Space Applications

Carbon capture and content assessment

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Environmental monitoring

Environmental impact monitoring

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Environmental monitoring

Biomass monitoring

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Natural resources monitoring

Crop yield forecasting

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Natural resources monitoring

Soil condition monitoring

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Natural resources monitoring

Vegetation monitoring

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Natural resources monitoring

Asset monitoring

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Automatic steering

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

CAP monitoring

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Farm machinery guidance

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Climate services for agriculture

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Weather services for agriculture

Farm management systems

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Field definition

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Livestock wearables

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Pastureland management

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Precision irrigation

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Variable rate application

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Operations management

Markets: Agriculture

Domains: Weather services for agriculture

Aircraft emission measurement and monitoring

Markets: Aviation & drones

Domains: N/A

Particulate matter monitoring

Markets: Aviation & drones

Domains: N/A

Open drone navigation

Markets: Aviation & drones

Domains: N/A

Animal tracking for biodiversity purposes

Markets: Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Domains: N/A

Coastal ecosystems monitoring

Markets: Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Domains: N/A

Snow and ice ecosystems monitoring

Markets: Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Domains: N/A

Terrestrial ecosystems monitoring

Markets: Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Domains: N/A

Water ecosystems monitoring

Markets: Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Domains: N/A

Climate change mitigation and adaptation

Markets: Climate services

Domains: N/A

Earth observation-based modelling

Markets: Climate services

Domains: N/A

GNSS-based climate modelling

Markets: Climate services

Domains: N/A

Climate forecasting

Markets: Climate services

Domains: N/A

Climate monitoring

Markets: Climate services

Domains: N/A

Mapping and GIS

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Workforce management

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Air quality monitoring

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

mHealth

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Safety and emergency

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Social networks

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Sport, fitness and wellness incl. specialist support tracking

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

UV monitoring

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Navigation for smartphone users

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Personal and asset tracking

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Visually impaired support

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Consumer robotics

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Points of interest

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Early warning

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

GNSS-enabled ocean monitoring buoys

Markets: Consumer solutions, tourism and health

Domains: N/A

Earth observation human displacement monitoring

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Management of refugee camps

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Population counting

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Telematics for humanitarian aid

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Post-event analysis

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Preparedness

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Rapid mapping

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Beacons for aviation

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Beacons for maritime

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Beacons on land

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Climbers and hikers are advised to equip themselves with a PLB in case they find themselves in distress.

Situational awareness supporting search and rescue

Markets: Emergency management & humanitarian aid

Domains: N/A

Earth observation services can assist Maritime and Joint Rescue Coordination Centres in a wide range of activities at sea, including support to search and rescue operations and exercises. Earth observation information, com- bined with maritime data and external sources, can provide you with a better understanding and improved monitoring of activities at sea (incl. detection of ships in distress, search and rescue response support, etc.).

Energy network conditions monitoring

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

The situational awareness and monitoring capabilities of Earth observation contribute through application such as monitoring the structural integrity of assets including towers, poles, wind plants and solar plants; monitoring land subsidence around energy infrastructure such as pipeline and plants, assessment of vegetation encroachments; and allowing for asset condition management damages, degradation, corrosion, etc.

Phasor measurement units (PMU)

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

GNSS provides accurate timing and synchronization for PMUs, which are deployed across remote locations of the power network (nodes), improving the reliability of power systems.

Environmental impact assessment of energy and mineral resources plants

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can support the mitigation of energy/mining effects of the environment through continuous monitoring of relevant environmental characteristics and through the capacity of Earth observation to detect changes. Relevant products and services include coastal ecosystems monitoring, water quality monitoring, air quality monitoring, erosion monitoring, pollution monitoring, vegetation monitoring, etc. In some cases, Earth observation-based products could also include the production of environmental impact assessment “certificate”.

Supply chain insights

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

Earth observation data support market analysts, traders, investors, energy operators and regulators, governments, international banking institutions and citizens, to better understand the new energy dynamics shifting under the pressure of climate change. AI and advanced analytics are applied to Earth observation for applications such as reservoir monitoring, heavy oil production mapping, underground gas storage, sophisticated methane-detection technologies, etc.

