitoring urban development, tracking deforestation, or responding to natural disasters. On the other hand, access to an extensive archive of past satellite imagery offers a historical perspective, allowing users to analyse long-term trends. This combination of real-time and retrospective data enables cities to gain insights into how urban areas have developed and how land use has transformed over time. 

Latitudo 40’s EarthDataPlace provides access to a variety of high-resolution datasets: 

● For instance, Land Surface Temperature (LST) allows cities to monitor and manage urban heat islands more effectively. Rising temperatures, exacerbated by urbanisation, are not just environmental issues but also directly impact energy consumption, public health, and infrastructure. With LST data, city planners can identify areas most affected by heat and strategize on how to reduce its impacts through interventions such as increasing green spaces or using heat-reflective materials in buildings. 

● The Urban Heat Island (UHI) Analysis layer builds on this by offering deeper insights into how heat is distributed across different areas of a city. This is particularly important for cities looking to balance development with sustainability. By knowing where heat is most concentrated, officials can target areas for intervention, thereby reducing energy costs and improving the quality of life for residents, particularly during heatwaves. 

● Another crucial aspect of urban sustainability is Tree Cover Density, which EDP tracks to help cities manage their green infrastructure. Trees play an essential role in mitigating urban heat, improving air quality, and enhancing the aesthetic value of

cities. With this layer, cities can monitor changes in their green spaces and ensure they are adequately maintained, thus preserving their role in climate resilience. ● Meanwhile, Carbon Storage data provides cities with valuable insights into their carbon sequestration efforts, helping them meet sustainability targets. With many cities pledging to become carbon neutral, understanding how much carbon is stored within urban forests and green spaces is key to tracking progress. 

Flooding Risk Analysis is another essential layer offered by EDP. Cities worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to extreme weather events and rising sea levels. EDP’s flood risk layer helps urban planners identify areas that are prone to flooding, allowing them to implement preventative measures and manage resources more effectively in response to natural disasters. 

● For cities and urban planners concerned with long-term environmental sustainability, the Greenery Health Trend layer is particularly useful. By categorising vegetation into various health levels, cities can prioritise their green areas that are in need of care, ensuring the long-term sustainability of their green infrastructure. The degradation of green spaces can lead to higher temperatures, poorer air quality, and reduced biodiversity, making this layer indispensable for city planners focused on urban regeneration. 

● Moreover, Multispectral Indexes provide comprehensive insights into a range of environmental factors, from vegetation health to water quality. This data is especially valuable for cities aiming to balance urban growth with agricultural sustainability or those looking to conserve vital water resources. 

One of the standout features of EarthDataPlace is its ability to enhance satellite imagery using super-resolution technology. This advanced capability allows EDP to transform medium-resolution satellite images into high-resolution data at 1 metre spatial resolution, making it possible to capture finer details across urban landscapes. With super-resolution, cities and urban planners can gain access to much more precise and actionable insights—such as detailed analysis of urban infrastructure, vegetation coverage, and heat islands—without the high costs typically associated with acquiring ultra-high-resolution imagery. This technology empowers decision-makers to monitor developments, assess environmental impacts, and predict future scenarios with unparalleled clarity, helping to optimise urban planning, climate resilience strategies, and resource management. 

Potential users and clients of EarthDataPlace span a wide range of sectors, as the platform’s geospatial datasets and analytical tools offer value across various industries. EDP is designed to cater to urban planners, government agencies, real estate developers, environmental consultants, and even private enterprises looking for actionable data to inform their projects and initiatives. 

What sets EarthDataPlace apart from other geospatial data platforms is its unique combination of features that deliver unmatched flexibility, accessibility, and precision. Also, it is very important for our capability for open data, making it interoperable with other platforms and open source software, meaning that users can enhance their workflows by integrating EDP's high-resolution satellite data and insights with their preferred tools, streamlining the decision-making process.

EarthDataPlace equips urban planners, policymakers, and city developers with the data they need to make informed decisions that drive sustainability, reduce environmental impact, and enhance quality of life for residents. As cities continue to grow and face more complex environmental challenges, it stands as a vital tool to help them build resilient, future-proof urban landscapes. 

