Remote Sensing Technology Software for Business
The capabilities modern remote sensing offers for various industries are endless. As technology becomes more advanced and diverse, the area of its application grows exponentially. Currently, remote sensing is used in food production and distribution, military defense, climate change detection, and monitoring, and much more. Technological developments in image analysis algorithms, robotics, AI and ML, have become the key catalysts in making remote sensing the main assisting mechanism of monitoring and change detection for businesses. A variety of tools offer services of remote data detection, mapping, and analysis on the fly, pushing geospatial technologies to the forefront of factors affecting today’s global economy. Before we move on to the possibilities remote sensing opens for business, let’s see how exactly it works first.
Remote Sensing Explained
In general, remote sensing technology is used for gathering data on land, infrastructure, and more. But how is it gathered? The answer is energy that travels in electromagnetic waves and is reflected, absorbed, or transferred by all matter it “hits” in a different manner. The wavelengths reflected off the soil, plants, or construction sites are unique from a spectral standpoint and can be captured by sensors and used to identify the object and its physical characteristics.
The most commonly studied energy in remote sensing is light. Passive sensors capture light emitted from the Sun, while active sensors act as an artificial light source, emitting light themselves. Since passive (optical) sensors are limited by the sunlight availability period and cannot take pictures at night time, the pictures they take will frequently be cloudy. However, thanks to modern cloud masking techniques that allow for precise cloud shapes and shades detection, this is no longer an issue.
Depending on the type of satellite, its sensors can capture different light from the electromagnetic spectrum. Commonly, it’s ultraviolet, infrared, or visible light to make false-color images or just take an aerial photograph to receive true color Earth pictures.
So, if satellite images are the primary data we get from remote sensing, the analysis of these images requires information about them. And this secondary data is called metadata. Metadata includes the time and date the picture was taken, GPS coordinates of the place or object in the picture, atmospheric conditions, and more. Ultimately, metadata provides the necessary insight into the conditions under which the image was created to enhance its further analytics.
Practical Applications of Remote Sensing
Now let’s see how the opportunities remote sensing offers are used by businesses.
Oil and Gas
The gas industry has long been utilizing satellite imagery for surveying large areas for pipeline construction and monitoring. And with the development of AI applied to satellite imagery processing, oil companies can now easily detect and manage oil spills and leaks to mitigate the impact and ensure effective remediation of the affected area.
Telecom
As electrical and telecom maintenance tends to be one of the unsafest jobs in the U.S, satellite imagery solves this issue by enabling remote cell towers and power lines inspection, leaving the workers out of danger.
Construction
In construction, satellite data can be used for precise and remote distance, elevation, and volume measurement, enabling easier project tracking and documentation.
Agriculture
Agribusiness is one of the biggest consumers of satellite data. Here are some of the main opportunities remote sensing offers for this sphere:
Determining Planting and Harvesting Time
Remote sensing gives access to historical and current data on local soil and weather conditions, enabling farmers to plan their cultivation cycle relying on accurate information. They can easily decide on the best time to plant a particular crop under the given conditions and make reliable field activities decisions over the whole span of crop cultivation.
Irrigation Planning
Remote sensing also offers data on soil moisture and precipitation, making it much easier for farmers to create irrigation maps based on this data. They can see which parts of the field are lacking water and which don’t require it at all, preventing over- and under- application while providing crops with only the sufficient water amount.
Crop Health Assessment and Yield Forecasting
Satellite data enables remote crop health monitoring throughout the entire season for timely threat identification (pests, diseases, abnormal weather changes). This data can also be used to predict the future yield based on the current crop state. Comparing yield data for several years, agribusinesses can make predictions on both crops performance and the profit it brings on each field. Besides, all this remote information can be instantly shared with stakeholders or other parties that are involved in the business.
Generally, one of the biggest advantages of remote sensing for business is that it allows for having a constant view of the object or process that are located in different places and are too complicated and big to monitor from the ground.