Power plant design optimization

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can help optimizing the design of renewable energy power plants (e.g., optimization of the positioning of solar panels, onshore and offshore wind turbines, etc.). Relevant Earth observation-based products include terrain elevation models, solar irradiance, wind speed, precipitation and climate conditions.

Renewable energy assessment potential and forecast:

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

Prior to the selection of a power plant site, Earth observation can contribute to the assessment of the potential of a given area based on the analysis of historical data for example, wind, solar irradiation, ocean currents, ocean temperature (e.g., for OTEC or SWAC) and snow cover. During the exploitation phase, Earth observation can help calculating daily production estimates based on plant characteristics coupled with relevant forecasts. This includes for instance solar plant production estimates based on solar irradiation forecasts or hydropower production estimates based on snow cover smelting.

Risk assessment for energy assets

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

Energy assets are exposed to a variety of natural risks which can put at danger the people working on site or, damage equipment or negatively impact production. Earth observation can contribute to the assessment of the level of risk to prevent/mitigate the effects of adverse events on the exploitation of energy (incl. the protection of workers maintaining offshore wind platforms for instance). Relevant Earth observation-based products and services include the monitoring of dangerous subsurface currents, iceberg detection and tracking, etc.

Site selection, planning and monitoring

Markets: Energy & raw materials

Domains: N/A

: Earth observation can provide a large variety of products and information supporting the identification of the most suitable areas for the exploitation of renewable energy sources. These products and information include for instance data on relevant environmental parameters influencing the production of energy, data on the status of the power plants, geological evaluation, topography mapping, etc. GNSS can enable geomatics applications such as mine and construction surveying, mapping and GIS, photogrammetry, laser scanning and remote sensing, as well as route planning and augmented reality visualization. The GNSS devices that are used for those applications include high-accuracy GNSS receivers (geodetic-grade smart antennas, all-in-one integrated mapping/GIS devices or infrastructure/CORS) and embedded chipsets. On the other hand, a number of CORS networks operate receivers that are powered by renewable energy sources (e.g., solar panels or wind turbines), so the utilization of GNSS for renewable energy operations brings mutual benefits.

Environmental auditing

Markets: Environmental Monitoring

Domains: N/A

: Earth observation data is used in environmental auditing as an input to assess the repercussions of human activity across four different environments: Atmosphere, Coasts, Land, Water and oceans. Includes air quality, greenhouse gases, wetland loss, land-use change, vegetation monitoring, pollution, and infrastructure impacts.

Environmental resources management

Markets: Environmental Monitoring

Domains: N/A

The use of Earth observation satellites and data provides users the means to properly manage environmental resources across atmosphere, coasts, land, and water environments. Enables monitoring of air quality, wetland loss, land-use change, erosion, pollution, and human impact.

Impact studies and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)

Markets: Environmental Monitoring

Domains: N/A

Earth observation monitors parameters necessary for impact studies and ESG policy implementation across atmosphere, coasts, land, and water environments, covering air quality, greenhouse gases, wetland loss, land-use change, vegetation, waste, and infrastructure monitoring.

Aquaculture operations optimization

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

Earth observation supports water quality monitoring, harmful algae blooms detection, fish farming environmental impact assessment and stock health modelling. GNSS supports automated vessels navigation and buoy localization.

Aquaculture site selection

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

Earth observation data and forecasting assist in selecting suitable locations and types of aquaculture in nearshore and offshore environments.

Catch optimization

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

Earth observation data and forecasting help optimize catch by identifying suitable zones and times.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) control

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

Satellite data including Earth observation and GNSS (AIS/VMS) support surveillance and identification to combat illegal fishing.

Fishing aggregating devices

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

GNSS-enabled buoys assist fishermen in locating nets, equipment and fish stocks.

Fish stock detection

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

Earth observation contributes to modelling fish stocks and detecting fish shoals using data on sea surface temperature, currents, ocean colour, and bathymetry.