Tree Cover Density of the City of Bolzano/Bozen, Italy, 2022

  • Starion Italia is developing a commercial downstream service for stakeholders affected by the need to preserve cultural heritage and archaeological sites whenever a public or private construction project is planned.
  • SmartDIG marks yet another step in the journey for Starion Italia, focusing on the provision of downstream commercial services to non-space end-users.
  • By applying artificial intelligence (AI) to Earth observation (EO) data, SmartDIG will provide faster, more comprehensive information than existing solutions to meet the needs of private and public sector organisations across the construction industry value chain.

 

Starion is drawing on its expertise in AI and EO to develop an innovative commercial solution for non-space organisations that need to spot, identify and classify cultural heritage sites that may be endangered by building construction and other public works. SmartDIG will support preventative and conservative archaeology needs by leveraging the latest developments in AI and applying them to multiple EO data sources to detect hidden archaeological features, enabling organisations to meet regional, national and European legal requirements and strategic objectives.

Public and private construction projects typically must take account of archaeological features during development, to avoid damaging or destroying cultural heritage sites and preserve historical artifacts. However, some archaeological sites are not visible at ground level, only becoming obvious when seen from above – and even then, the indicators may not be clearly visible or visible all year around.

Remote sensing archaeology using satellites, drones, aircrafts, etc. has enabled better detection of cultural heritage and archaeological sites over the last two decades. In particular, active remote sensing using radar and lidar (light detection and ranging) can be used to detect sites buried in deserts or hidden in forests. However, drone-based services only provide analysis for a specific area at a single point in time, which may not provide accurate detection if, for example, features are covered by seasonal vegetation. 

The power of SmartDIG is that by using an innovative AI approach, it can quickly analyse EO imagery of the same spot in different seasons to find the best timeframe for detecting any features and confirm the presence of those features across the year. Also, the service can, if required, analyse locations anywhere in the world with no physical access constraints, unlike drone or aerial services.  

By combining AI with traditional in-situ and remote sensing techniques, and using multiple sources of EO data, SmartDIG will provide an efficient, user-friendly tool that significantly speeds up access to the information required by developers, urban planners and government organisations. Data sources will include Copernicus Sentinel-1 and -2, and European Space Agency (ESA) Third-Party Missions including COSMO SkyMed and the ICEYE constellations, as well as other datasets from commercial providers, suitable for archaeological purposes. 

Stefano Tatoni, Vice-President of Starion Italia, said: “The SmartDIG service is a brilliant example of the power of combining AI techniques with EO satellite data. It will make the whole identification process much more efficient, benefitting developers, builders and public agencies, and providing a societal benefit by helping to preserve cultural heritage sites and artefacts that historically might have been lost. It is also a clear example of downstream service exploitation in non-space sectors, a new endeavour and milestone for our company that we are eager to undertake. We’re very pleased to have ESA’s support for this initiative and thankful to ASI for granting the required funding, and look forward to providing the service as soon as possible.”

Emiliano Tondi, Legal Representative of POLEIS, an Italian planning consultancy that is supporting the definition and validation of the SmartDIG service, said: “The focus of this project, specifically related to the preventive archaeology procedure of collecting and analysing ground anomalies connected to the presence of underground ancient features in an automated manner, is of paramount interest. Such a service could significantly impact our current practices for space and non-space data collection and image analysis. We are keen to provide a ‘user need’ perspective to this useful tool.”

SmartDIG is being developed through the ESA InCubed Cultural and Natural Heritage Thematic Call, part of the Investing in Industrial Innovation (InCubed) programme. Michele Castorina, Head of the ESA Φ-lab Invest Office, explained: “InCubed is a public-private partnership co-funding programme run by the ESA Φ-lab, whose mission is to accelerate the future of Earth observation through innovations that completely transform or create entire industries via new technologies. As such, this Smart DIG service is a great example of a service that will exploit the value of EO imagery and datasets to benefit not only a specific sector – the construction industry value chain – but also society, through the preservation of important historical sites.”

The 18-month project will deliver a commercial service by 2026 that can be adapted to match regional and national laws and regulations, and could contribute to the implementation of the European Union’s strategic objectives for culture, such as the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage.

SmartDIG will be available as a customisable one-off or subscription service, or via a dedicated application programming interface (API) for integration into other commercial or customised applications.

Further information

This activity was carried out under a programme of and funded by the European Space Agency. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency.

