From balloon imaging to automated drone imaging, aerial imaging has had a lot of advancement. During its initiation, aerial imagery was primarily used to track wartime activities and not welcomed as people looked on to aerial imaging as an invasion in their privacy. However, in due course of time people began to realize that there is better to it than bad. Imagery technology has now become an essential part of various industries such as information and communication technology, defence, civil engineering, forestry, agriculture and many more. Advances in satellite imagery and technology have caused a huge evolution. The abilities of geospatial data collection and problem-solving have exploded since the introduction of digital mapping as a discipline.

Advancements in imagery technology

UAVs  are providing tremendous growth opportunities in various sectors. Unmanned Aerial System(UAV) have set an extraordinary platform for aerial imaging and have opened up a host of new applications and has caught the eyes of several investor firms. UAVs are able to deliver images to the highest order at low altitudes and in much higher resolutions.

Capella Space aims to provide the most frequent, timely and high quality SAR imagery products available. Without access to timely data converted into relevant information, monitoring and reducing the effects of various events is challenging.  Capella is developing an industry leading concept of operations with its highly equipped synthetic-aperture radar that can penetrate clouds and work at night.

NASA’s new technology is a step forward for farmers and agriculturists in the world. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite is an earth satellite mission that produces high- definition imagery of soil moisture levels around the world to understand the water, carbon and energy cycles.

Importance of imagery technology

Increasing availability of satellite data and rapid advancements in machine learning methods are enabling a batter understanding into the fundamental forces shaping economic development. It has transformed how we use remote sensing analytics to understand, monitor and predict various events on environment and human lives. As satellite data becomes more and more accessible and frequent, it is now possible to not only understand better on how the earth is changing but also utilize these insights to improve decision making.

Today, the increased availability of free satellite data incorporated with powerful cloud computing and open source analytical tools have standardized data innovation and multi-spectral imagery is another reason. It captures light from frequencies beyond visible light range such as infrared and shortwave infrared enabling agencies and different sectors to use satellite data to improve program monitoring and service delivery.

Innovation in satellite measurements

• Big data: Satellite data is improving every day, creating new opportunities for impact in development and business. Big satellite data fuels scientific researches and drives many businesses.
• Open source: Open source datasets, the World Bank’s open data and other publicly available resources allow to process and document the data and perform machine learning analysis using common programming languages.
• Crowd: Crowd source platforms like MTurk, figure-eight and tomnod are used to collect and identify automatically specific objects and land cover on earth.
• Cloud: cloud computing applies in the satellite data processing of remote sensing systems and provides scalable solutions for storage, management and processing of large volumes of data.

New age of satellite imagery

1. Rise of artificial intelligence with faster data processing and analytics as well as other potential such as beam-hopping, anti-jamming, network traffic forecasting, interference managing and a wide variety of aspects.
2. Exponential growth in number of satellites provided with more data, connecting remote assets, driving the use of sensor networks and speed.

• Cost effectiveness of small satellites with cheaper manufacture and launch.

1. Sensor advancements like Digital globe’s world view satellites can image earth at 30cm.

Better space communications with faster data downloads