Tropical forestry and agroforestry markets are significant and growing rapidly, as demand for food, fuel, timber and other agroforest products grows with the rising global population. Despite increased global environmental monitoring and a growing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable products and practices, tropical forests declined by 6.3 million hectares every year between 2010 and 2020 and illegal logging remains a significant challenge. Recognising the need to provide timely and accurate information to help forest managers combat illegal logging effectively, Dutch social enterprise Space4Good has developed the FORESTER service, powered by ILDAP (Illegal Logging Detection and Prediction) algorithms, a project supported by ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme. 

Following on from a successful Kickstart activity focusing on deforestation, in 2022 Space4Good launched the ILDAP Demonstration Project, working with ESA BASS and the Arsari Enviro Group to develop a new platform. Arsari sustainably manages and conserves hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest in Indonesia and has suffered ongoing issues with illegal logging and land theft.  A section of this forest was chosen as the pilot site as it has areas of virgin forest providing habitats for many endangered species as well as a long history of logging. 

FORESTER combines Artificial Intelligence, Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing data analytics to create cost effective and accessible insights with unprecedented accuracy and precision. The use of satellite data from Sentinel 1 overcomes the challenges of monitoring tropical regions with extensive cloud cover as it can penetrate clouds to identify changes in the forest structure.  After FORESTER triggers a deforestation alert, forest managers and their ground patrols can then verify these incidents. This can be done through field observation or drones which enables swift confirmation and direct action against illegal logging and wildfire. 

The system also offers advanced predictive modelling, tailored to the local context, which can identify potential sites for illegal encroachment and logging incidents. This unique approach enables users to take preventative measures and allocate resources effectively, including engaging with local communities or increasing patrols in the area. 

During the trial period, deforestation decreased by an astonishing 80% within the pilot area, saving 3000 ha of natural forest, at the same time as deforestation events in a nearby Indonesian province increased.  In total, 177 deforestation events were identified, and two major encroachments were found and acted upon by local enforcement agencies.

Beatrice Barresi, Senior Sustainable Applications Officer for ESA, said “we are very pleased to have supported this important project which has real potential to protect significant areas of valuable forest around the world.”

The FORESTER Service provides users with the information they need to support proactive approaches to forest management, enabling effective mitigation of wildlife crimes, reducing operational costs and preserving biodiversity and carbon stocks. By providing a single source of transparent, accurate and up-to-date information for forest managers, local communities, indigenous people and conservation project developers, the service also develops trust and facilitates better forest stewardship .

“With FORESTER we aim to empower rainforest guardians in their fight against illegal logging with a powerful tool, tailored for ground teams, that can help them better respond to threats and coordinate around forest protection” said Alexander Gunkel, Managing Director and Founder of Space4Good.

The platform is now ready for operation and a new pilot in Ecuador, the Maquipucuna Reserve situated in the central area of the Andean Bear Ecological Corridor, has already been signed. Space4Good plans to extend its pilot campaign to other areas and organisations and to launch the ILDAP/Space4Good FORESTER as an ‘off the shelf’ service by the end of the year. 

Ongoing developments in FORESTER’s insights, alerts and predictions will support the restoration of global tropical forests, and offer protection against the increased risks of fire, drought and diseases due to climate change. Through its service, FORESTER will also ease documentation and risk mitigation efforts in nature credit development. By supporting the connection between green finance and forest stewardship, FORESTER can help reduce the economic pressure on forests, contributing towards the United Nations deforestation objectives and conserving biodiversity and endangered species. 

It is estimated that 1 in 4 people in Europe have pollen allergies and these can have a major impact on the lives of sufferers, affecting their health, quality of life and productivity. Research shows that the problem is getting worse as climate change is extending the pollen season. Norwegian company Airmine has developed a new space-enabled pollen forecasting system under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions programme which can help people plan their day-to-day activities to reduce allergic reactions. 

Recent studies have shown that hay fever symptoms are actually more severe in urban areas, with the allergens on pollen grain from urban trees and grasses made more potent by the chemicals in polluted air.  With pollen allergies also triggering flare-ups of serious lung conditions such as asthma, Airmine recognised the need to improve pollen forecasting and help hay fever sufferers take more control. With support from ESA, through a Feasibility Study and a Demonstration Project, they have developed an app which offers pollen risk forecasts for today and tomorrow, risk maps and a pollen diary for logging of allergy symptoms.

The pollen model is informed by a range of insights, including satellite imaging data to help determine land use and map pollen-producing vegetation. This is combined with weather data, ground-based sensors and topography to detect and forecast levels of different types of pollen down to a 40x40 metre resolution. 

 

Most people are allergic to specific types of pollen, such as grass or birch tree pollen. For the project, this meant that Airmine needed to know the location, density and distribution of allergenic plant species to be able to create useful forecasts. In order to do this, Airmine manually mapped plant species and used public tree databases in sample areas of land. They then combined this data with satellite images of the area to create a machine learning algorithm which is able to distinguish between species. This algorithm was then applied to areas where the nature of the vegetation was unknown to verify the results, iteratively developing the algorithm up to 82% accuracy for plant identification.