Contact: Isabelle Roels, VP Marketing and Communications (i.roels@stariongroup.eu)

Tracasa Global is a leading company in the classification of point clouds obtained from aerial LiDAR sensors using Artificial Intelligence. Historically, the task of classifying point clouds to label various categories of elements (buildings, roads, trees, etc.) has been performed manually or semi-automatically. However, due to the vast amount of data, this methodology has become costly, inefficient, and, in some cases, unfeasible. Leveraging its expertise in artificial intelligence, Tracasa Global approaches this task with a supervised automatic focus to achieve a more competitive classification in terms of accuracy, efficiency, time, and cost.

In 2017, Tracasa Global conducted the first data capture in Europe using the SLP 100 (Single Photon LiDAR) sensor. The project involved capturing data from over 13,000 km² covering the entire province of Navarra (Spain) with an average density of more than 14 points per m². This massive amount of information (580 billion points) was impossible to process and classify using “traditional” methods, leading to the development of the first Machine Learning models. This project was executed for the Cartography Service of the Government of Navarra.

In 2020, Tracasa Global captured data from the metropolitan area of Pamplona (approximately 50 km²) using the CityMapper 2 hybrid sensor equipped with a LiDAR sensor, 4 oblique cameras, and a nadir camera. The resulting point cloud had a density of 50 points per m² and was classified using Machine Learning techniques. This work was funded by the Cartography Service of the Government of Navarra.

This allowed Tracasa Global’s Innovation and Production teams to continue advancing in this field of knowledge. In 2022, Deep Learning techniques were introduced into the classification models for the pilot project of classifying LiDAR data from the third coverage of the PNOA (National Aerial Orthophotography Plan) for the National Geographic Institute of Spain. This project was carried out in the community of Castilla y León and aimed to fine-tune the tools for classifying the third LiDAR coverage of the PNOA with a density of 5 points per m². It was a more ambitious project that sought to classify ground, low vegetation, medium/high vegetation, buildings, and a series of minor classes such as power towers, vehicles, power lines, and bridges. Additionally, this project confirmed that this technology allows for the massive classification of point clouds with AI with very good precision results.

In 2024, Tracasa Global was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to classify LiDAR point clouds from the third LiDAR coverage of the PNOA, covering more than 20,000 km² of Aragón, Comunidad Valenciana, and Región de Murcia. This project has a more demanding legend, proposing the classification of 12 classes: ground, low vegetation, medium/high vegetation, buildings, bridges, railways, roads, vehicles, cars, transmission lines, power towers, and wind turbines.

This contract allows Tracasa Global to showcase the knowledge and specialization of two areas of the company: Territorial and Spatial Engineering and R&D+i, which in recent years has consolidated as a leading and internationally recognized team, with excellent results in various competitions organized in the field of artificial intelligence and land management.

The EOImageNET project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), aims to bridge the gap in Earth Observation (EO) by developing a global, multi-scale database of optical satellite imagery and object categories. This innovative dataset is designed to fine-tune deep learning models, making them resolution-invariant and applicable across multiple EO missions. By leveraging advances in computer vision and transfer learning, EOImageNET enables more accurate object detection, opening the door to advanced multi-scale analyses. The dataset and models will be publicly available to accelerate research in EO data processing and analysis.

TUATARA, as a key contributor to EOImageNET, will integrate its expertise in space data analysis and AI-driven solutions to enhance the project’s scalability and precision. By applying TUATARA’s cutting-edge algorithms, including those used in our own Earth Observation (EO) initiatives, we will ensure that the EOImageNET dataset is robust and applicable across diverse EO missions. Our experience in automated monitoring and prediction of natural and human-induced processes from space aligns perfectly with EOImageNET’s goal of revolutionizing object detection in satellite imagery. TUATARA will also focus on optimizing the models for large-scale image datasets, ensuring seamless adaptability to real-world EO applications, such as monitoring of infrastructure and natural objects. 

At TUATARA, we are dedicated to leveraging Earth Observation data to deliver impactful solutions across industries. The exponential growth of satellite data in recent years, combined with advancements in AI techniques, has opened new opportunities for detecting, monitoring, and predicting events on Earth. TUATARA’s innovative approach shifts the focus from manual to automated methods, enabling analysis of vast datasets of satellite images collected daily.

