New AI model integrates petabytes of Earth observation data to generate a unified data representation that revolutionizes global mapping and monitoring
Every day, satellites capture information-rich images and measurements, providing scientists and experts with a near real-time picture of our planet. While this data has had a huge impact, its complexity, multimodality and refresh rate create a new challenge: connecting different data sets and using them effectively.
Today we are introducing AlphaEarth Foundations, an artificial intelligence (AI) model that acts as a virtual satellite. It accurately and efficiently characterizes all of the planet's land and coastal waters, integrating vast amounts of Earth observation data into a unified digital representation, or “embedding,” that computer systems can easily process. As a result, the model provides scientists with a more complete and coherent picture of how our planet is evolving, helping them make more informed decisions on key issues such as food security, deforestation, urban expansion and water resources.
To accelerate research and unlock use cases, we are now making the AlphaEarth Foundations collection of annual embeddings available as a satellite embedding dataset on Google Earth Engine. Over the past year, we've worked with over 50 organizations to test this dataset in their real-world applications.
Our partners are already seeing significant benefits by using data to better classify unmapped ecosystems, understand agricultural and environmental changes, and significantly increase the accuracy and speed of their mapping efforts. We're excited to share some of their views on this blog and showcase the tangible impact of this new technology.