“We’re proud to have supported Airmine to harness the power of Sentinel-2 to improve pollen forecasting. This is a great example of how satellite technology can be at the heart of services that create healthier places to live and work – a central aim of our Smart and Green Cities initiative” said Davide Coppola, Head of Space Applications Section at ESA.

The first forecasting models covered Norway, and have now expanded across the Nordic countries, the UK and parts of Australia and South Africa, as well as major cities in parts of Central and South America, the USA and Poland. 

Having established and automated reliable pollen models, Airmine has developed a number of options for municipalities, pharmaceutical companies and individuals to access local forecasts.  The free Airmine app launched in May 2023 and has been downloaded over 70,000 times.  It provides easy-to-use ‘heatmap’ forecasting for seven different allergenic species. Users are also invited to report symptom severity through the app, and these citizen insights and data help to continually improve forecasting accuracy. By producing actionable insights and analytics for personal healthcare, Airmine allows individuals to adapt their activity to minimise exposure to potential allergy triggers and prevent severe allergic or respiratory reactions. This in turn reduces the demand on healthcare services.

Airmine also provides web widgets and integrations to embed local pollen information onto websites and digital signage, for instance in healthcare and municipal settings, expanding the reach of the service beyond those who download the app and offering the potential to inform planting policy in urban spaces.

Kristin Pettersen Grenan, Airmine CEO, said "the invaluable support from the Norwegian Space Agency and ESA has enabled us to develop ground-breaking new technology which, thanks to the use of satellites, is highly scalable. This enables us to fulfil our commitment to deliver the highest quality pollen app to help pollen allergy sufferers worldwide."

A successful Feasibility Study by German company EOMAP has attracted key funding from the Enel Group to progress its digital snow modelling solution to Demonstration Project phase. Developed under ESA’s Business Application and Space Solutions programme, SnowPower uses satellite data to provide the hydropower sector with accurate snow information, even in remote mountainous areas. 

Detailed and precise information about snow depth (SD) and the volume of water the snow stores (snow water equivalent – SWE) is crucial for operations within the hydropower sector, especially during Spring when the snow melts. However, the retrieval of SD and SWE data in mountainous regions by traditional methods, such as in-situ measurements or expensive Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) overflights, is either limited in scope or time consuming and expensive to execute. 

The SnowPower solution pairs existing localised snow information with advanced satellite-based data to cover wider geographical areas in more detail, more efficiently and at lower cost than ever before. EOMAP's project partner Snowcap records SD information using Sentinel-1 Earth Observation data and feeds this into assimilation software to create an accurate snow model. It also seamlessly generates daily SWE data across extensive mountainous areas at a resolution of 500 metres, which can be merged with existing information for non-mountainous regions to provide comprehensive coverage across entire countries. This key data is displayed via EOMAP’s bespoke app, the eoapp Hypos which provides users with visualisation, exporting and analysis functions to support operational processes across the industry.

SnowPower was supported by Enel Global Energy and Commodity Management and Chief Pricing Officer, which has among its functions the management of exposure of hydroelectric production. Such a project is carried out together with Enel Green Power which manages the large cluster of hydro power plants in the Alpine and Apennine regions. Following the pilot, Snowcap subsequently updated the technology, improving performance levels by 20% and offering increased coverage and enhanced data and algorithm processing.

As part of the Demonstration Project phase, the EOMAP team plans to establish a highly reliable near-real time service, making further enhancements to accuracy and carrying out widespread testing of different meteorological data sets. SnowPower will be piloted more widely across Italy, Finland and Chile, showcasing the added value of the service, before the final service concept and business exploitation plan is implemented, leveraging pilot user feedback to ensure successful market entry.

ESA Technical Officer, Beatrice Barresi, says “SnowPower has shown impressive potential through its Feasibility Study and we look forward to working with EOMAP on the Demonstration Project phase. With ESA’s technical expertise and Enel’s backing, it has the power to transform hydropower operations in years to come. We believe that SnowPower service will play an important role in the green transition of the energy sector, as it will ease the management of hydropower.”   

Dr. Fabian von Trentini, innovation manager at EOMAP, said "The collaboration with top experts on snow remote sensing at Snowcap and the Finnish Meteorological Institute is really inspiring and helps us at EOMAP to broaden up our portfolio when it comes to water resource management. The innovative approach developed by Snowcap is a major leap for effective and efficient reservoir management in snow-dominated catchments."

Enel Global Energy and Commodity Management weather teams said, “The knowledge of snowpack and ice thickness is a crucial aspect in Enel business. Enel believes that the latest developments in satellite observations in terms of accuracy and precision could play a key role to enhance the performance of water storage management of hydro power plants. GECM and EGPTG teams are engaged to work with EOMAP to develop new instruments for a more accurate water management as a part of hydro energy transition optimisation.”

Originally developed as part of a consortium with Snowcap and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, SnowPower is poised to transform the management of hydropower plants in mountainous regions, converting satellite data into actionable snow-related information in a simple and effective format for users. The commercial promise shown by EOMAP’s innovative space-based solution is coupled with socioeconomic and sustainability returns: the company’s endeavours will improve the efficiency of hydro energy production, while minimising the impact of floods through improved forecasting, and reducing the carbon footprint through the development of affordable and clean energy.

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