For instance, in agriculture, we explore the potential for precision monitoring of soil and crop conditions, which could help detect anomalies at various scales to support farm management. In insurance, we aim to offer data on drought indicators, natural disasters, and crop yield predictions. Our oil & gas solutions may include infrastructure monitoring and oil spill detection capabilities, while our environmental protection initiatives seek to provide insights into plant health, biodiversity, and natural hazard risks. In the defense sector, we work on concepts for monitoring critical infrastructure and areas of interest. Additionally, in the marine industry, we are developing methods for ship detection and ocean condition monitoring, and for governments, we explore providing data solutions that could assist with urban planning and infrastructure status monitoring.

We are also actively involved in an exciting new project focused on satellite and aerial image analysis for agriculture and archaeology, in collaboration with Alioth Space and the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland. Our role in this initiative includes conducting advanced research on image data to develop AI solutions for crop condition assessment, land classification, environmental change detection, and linear object identification. Additionally, we are optimizing analytical models to enhance system performance, contributing to the broader goal of revolutionizing digital agriculture and supporting archaeological discoveries.

CloudFerro, a leading cloud provider, delivers the core element of the European Union’s Destination Earth system – Data Lake, which is managed by EUMETSAT. Destination Earth is aimed to model and monitor our planet and simulate natural phenomena with unprecedented accuracy. Data Lake is a massive repository of data that is the foundation for the system. This multi-cloud service is expected to establish a scalable service framework for federating different data spaces, providing cloud computing and storage services close to Destination Earth data.

Destination Earth (DestinE) is a flagship initiative of the European Commission, together with partnering organisations – EUMETSAT, ESA, and ECMWF aimed to develop a digital replica of the Earth. It will enable to model the whole Earth system in a highly accurate manner helping monitor natural and human activities, predict weather and climate phenomena, as well as test scenarios for more sustainable developments. 

The system includes three key elements: Core Service Platform operated by ESA, Digital Twins managed by ECMWF and DestinE Data Lake managed by EUMETSAT. 

The DestinE Data Lake is a multi-cloud inventory of massive amounts of data that is the core foundation of the Destination Earth system. This online repository is designed to provide seamless access to all data specified in the Destination Earth data portfolio. It will be available from many external data spaces, Digital Twins or applications residing on the DestinE Core Service Platform, regardless of data type and location. 

In addition to the data coming from the Digital Twins, the data stored in the Data Lake will include EUMETSAT’s own Earth observation satellite systems, ESA missions, Copernicus Sentinel satellites, ECMWF, and other relevant European data providers.

The Data Lake environment that CloudFerro is developing and operating is designed to store over several dozen PB of data. It is stored within private clouds located in data centres across Europe: Warsaw, Poland – central site, Kajaani, Finland, Bologna, Italy, Barcelona, Spain, and Darmstadt, Germany. These data centres are also locations of powerful computing facilities built under the EuroHPC programme. They take part in digital modelling providing large computing power indispensable for this type of processing. The HPC supercomputers process the models created within the Digital Twin component, and the results of the analyses are stored in the Data Lake repository.   

As a prime contractor for EUMETSAT, CloudFerro is responsible for coordinating the Data Lake project and delivering cloud infrastructure (built as IaaS Infrastructure-as-a-Service and PaaS Platform-as-a-Service) that includes more than 60 Petabytes of storage, and more than 23 500 central processing units (CPUs) installed. The company is also providing big data processing services, including distributed computing and workflows, as well as service operations and maintenance. CloudFerro collaborates with two European partners – CS Group responsible for the area of discovery and data access, and EODC, who are in charge of big data processing. Harmonised data access (HDA) will be used to simplify data discovery and access to two Digital Twins managed by ECMWF (Extreme Weather and Climate Change Adaptation), external federated data spaces allowing to leverage many public data sources supported by the EU, and user-generated data.

The Destination Earth initiative is part of the European Commission’s Digital Europe programme. It is also supported by Horizon Europe and other relevant European and national initiatives in research and innovation. The first DestinE services will be used by the public sector, and a fully implemented system will also serve scientists, researchers, private sector, and the general public. The system will be fully implemented within 7-10 years.

More information on Destination Earth Data Lake

In response to rapidly growing data production, CloudFerro, the provider of the largest public cloud in Poland, has launched the Gateway project to build the first national DataSpace for spatial data. 