Fishing vessels navigation

Markets: Fisheries & Aquaculture

Domains: N/A

GNSS-enabled navigation devices help fishing vessels navigate safely to fishing zones and equipment.

Biomass monitoring

Markets: Forestry

Domains: N/A

Earth observation and GNSS enable biomass monitoring for understanding CO2 absorption capacity and biomass energy potential.

Deforestation/degradation monitoring

Markets: Forestry

Domains: N/A

Earth observation and GNSS track forest biomass changes to monitor deforestation and degradation, relevant for climate and biodiversity goals.

Forest inventory monitoring

Markets: Forestry

Domains: N/A

Earth observation and GNSS enable the monitoring of the timber inventories using various optical measurements, radar measurements and in situ sensors.

Forest vegetation health monitoring

Markets: Forestry

Domains: N/A

The health of forest vegetation can be monitored and managed using Earth observation. Optical and radar data can be used to measure forest vegetation intensity (through the generation of various indices such as NDVI) to infer the health of trees and forest vegetation.

Illegal logging monitoring

Markets: Forestry

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can help in the identification of illegal logging. By using optical and radar data to monitor land-use changes and measure forest vegetation cover, illegal destruction of forests can be detected and monitored.

Environmental impact assessment of infrastructure

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can support the analysis of the impact of existing infrastructures (including during the construction phase) on the environment and ecosystem in their surroundings. Relevant Earth observation-based products and services include pollution monitoring (air, water, soil), vegetation and biodiversity monitoring, etc.

Permitting

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can support the evaluations to be carried out before a permit is delivered for the construction of a new infrastructure. Thus, Earth observation can deliver products and services related to land cover/land-use mapping, forest mapping, geological evaluation, exposure to disaster risk (e.g., floods), ground deformation, etc.

Site selection and planning

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can contribute to the selection of sites (e.g., tailing dams) or routes (e.g., roads/rail) through the provision of products and services such as geological evaluation, topography mapping, historical data on land subsidence. Through geomatics applications like construction surveying, mapping and GIS, photogrammetry, laser scanning and remote sensing, GNSS can significantly speed up the accurate determination of site borders, while also providing adequate methods for development of detailed specialized maps, route planning or establishment of GIS database with accurate positions of all infrastructure site features. In addition, to high-accuracy GNSS devices (smart antennas or integrated mapping/GIS devices), GNSS chipsets can feed high-accuracy positioning data into LiDAR and imaging devices (drone or land-based), and augmented reality technologies for a-priori in situ infrastructure visualization.

Vulnerability analysis

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can contribute to the vulnerability assessment for locations prone to natural hazards. Relevant Earth observation-based products and services include historical data on floods, droughts, and fires as well as climate projections enabling the assessment of the evolution of risks.

Construction operations

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Thanks to its capacity to detect surface changes, Earth observation can support the monitoring in near-real-time of the progress achieved anywhere on the construction site. It can also help verifying the alignment between actual building and original plans. While also providing typical surveying techniques on the site, GNSS is an ultimate supplier of positioning and orientation data for heavy machinery (graders, dozers, excavators, compactors), which can be used for either semi-automatic (GNSS serves as a guide to the operator) or fully automatic operations (GNSS data is directly fused into the machine hydraulic control). For the needs of BIM, GNSS can feed the model with high accuracy positioning data of all relevant construction assets.

Monitoring of impact of human activities on infrastructures

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation enables the monitoring of the impact on buildings and infrastructures of land subsidence caused by a variety of human activities (e.g., aquifer overexploitation in urban areas).

ODA support monitoring

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can be used to validate that Official Development Assistance (ODA) support (i.e., investment in different development projects) is utilized as planned. This is often directly informing the further release of funds from a donor country to a receiving one.

