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Starion develops SmartDIG: a commercial AI-powered EO archaeology service

  • 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)