The Gateway project aims to establish an integrated ecosystem for sharing, storing, managing and processing spatial data with a high level of control and security. To achieve this goal, Gateway has secured more than 22 million euros in funding under the IPCEI (Important Project for the European Common Interest) scheme. The project aims to develop and implement green cloud and distributed computing services. The company will use an innovative, distributed approach to cloud operations and service delivery.

Gateway will enable entities in many economic sectors to benefit on a large scale from information from the combination of satellite, aerial, in-situ and computer simulation data. This will be extremely valuable for research, R&D and commercialisation in the IT sector, environmental analysis, and local and regional management.

The decentralisation of data spaces will bring significant increase in the speed of operations – all through the use of more access points to perform computing. This solution will enable research centres and commercial entities to conduct advanced technological research, leading to the development and launch of next-generation cloud services that are reliable and secure. 

Thanks to distributed computing in centers located in various locations in Poland and Europe, it will be possible to analyze data at a site powered by green energy, thus reducing the carbon footprint. All in line with the principle of carbon aware computing, which involves developing software and computer technology in an environmentally friendly way.

CloudFerro will build six interconnected spatial data repositories and 22 interconnected computing clusters with the capacity of 50 petabytes by 2026. It will fill them with more than 300 data collections and propose 10 pilot applications.  It is estimated that as many as 10,000 users will use the repository by this time. In addition, to ensure broad access to the project’s achievements, the company is committed to funding dissertation-level research. 

The project is divided into two phases: the first will cover research, development and innovation, while the second provides for industrial implementation, with a total value of €28 million over three years.

Read more on the project webpage.


The updated soil sealing maps 2018-2022 in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean have been officially released. ESA’s Ulysses project was carried out by Planetek Italia, ISPRA and CLS.

The updated soil sealing maps 2018-2022 in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean have been officially released. 

The results of the Ulysses project, promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and carried out by Planetek Italia (prime contractor) in collaboration with the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) and the French company CLS, were presented at ESA on April 11, 2024.

What is soil sealing?

Soil sealing is defined as a change in the nature of the soil due to covering with artificial impermeable materials, such as asphalt and concrete, which leads to the loss of its natural functions. Soil sealing has several impacts on the environment, particularly in urban areas and on the local climate, affecting heat exchange and soil permeability; Therefore, monitoring soil sealing is crucial especially for Mediterranean coastal areas, where soil degradation combined with periods of drought and fires contributes to the risk of desertification.

The Ulysses project

The objective of the Ulysses project is to contribute to the assessment and monitoring of soil sealing, providing specific products related to the presence and degree of soil sealing in coastal areas of the Mediterranean using Earth observation (EO) satellite data with an innovative methodology capable of optimizing and scaling their use with other non-EO data. 

Such products shall be designed to allow, in relation to current practices and existing services, a better characterisation, quantification and monitoring over time of soil sealing in the Mediterranean basin, supporting users and stakeholders involved in monitoring and preventing soil degradation.

The Soil Sealing Maps produced

The target products are high-resolution maps of soil sealing in coastal areas of the Mediterranean (within 20 km of the coast) for the period 2018-2022, at annual time resolution with a targeted spatial resolution of 10 m. The team, led by Planetek Italia and supported by CLS and ISPRA, generated maps covering the period 2018-2022. The maps, produced with Copernicus Sentinel-2 data, made it possible to quantify and monitor soil sealing in the Mediterranean basin, supporting users and stakeholders involved in monitoring and preventing soil degradation. 

Interaction with users is led by ISPRA, which has a dual role. ISPRA acts as a “sample user”, being institutionally strongly involved on the issue of soil degradation in international and regional organizations and being the national body responsible for this issue in Italy where it also interacts with local authorities.

Ulysses Website and Soil Sealing data

Discover the project, watch the video presentation, download the maps, explore the geoportal, and discover the indicators on https://www.ulysses-project.org/ 

The future

Following the demonstration activities involving a first group of users at European level, ESA has decided to extend the mapping activity of the coastal regions of the Mediterranean to include the years 2023 and 2024 by creating a complete and homogeneous dataset that offers an unprecedented snapshot of urban evolution throughout the Mediterranean basin.