Post-construction operations

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Critical infrastructures such as dams, bridges, factories etc. can be damaged in case of Earth’s surface deformation. Earth observation offers solutions for the monitoring of infrastructure stability and for the provision of situation awareness as it can accurately monitor land deformation and to detect minor changes (e.g., building subsidence). The stability of critical infrastructure is monitored also via high-precision GNSS methods, e.g., by post-processing of static relative GNSS observations at field control points (established directly into or in the vicinity of the object) with station data from local or global CORS networks. In addition, GNSS data may be utilized to feed various smart sensors, mounted into the infrastructure body for real-time stability monitoring.

Pipeline monitoring

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can contribute to the monitoring of pipelines through the provision of ground deformation information across pipeline networks as well as through the provision of information related to vegetation encroachment or third-party interference. For above-ground pipelines, GNSS provides methods for stability monitoring like post-construction operations, while for underground assets it may feed high-accuracy positioning data into ground-penetration radars to map and detect leakages and other faults.

Data centre

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

A data centre is a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. GNSS is used as a time source for network synchronization of computing resources.

Digital cellular network (DCN)

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Telecom operators require accurate and consistent time and frequency at distant points of their networks to meet increasingly demanding broadband requirements. GNSS is used to provide consistent frequency and time alignment between all base stations within the network.

Professional mobile radio (PMR)

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Telecom operators require accurate and consistent time and frequency at distant points of their networks to meet increasingly demanding broadband requirements. GNSS is used for synchronization of time slots and handovers between base stations.

Public switched telephone network (PSTN)

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Telecom operators require accurate and consistent time and frequency at distant points of their networks to meet increasingly demanding broadband requirements. Originally a network of fixed-line analogue telephone systems, the PSTN is now entirely digital in its core network and in this report, it consists in fixed telephones networks. GNSS is usually a backup to atomic clocks to provide time slot management.

Satellite communication (SATCOM)

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Telecom operators require accurate and consistent time and frequency at distant points of their networks to meet increasingly demanding broadband requirements. GNSS is typically used in satellite control stations and telecommunications gateways, mostly for frequency control.

Small cells

Markets: Infrastructure

Domains: N/A

Telecom operators require accurate and consistent time and frequency at distant points of their networks to meet increasingly demanding broadband requirements. GNSS is used to provide frequency and phase alignment in small cells networks.

Marine pollution monitoring

Markets: Environmental Monitoring

Domains: N/A

SAR-based and optical satellite data can be used for detecting and monitoring of oil spills and marine litter. Earth observation also provides forecasts of sea currents and sea-surface heights (altimetry), sea-surface salinity, sea-surface temperature, ocean colour and sea-ice data – useful for monitoring and forecasting the course of the pollution. Moreover, remote sensing data can also contribute to identifying the polluters. Ocean services Metocean (meteorology over oceans, and offshore weather and sea state monitoring): Earth observation can provide data for quality meteorology over oceans (offshore weather and sea state monitoring) complemented with near-real-time data collection of variables such as wave height and frequency, wind speed, direction, and ocean current velocity on global and regional scales.

Dark vessel monitoring

Markets: Maritime and Inland Waterways

Domains: N/A

GNSS-enabled long-range identification and tracking as well as AIS or VMS provide the means to monitor and track suspicious vessels. When those vessels turn off or disable their own AIS or VMS, Earth observation data provides enhanced situational awareness that can be used by dedicated maritime authorities to monitor and track “dark vessels” through Earth observation imagery and SAR data.

Passenger information systems

Markets: Rail

Domains: N/A

GNSS is used to provide enhanced passenger services such as real time location and speed of trains along their route during a journey. Increasingly, GNSS location of trains is also supporting platform and online passenger information services.

Bike-sharing

Markets: Road & automotive

Domains: N/A

Bike-sharing and especially free-floating bike-sharing systems rely on GNSS to locate the bike across the city by both end users and the bike-sharing service provider. Public transport – buses: Public transit agencies use GNSS receivers in buses to track their location in real-time to display their position on a map in the control centre and their expected arrival times on digital displays at bus stops. Road fleet management: Fleet management on-board units transmit GNSS positioning information through telematics to support transport operators in monitoring the performance of logistics activities. This application is used within cars that form a so-called fleet such as taxis, rental cars and cars used for sharing schemes. Commercial vehicle fleet owners also adopt it. As subset, dangerous goods tracking is done by transmitting GNSS-based positioning data on the vehicles carrying them, together with other information about the status of the cargo.

