How Ai And Ml Are Supercharging Earth Observation

Earth Observation (EO) satellites have been capturing meaningful snapshots of our planet for decades, but the job of deriving actionable insights can take hours. AI and machine learning algorithms can be programmed or trained to analyze multiple data sets and derive critical information, allowing tasks that previously took hours or days to take minutes or seconds. Maxar has an all-hands-on-deck investment in machine learning models, and how they can improve accuracy when applied to satellite imagery. Recently, Maxar engineers published a paper in the journal Nature on how to combine high-resolution imagery with machine learning models to improve the accuracy of detecting small objects such as solar panels. The latency of machine learning models makes the information actionable instead of more academic in nature, and can be used in scenarios such as U.S. military broad area surveillance of an area where missile launchers are stationed.