In addition, the production of soil sealing maps will be extended to the national level in Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. These activities will go hand in hand with an intense promotional campaign that will have the four countries mentioned as its main target. 

In Italy, the working group is organizing a round table where national and regional representatives involved in the issue of land consumption will be able to discuss the situation in Italy. The event will be held on November 6, 2024, at the Ecomondo fair in Rimini, Italy.

The work team

The industrial structure of the project is composed of two companies and a research center, from Italy and France, grouped in a consortium for the purpose and objectives of the project. The project is led by Planetek Italia, with the participation of ISPRA and CLS S.A.

Insights:



MEEO (Meteorological Environmental Earth Observation), founded in 2004, is a company specialized in the development of products and services based on remote sensing of the Earth-Atmosphere system. Among its innovations stands out the use of Digital Twins (DT), detailed models that replicate physical processes of the planet using real-time updated data. In this regard, the company participates in the Destination Earth (DestinE) project, which aims to create a precise digital replica of the Earth to address environmental challenges, simulate extreme events, and support the decision-making of governments and researchers. MEEO’s role is to power the data workflow services with EDEN, that facilitates access to DT data through catalogs, APIs, and data transformation tools, thus improving the efficiency of geospatial data analysis and management. MEEO therefore contributes to the ecological and digital transition by providing innovative solutions to monitor and predict natural and human phenomena. 

Metereological Envirolental Earth Observation (MEEO), born in 2004, is a privately-held company dedicated to the development and implementation of products and services based on remote sensing of the Earth-Atmosphere system. MEEO provides a wide range of “ready” (off-the-shelf) services and products based on the analysis of multispectral, multisensor, and multitemporal satellite data, with application areas ranging from agriculture to marine monitoring, and even cultural heritage.

An innovative aspect within the company’s fields of operation is the access and use of digital twins (DT), highly detailed models that replicate physical objects, systems, or processes of our planet, thanks to the integration of real-time, constantly updated data. Their role is central today in improving the ability to monitor and predict environmental and climatic changes, allowing simulations, for instance, of the impact of extreme events such as floods, fires, or droughts, and evaluating mitigation strategies before the real events occur.

In the DT domain, MEEO is part of the consortium working on the development of the Destination Earth (DestinE) Platform, the entry point for users to the Digital Twin data and all the services and applications. The goal of DestinE is to develop a highly accurate and detailed on a local scale digital twin of the Earth, capable of addressing today’s environmental challenges. The model enables the monitoring and simulation of natural and anthropogenic phenomena, anticipate environmental threats and resulting socio-economic crises, and test more sustainable scenarios, supporting the decision-making process of public authorities, researchers, and companies. In this context, DestinE Platform is crucial in enabling users to quickly access the DT data.

MEEO’s role is to power the data workflow services with EDEN, which provides both machine-to-machine and user-friendly interfaces to discover and access DestinE datasets, regardless of the type of data and its location.

Specifically, it offers the following features to end users:

  • Data catalog and search, that allows users to discover the DestinE data offer and search for geospatial data from Data Lake and Federated data sources.
  • Data access and retrieval, through which users can access and download data through various methods:
  • APIs that provide data in a harmonized (standardized) format.
  • OGC services, including OpenSearch, Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Coverage Service (WCS), facilitating the geospatial data exploitation.
  • native APIs for cloud storage, such as Simple Storage Service (S3), allowing retrieval of data stored on cloud platforms.
  • Data cache management, that allows users to quickly access previously retrieved data.
  • Data transformation, that improve data usability by converting them into analysis-ready data formats for use on cloud-native platforms.

In conclusion, MEEO’s involvement in projects like DestinE demonstrates the company’s commitment to provide innovative solutions that enhance the ability to monitor, analyze, and predict natural and human phenomena. Through digitalization and the creation of interoperable platforms and services, MEEO contributes not only to the ecological transition but also to the digital one, offering decision-makers essential tools and data to tackle an increasingly complex and dynamic world.