Navigation (IVS and PND):

Markets: Road & automotive

Domains: N/A

Navigation is the most widespread application, providing turn-by-turn indications to drivers through portable navigation devices (PNDs) and in-vehicle systems (IVS) built in cars.

Air quality monitoring in urban environments:

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Using satellite data and in situ measurements, Earth observation can support detecting, collecting, and interpreting information on a multitude of air pollutants, including their origins, movement, and expected health risks.

Smart streetlights

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Smart streetlights incorporate precise GNSS positioning data, in addition to other technologies such as cameras and photocells, to remotely control the output of individual streetlights, detect faults, monitor energy performance. They also facilitate real time alerts for city-wide problems including traffic flow, parking spaces, electrical outages, and accidents.

Urban planning

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can measure urban footprints including sprawl, density, and sealed surfaces. It can also measure change such as increase or decrease of urban deprivation. This information can in turn be used to help inform and plan future urban developments.

Urban modelling, 3D modelling, digital twins

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation data can serve as input to digital surface models, enabling simulations, including shadow effects or street canyon effects. The creation of so-called digital twins of cities would enable the visualization, monitoring and forecasting of natural and human activity in support of sustainable development. GNSS can help in precisely defining and measuring specific location points of interest for urban and 3D modelling purposes.

Surveying and mapping

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can support mapping of urban land-use and land cover while enabling to classify built structures including building height and urban infrastructure such as roads. GNSS-based cadastral surveying and mapping help in precisely defining and measuring specific location points of interest for cartographic and urban planning purposes (all GNSS cadastral and mapping devices are being quantified under this application, regardless of where they are used e.g., non-urban areas, energy and raw materials, infrastructures). Both Earth observation and GNSS power GIS applications for surveying and mapping of urban areas.

Real estate

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation enables detection of illegal structures outside of planning as well as violations of property lines.

Informal dwellings

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation enables detection of illegal structures outside of planning as well as violations of property lines.

Cultural heritage monitoring

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Cultural heritage, including monuments, spaces, and cultural infrastructure can be supported by means of Earth observation, both to assess (e.g., structural) conditions as well as disruptions (e.g., illegal construction, violation of preservation orders).

Smart waste management

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

GNSS can be used in smart waste management by precisely positioning waste containers, thereby helping in the monitoring and collection planning of waste.

Urban heat islands

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation can support mapping temperatures and temperature variations across urban areas, e.g., to alert health authorities of related risks for specific demographic groups.

Urban greening

Markets: Urban development & cultural heritage

Domains: N/A

Earth observation and GNSS can be used to monitor vegetation cover, the health of green space vegetation as well as precise definition, positioning and monitoring green space infrastructure.

Congestion control

Markets: Road & automotive

Domains: N/A

Satellite road traffic monitoring services collect floating car location data from vehicles through PNDs, IVS and mobile devices. The traffic information is then processed and distributed to users and other interested parties. Remote sensing data can be used as an additional layer of information for monitoring traffic flows.

Rail fleet management

Markets: Rail

Domains: N/A

Train location provided by GNSS could be used to perform fleet analysis to optimize the use of locomotives and railway cars and to properly size rail fleets.

Public transport – tram and light rail

Markets: Rail

Domains: N/A

Currently, GNSS is used in smart mobility applications to optimize the network capacity by managing tram locations or to provide real time information to passengers such as the estimated arrival time of a tram at a designated station. GNSS has started to be used for advanced applications, such as automatic speed limitation, ensuring that the tram speed is lower than a customer-defined speed limit in a specific area. It is also used for maintenance or on-board energy management, ensuring that the tram’s on-board battery has sufficient energy level before passing a section without external power supply.