Top Use-Cases of Satellite Imagery Across Sectors
For many years, satellite photos have been used to track surface vegetation, global weather patterns, ocean currents and temperatures, among other things, to obtain a range of information about the Earth's surface.
The public was able to use satellite photos more frequently due to their excellent resolution, increased availability, and declining costs. Sensors that are hyper- and multispectral have been developed thanks to satellite imaging technology, and they can help locate things, identify materials, and identify processes.
Here are a few significant applications for satellite imagery:
Defence & Communication
Initially, satellite photos were utilized for communication and defense. The photos have been utilized for intelligence gathering, monitoring, and military actions. Local governments can better evaluate and devise plans to save lives, save property, and improve future economic stability with the aid of satellite photos.
Agriculture and Forestry
Satellite imaging is used in agriculture to plan irrigation, forecast yield, and monitor crops. It can be applied to insurance to evaluate agricultural damage and facilitate the handling of claims. It will support initiatives to raise productivity and lower hunger as well as monitor and evaluate agricultural production and food security.
Utilizing satellite images in forestry involves mapping, monitoring, and managing forests to ensure their protection. Utilizing satellite photography can help with attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by evaluating the carbon stock of forests. In addition to supporting forest management and conservation, it can be used to evaluate the quantity, health, and productivity of forests.
Climate & Environmental Monitoring
It can be used to monitor ecosystems and natural resources for environmental conservation. In order to forecast the weather and simulate the climate, it can also be used to track and analyze atmospheric conditions.
Disaster Management & Humanitarian Aid
Hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes are just a few of the natural calamities that are tracked using satellite photography. In addition, it is used to plan reaction and relief operations and evaluate the degree of damage caused by natural catastrophes. Satellite imagery is used by humanitarian actors to organize their responses to humanitarian emergencies and to assess needs. The immediate benefits of using satellite images include the ability to immediately assess local circumstances, confirm road conditions, and organize rescue operations while organizing response efforts and visualizing areas affected by a natural catastrophe.
Urban Planning and Infrastructure Management
For the purpose of generating or updating GIS maps and identifying significant alterations in urban land cover and land use, satellite image data offers comprehensive analysis. For the purpose of classifying environmentally safe and sustainable locations for the proposed development, this approach permits frequent covering and overlaying of several time sequences. In 2020, the Greater Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area (GBA) saw the announcement by the Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group of its first dedicated satellite constellation project, according to SmartCitiesWorld.
Roads, bridges, and electricity lines are examples of infrastructure that may be observed and inspected using satellite photos. Analyses and assessments of properties can be done with satellite imagery. Infrastructure planning and construction also make use of it.
Energy and Mining
In the mining and energy sectors, satellite imagery has been utilized for resource mapping, infrastructure building, and exploration.
Urban Heat Island Mapping
Urban heat island intensity may be mapped, evaluated, and initiatives to lessen their effects can be planned using satellite photography.
There have always been a variety of uses for satellite imagery. These pictures are thought to be an effective tool for data analysis. Geographic research, including environmental sciences, meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, and geology, is the main focus of the field of study.