The first-ever European Carbon Farming Summit hosted by the EU-funded CREDIBLE project (www.credible-project.eu) convened in Valencia (Spain) in March 2024 a vibrant community of over 600 professionals, organisations and enthusiasts dedicated to carbon farming and soil management. The event highlighted the community’s strong commitment and enthusiasm for recognising the potential of carbon farming.  Carbon farming presents exciting opportunities, with long-term benefits being uncovered through collaboration and innovative techniques, as well as challenges for successful implementation. EARSC actively led the discussion about the role of Earth Observation on Carbon farming and follow this exchange with experts on a monthly basis. If you would like to engage, please reach out to info@earsc.org

EO4CarbonFarming

The event provided some key insights: i) The EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework is a crucial component of Europe’s strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The objective of this framework is to set the standards and guidelines for certifying and verifying these carbon removal methods, ensuring they meet the required environmental and technical criteria. ii) Measuring and monitoring are crucial for assessing the impact of any mitigation action, and carbon farming follows the same logic: climate claims linked to shifting agricultural management must be proven and validated. This is needed to offer clear quantification guidelines covering both soil emission reduction units and sequestration units, while at the same time acknowledging the impermanent nature of biogenic carbon. Proper and continuous monitoring ensures that the claimed carbon removals are genuine and verifiable. This not only serves as a technical requirement but is also fundamental in establishing trust and credibility in the carbon credit market among investors, policymakers, and the public. iii) The necessity of a harmonised approach to carbon credit certification across Europe. The current fragmented methods of certification create inconsistencies and uncertainties in the carbon credit market. iv) Farmers are central to the success of carbon farming initiatives. Their knowledge, skills, and on-ground experience are invaluable for implementing effective carbon sequestration and emission reduction practices. Complementary financing mechanisms and incentives need to be explored and farmers should be empowered through education, training, peer-to peer learning and ongoing support is crucial to accelerate the adoption and scaling of carbon farming practices across Europe. v) Carbon farming is a diverse and context-specific solution. Localised strategies and landscape-level initiatives, involving collaboration with local stakeholders such as communities, landowners, and agricultural organisations, are vital. These initiatives foster trust, enable better adaptation to diverse farming landscapes, and ensure that carbon farming practices are both effective and sustainable.

By embracing a multi-actor approach, encouraging collaboration among stakeholders, and implementing progressive and responsible policies, Europe can fully unlock the potential of carbon farming, positioning it as a cornerstone of its sustainability strategy. As we transition from theory to action, one thing is clear: the future of carbon farming in Europe is promising, but it demands concerted effort, innovation, and collaboration to realise its full potential. Would you like to join the conversation? Sign up to be informed about the next Carbon Farming Summit in Ireland in March 2025 (sign up).

The Canal Seine Nord Europe stands as a monumental testament to modern engineering, arguably the most significant civil engineering project in Europe this century. With its vast scale, the project encompasses a decade of work, stretches over 100 kilometers, and involves the excavation of more than 70 million cubic meters of soil. Yet its ambitions go beyond mere construction; it aims to transform goods transportation in Europe, promising to divert approximately 5 million trucks from the roads annually, significantly reducing carbon emissions and traffic congestion.

This initiative aligns with contemporary environmental goals, marking a bold step forward in an era committed to curbing global warming and protecting biodiversity. By bridging the fluvial networks of Northern Europe with the Seine Maritime, it paves the way for more sustainable goods transportation across the continent.

The project has garnered support from the French Region Haut de France, French government, and the European Union, all demanding regular updates on progress and environmental impact. However, the project’s sheer scale challenges traditional monitoring methods, such as drones, which fall short in providing the needed comprehensive data.

Disaitek approached in mid-2022 to pioneer a satellite-derived data solution. After a year of rigorous discussion and negotiation, Disaitek was entrusted with an experimental contract to oversee the project’s progress and its environmental footprint. Our commitment spans three critical areas:

  • Work Progress Monitoring: We ensure meticulous measurement and traceability for excavated soils and oversee the construction progress of roads and fluvial locks and ancillary works.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment: Our high-precision mapping technology tracks vegetation and supports a nature-based compensation program, alongside automated crop identification.
  • Encroachment Detection: We vigilantly monitor operational boundary exceedances, illegal land use, and road deterioration.

We task the Pléaides satellite on a monthly basis, both mono and stéréo depending on location and use cases, to provide detailed imagery to feed our algorithms and AI models, achieving remarkable success in our objectives. Our GIS-based platform offers stakeholders easy access to a wealth of analyses across these domains.

As our experimental phase nears completion, we stand on the brink of negotiations to establish our platform as the project’s monitoring tool during its construction and exploitation phases.