The conditions for analyzing geographic data have changed and developed radically over the past decade. An important part of this development has been the increased availability of satellite data and new technologies for advanced analysis.
Satellite data has become an increasingly important tool, including for monitoring the Earth's environment and climate. A key factor in the growing importance of satellite data has been the substantial increase in data flows resulting from major investments in Earth observation satellites in recent decades. Most notably, the European Copernicus programme, which consists of a large number of satellites and information services providing timely, user-friendly and high-quality information. Data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites are free and openly available.
While new satellites are constantly providing us with new information, satellite data dating back decades are also available. This now makes it possible to see and analyze trends in the data.
In addition, rapid technological developments allow us to process very large amounts of data and perform qualitative analyses that were previously not possible.
The European Earth observation program, Copernicus, has been providing data since 2014. The Sentinel satellites that are part of the program provide freely available Earth observation data at frequent intervals. But extracting knowledge from the large amounts of data requires efficient management and processing of the information.
The Copernicus programme supports Europe's environment and security efforts by providing timely, user-friendly and high-quality information. The program's satellites are called Sentinel, which means sentinel. Data from the program's Sentinel satellites is free and openly available to all. The information from the satellites can be combined with data from other satellites and from ground-based measurements to provide even more information.
The large amount of satellite data available makes it possible to perform time series analysis. Time series analysis compares data from different points in time to automatically detect changes in the landscape. It also makes it possible, for example, to identify different types of trees by distinguishing when specific species of deciduous trees are dying out or to distinguish different types of crops on agricultural land.
The satellite images below show how the surface water body fluctuates significantly between spring, summer and fall for Lake Steningen in Älmhult municipality. Using time series analysis, we can look in detail at how the object looks during different parts of the year.
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March |
June |
October |
AI and machine learning allow us to manage and analyze large amounts of geographic information. Machine learning means letting computers solve complex problems by identifying patterns and applying the patterns identified to new data. This is nothing new, but the development of graphics cards over the last decade has allowed computing capacity to grow exponentially. This means that we can now analyze very large amounts of data efficiently. Analyses that used to take days can now be done in minutes.
| The analyses reveal complex relationships and patterns in the environment. This in turn provides insights that are used to conserve, restore and ensure sustainable use of ecosystems, protect biodiversity and natural habitats, and conserve coastal and marine areas, among other things. This is important for measuring and monitoring Sweden's environmental objectives under Agenda 2030. |
For more than ten years, Metria has created and analyzed geodata describing Sweden's nature and environment on behalf of the public sector and private industry. Read more in the articles below about how these analyses are used for both protective and commercial purposes. Read more about our offer in analysis.
How development affects coastal ecosystems |
Key habitats for wild bees identified with spatial analysis |
AI helps forest owners fight the spruce bark beetle |
National map base for sustainable wind power development |
On behalf of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Metria has conducted the national land cover mapping by collecting and processing extremely large amounts of data from the Sentinel-2 satellite. The optical satellite images were combined with laser data and existing map data, which together formed the basis for a comprehensive national land cover data.
Watch the movie produced by the Swedish National Space Agency about how we have conducted the national land cover mapping.