Climate change is leading to an unprecedented increase in extreme rainfall events and flooding. Between 2014 and 2023, flood losses across the Nordic regions have increased by 22% and 54% of these losses have been caused by extreme rainfall, causing a challenging situation for insurance companies and policyholders. Norwegian company Mitigrate have developed a service under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) Programme, which not only assesses flood risk but uses satellite data to enhance climate adaptation and reduce damage to properties through sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures.

Many insurers assess flood risk and then increase premiums; Mitigrate aims to reduce the risk and make buildings and communities become more resilient over time. This holistic approach goes beyond risk assessment to recommending PFRs and SuDS for individual properties to mitigate flood damage in a cost-effective way. Encouraging the adoption of SuDS also demonstrates the insurance sector’s commitment to environmental responsibility and contributes to a greener future as the service is aligned to the EU Taxonomy and Sustainable Activities Goals. The additional environmental benefits of using SuDS, such as increasing biodiversity or improving air quality, are also highlighted in the system’s reports.

The Mitigrate service is primarily aimed at the general insurer market, covering underwriters, claim handlers, risk management teams, re-insurance purchasing professionals, and sustainability teams. The company has worked with 20 different insurers to understand their specific needs and requirements, and this has informed the development of the Mitigrate platform. The system can now analyse individual addresses and determine the risk level for each building, customising recommendations to meet the unique needs of each property.  This eliminates the need for costly on-site visits to discuss flood risk reduction and significantly lowers annual losses from floods for insurers. Mitigrate’s solution reduces the flood risk for customers and boosts customer satisfaction and retention, creating a sustainable business model by fostering resilient communities.

“Access to space technology and support through the BASS programme has been instrumental in accelerating our product innovation,” said Laurent Feuilleaubois, CEO of Mitigrate. “By integrating satellite data and advanced analytics, we’ve created a scalable service that not only enables insurers to manage flood risk more effectively, but also opens the door to new markets and customer segments. ESA’s backing gave us the confidence—and the tools—to move faster, build smarter, and deliver real value to the insurance industry.”

The Mitigrate service leverages satellite imagery and digital twins to assess the most appropriate SuDS and PFRs for an individual property, based on the size and suitability of the site and the amount of surface water the building needs to be able to cope with. The service utilises high-, and low-resolution spatial data, which is combined with machine learning, to minimise data costs without reducing the quality of the applicability maps generated. A range of sustainable drainage systems and property flood resilience measures are recommended to prevent future damage and rebuilding costs, including garden ponds to store rainwater, green roofs, bio-retention areas, rain gardens, pervious pavements and wet flood-proofing.

"Mitigrate offers a unique service supporting both insurers and policyholders by helping to reduce the risk of damage from flooding and improve insurability of properties” said Christopher Frost-Tesfaye, Project Manager at ESA. “We are proud to support Mitigrate and their innovative response to the challenges of flood risk."

Mitigrate worked with two insurers during the activity, testing the platform and expanding their service to the ten largest cities in Norway. This has resulted in a three-year commercial contract with Norwegian insurer Gjensidige, and discussions are underway with other companies in the Nordics, the UK and Germany. Mitigrate already covers 35 million properties in Norway and the UK and the platform is ready to scale across the Nordic regions and beyond.

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Getting out in the fresh air is more ‘in’ than ever this year, and with FATMAP’s adventure platform, activities in the Great Outdoors have never been easier to plan. With the support of ESA Space Solutions, FATMAP have now added some crucial ‘live data’ enhanced features, which take the application to new heights. 

“Better, safer adventures”, FATMAP have boasted since they launched the world's most advanced 3D outdoor map. This adventure platform for web and mobile means hikers, skiers, mountain bikers and trail runners can plan the perfect route, equip themselves like a professional, and then record and share their adventures with the community. 

“Whilst explorers of old needed extreme amounts of preparation or often simply strode blindly into the wilderness - at FATMAP we have brought together cutting-edge technologies and local experts to make adventures simpler and safer,” says Marcel Düe, Chief of Staff at FATMAP.

Now with the support of ESA Space Solutions, detailed and contextual live information has been added to the app. 

Live Lift and Piste status, Snow Coverage and WebCam 

“Having up-to-date data in the palm of your hand even if you don’t have Internet connectivity can make a critical difference in enjoying an exhilarating but safe adventure,” says Francesco Feliciani, Head of the Companies-Led Projects Section at ESA. “The team have made use of a range of satellite data to create new features including game-changing real-time snow conditions such as snow depth, fresh snow and snow forecasts as well as live resort status updates including which lifts and pistes are open or closed. 

“I myself am a ski enthusiast and use FATMAP, which has literally saved me a number of times from being stranded at the end of the day in some remote corner of a ski resort I was exploring with my friends.”

The app makes use of data from Earth observation satellites (such as radar-based and high-resolution imagery) to provide the rich digital terrain and surface models producing 3D images as well as the computational mapping overlays including gradient, aspect, flat zones and distance mapping. 

“Knowing in advance the type of terrain and conditions helps beginners as well as experienced individuals to plan – making adventures accessible to those who are not experts in reading traditional maps or in the local geography,” says Düe. “Webcams are an easy way to get a rough idea of current conditions”. 

The mobile platform allows users to preload the heaviest data chunks. This ensures that an adventurer who is already outdoors only has to download a small percentage of the overall dataset in order to have access to the most up-to-date information, displayed in a rich 3D context. 

Challenges and data engineering

Adding these live features was not without hurdles as the team had to obtain access to local data and then harmonise different data sets in coverage in order to update both the cycle and display. “Ultimately the aim was to be able to offer a consistent user experience based on inconsistent and sparse data. Thanks to ESA’s support we have achieved this,” says Düe. 

Future plans for the global FATMAP platform include the incorporation of more data sets with easier ways for users to contribute;  to be rolled out in 2021.