Agenda

Trillions of dollars are required to decarbonize energy infrastructure, build climate-adapted infrastructure, and preserve critical ecosystems. Up to 2/3 of this cost will fall on under-resourced local governments. Donors and private investors will be needed to meet our climate commitments, and these investors will require assurance that their investments are well spent.

This panel aims to discuss this practical, medium-term, detail-oriented needs and brainstorm ways that EO data and services may help stakeholders put money into the right place and share success stories with stakeholders.

Networking with breakfast and coffee provided.

The emergence of Generative AI is perhaps the greatest technology advancement since the last SatSummit. Large Earth Models are emerging that draw from similar approaches as Large Language Models (LLMs). These Large Earth Models can potentially revolutionize how we derive earth insights. This session will review the Foundation Models approach, which differs from prior AI approaches, and share several promising implementations.

NASA Lifelines’ Scientist "Speed Dating" program is a networking series bringing together Earth scientists, social scientists, data scientists, economists, and other experts to meet new collaborators and identify novel research ideas to address humanitarian challenges with assistance from satellite data and tools.

In the session, participating experts will receive guidance from humanitarian representatives as to what challenges are most pressing for their missions, along with crucial context and constraints that the scientific community would need to come up with effective, application-ready research ideas. We will provide scientists and researchers with in-kind commercial imagery that can be used alongside NASA assets to address humanitarian use cases related to a number of issues in a given context, e.g. urban heat impact, mapping vulnerable populations, energy access, and rapid conflict zone assessments. Experts are encouraged to adopt a systems thinking approach with their research brainstorming and align closely with humanitarian needs, before they present a joint hypothesis at the end of the session that uniquely addresses a humanitarian challenge.

Numerous efforts have been made to map people and structures. These include “traditional” efforts from US and EU research and government institutions and crowdsourced efforts like OpenStreetMap. Recently, we’ve seen the addition of massive AI-derived open building datasets from Meta and Google and the launch of the Overture Foundation. How do these efforts compare? How can they build off each other? How should we get them into use by National Statistics Offices and government decision-makers?

A fireside chat on responding to increasingly severe natural disasters. This conversation between researchers studying severe weather and future-looking humanitarian response leaders. What do we know about the likely future of severe storms and heat? How will emergency response efforts need to shift to address these changes?

Networking break with beverages and snacks.

Deriving insights from satellite imagery using AI/ML relies heavily on ground reference data (or labels). These data are scarce outside the world's developed regions primarily due to a lack of investment and infrastructure to collect them. Foundation Models, however, promise to change this paradigm and break the barrier for everyone to benefit from AI/ML advancements, even with limited label data. We will discuss how end users can apply new Large Earth Foundation Models to solve the data scarcity problem.

This is a dynamic moment for GHG Monitoring. Multiple ambitious efforts have recently been launched to create the most accurate picture of our GHG reality. These include new satellite constellations, data platforms, and broad coalitions. This panel will include representatives of some of the leading efforts across GHG data collection, publishing, and use.

Drawing on recent research on Geospatial Value Pipelines in Africa, the panel will discuss the state of geospatial in Africa, the challenges of accessing and applying earth data, and how various actors can support the development of Geospatial across the Continent.

As agriculture continues to be a leading driver of global deforestation, we are seeing a shift from voluntary company commitments to mandatory regulatory compliance to remove deforestation from supply chains. The landmark European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is currently spurring activity across the sector. How can we use this moment as an opportunity to improve sustainable sourcing and forest conservation? EO and geospatial data have a huge role to play in solving this complex challenge. We will discuss the current state of work in this space and the remaining gaps to be filled, as the community works towards feeding the planet without destroying the planet.

Networking break with beverages and snacks.

A look at the use of earth data by the communities at the front lines of conservation and climate adaptation.

This is a session on accelerating the cadence of imagery workflows for crisis response. The world is entering an uncertain period of conflicts and climate crises. How are US federal agencies adapting to the faster tempo around remote sensing workflows? What are decision-makers getting in their briefs, and what do they find useful? Where are the emerging gaps?

Many people who access public earth data access it via a commercial cloud provider. This is particularly likely true among new data users outside the traditional science research community. The accessibility of cloud services promises to accelerate the adoption and impact of Earth imagery, much like open licensing did decades ago. This movement comprises various efforts, some led by government agencies and others by cloud providers. Each has a slightly different view of its target users and has solved access problems differently. Most have adopted a similar set of emerging cloud-native standards. This panel will explore the current landscape of public data on commercial clouds, including different efforts' viewpoints, roadmaps, aspirations, and challenges.

This series of talks will explore innovative applications of earth observation in water-related fields. We will discuss how satellite imagery is transforming water quality monitoring, risk management, and watershed modeling.

Lunch is provided and we hope you are able to catch up with colleagues and meet new people.

Networking break with beverages and snacks.

In 2023, we set new heat records around the globe, and this trend continues into 2024. Current models can’t explain the extent of our new heat anomaly, suggesting that we may be in uncharted territory. Extreme heat already poses a serious health threat, causing 500,000 extra deaths a year and could cost the global economy $2.4 trillion by 2030.

Addressing the critical issue of urban heat, this session will focus on innovative data-driven strategies to reduce its health impacts and economic costs, aiming to safeguard communities and bolster resilience. Panelists will discuss efforts to equip cities with the data they need to plan and manage extreme heat.

Networking break with beverages and snacks.

Should the Humanitarian Sector have its own satellites? A lively debate between alternative worldviews.

The past year has seen an unprecedented uptake of EO data for crisis monitoring. Conflict in Ukraine and Gaza shows an acute need for EO-driven documentation of the consequences of armed conflicts on cities, communities, and landscapes. This roundtable will discuss strategies to navigate the challenges of ethical concerns, data access, and political sensitivities, aiming to enhance EO data's role in conflict resolution. Further, this work's urgent and sensitive nature makes it prone to siloing and duplication of efforts. This roundtable will discuss the current state of EO in conflict monitoring and efforts to advance the state of the practice.