In the past decade or so, the satellite imagery space has grown at a fast rate as we see lots of startups entering the market and providing users where to get high quality satellite images. At the same time, the demand for satellite data is ever-growing, unlike we have seen before. Even with this growth, governments still control the majority of customers.
In recent times, lots of private companies have also made their presence known. As of now, experts believe that about 93 companies are shaping the future of the satellite imagery industry. According to statistics, about 14 percent of the market is made up of earth observers. As the demand for this technology increases, the cost to start a business in this market decreases. As reports show, the global space economy income will increase to 11 trillion USD by 2040.
However, in the case of the earth observation data market privatizations, credible reports from 2015 indicate that defense (61 percent), infrastructure (10 percent), and natural resources (9 percent) dominate the market for earth observation data.
People have become more confident and reassured that the market is going in a positive direction because the US government is one of the major customers. This gives innovators the confidence to build more powerful satellites and launch a variety of space programs.
Uses of satellite analysis
A raw satellite image will be useless to you without any analysis. The analysis gives users more insights and information which can be used to make informed decisions. Here are some uses of satellite analysis:
Increasing software sophistication
According to Northern Sky Research, the annual revenue from big data analytics of Earth Observation is projected to reach about $1.3 billion by the end of 2026.
Now, the software used in satellite imagery analysis is no longer limited to showing, storing, and annotating data but also has the capabilities of integrating AI to provide data at a fast rate. Users can also automate time-consuming and repetitive tasks, which greatly increases the efficiency of analysts, speeds up the processing time, and provides accurate results.
Investments
In recent years, lots of investors have been entering space venture programs. Also, they are investing in many startups that concentrate on automatically processing and analyzing images while having their own satellite. These investors widen their scope and invest in infrastructure, hardware, and software for automated analysis. This is pushing the EO industry to grow at a rapid pace.
Merging of data sets
Long gone are the days when experts needed to manually combine images from different providers in the same analysis tool to get a bigger picture. Now, it is more than possible to automatically combine data sets from different sources using automated image analysis tools.
Some tools can use artificial neural networks to combine SAR and optical imagery. Experts can now use AI to analyze and identify objects on a satellite image that was impossible manually. The ability to automatically combine data from different sources gives professionals the ability to interpret and analyze satellite images accurately and stakeholders the confidence needed for investment.
Global commercial satellite imaging market
Private companies and governments collect images of our world using satellites which can be used for various business or environmental purposes. These private companies can sell enhanced satellite images to other tech giants like Bing Maps and Google Maps and governments. These images can then be used for different purposes such as insurance, defense, energy and agriculture. For example, EOS Data Analytics which is among the top players in the Earth Observation market provides users with tools such as LandViewer and Crop Monitoring.
LandViewer is a tool that helps users to visualize, process, and analyze satellite data using many different indices. All of this information allows decision-makers to solve real business problems. Users are given access to ten free medium-resolution images every day gotten from different data sources such as CBERS-4, Sentinel-2 L2A, Landsat 4-5, and much more. However, they will need to purchase high-resolution images of up to 0.4m per pixel gotten from Gaofen, KOMPSAT, TripleSat, and much more.
EOS Crop Monitoring is an online tool based on precision farming that can be used for near real-time remote field monitoring. It provides landowners and stakeholders with AI-powered satellite imagery analytics. They now have information on weather and soil conditions, crop health, and crop rotation in a single central hub. With weather forecasts of up to fourteen days and historical weather data for the past five years, farmers better understand the weather pattern and plan their activities accordingly. Using indices such as NDVI, NDRE, NDMI, MSAVI, and much more, farmers can monitor their crops’ health and make timely interventions in case of disease or pests.
The satellite imagery market is growing at a fast pace and providing room for more business and new business opportunities. This can be seen in the rise of startups and the confidence in which stakeholders are investing.
EOS Data Analytics is hosting a free webinar on March 29 where you can learn about using neural networks to transform satellite data into helpful information for agriculture and forestry. The webinar will be held in English and will be beneficial for managers and technical specialists of companies engaged in the agricultural and forestry industries and those who have clients from these sectors.
