The projects will use Earth observation tools and satellite data, supported by AI, to produce forecasts or models that can be used by various industry sectors, says the UKSA, citing agriculture, energy, finance and insurance.
Each initiative will receive up to £55,000 to begin development in September on their services, with the aim to produce the most up to date view of environmental contexts possible. Total funding amounts to £530,000.
“The UK has a long history of expertise and innovation in Earth observation, developing satellites to collect increasingly detailed data and using that information to build services that help protect our planet,” said Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency.
“This targeted funding for early-stage innovations is all about supporting fresh ideas and accelerating the rollout of powerful new tools that have the potential to bring benefits to a wide range of users both within and beyond the space sector.”
Recipients range from Agreed Earth – a Bolton-based machine learning system to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural lands – to GeoSmart Information – a Shrewsbury-based groundwater-level forecasting system.
The agency describes each project as follows:
Agreed Earth Ltd, Bolton
Earth observation and machine learning-based solution to remotely model and monitor nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions from agricultural lands, giving farmers the opportunity to fully understand and optimise their nitrogen use.
EOLAS Insight Ltd, Glasgow
Automated mapping and reporting service for watercourse climate resilience to help organisations understand the effects of global temperatures on crucial local watercourses and the benefits of mitigation strategies, such as riverside woodland schemes.
Frontierra, London
Cloud-based service that will enable corporations and financial institutions to undertake a low-cost, rapid assessment of their climate impact focusing on biodiversity and nature-related, risks, dependencies and opportunities.
Map Impact Ltd, Bristol
Catchment-wide view for freshwater management, using multiple data sources to provide an up-to-date picture of climate change and pollution impacts to help communities to forecast future events and outbreaks and, mitigate risks that threaten habitat biodiversity and human health.
Sparkgeo UK, Edinburgh
Automated methane monitoring service to allow stakeholders the ability to measure and monitor emissions of methane – one of the most potent greenhouse gases – across their areas of interest and alert them when they are above acceptable levels.
Agtelligence, London
Develop FarmScore: minimising the climate impact on farmlands through a comprehensive and objective assessment system that uses Earth observation data, ground truthing (known or directly observable information) and a weighted scoring model to measure critical environmental indicators and unlock green financing opportunities.
Omanos Analytics, Glasgow
Improve resilience planning and deliver social context data on the impact of climate change issues on different demographics through a service that integrates community narratives – based on data such as land use and traditional livelihoods – in Earth observation products.
Capterio, London
Satellite-enabled tool for tracking and reducing gas flaring and methane emissions from the global oil and gas supply chains.
GeoSmart Information Ltd, Shrewsbury
Automated, highly accessible groundwater-level forecasting system using Earth observation to provide accurate data to boost climate change resilience through improved coverage of flood and drought management systems.
Stellarsat Ltd, Bristol
Framework using various data and AI tools to proactively address the exposure of increasing numbers of critical energy infrastructure assets (such as electric vehicle charging stations and solar home systems) to physical risks induced by climate change.
See also: UK Space Agency launches Space Sector Skills Survey 2023
