The Era of Big Remote Sensing Data: HPC and Big Data as the New Engines for Earth Observation

Every day a large number of Earth Observation (EO) data is collected and used for diverse and interdisciplinary applications, such as natural hazard monitoring, global climate change, urban planning, infrastructure sensing, etc. This data has evolved into a key economic asset and a new important resource in many applications. Today, the field is rapidly shifting toward a Big Data approach, where integration of spaceborne, airborne and terrestrial sensors is providing incredible added value. The new frontier lies in managing, processing, and efficiently exploiting such new datasets as well as matching the content-based information retrieval using high-performance computing (HPC) to extract valuable information and generate new services. A new generation of companies and startups is bringing EO data closer to end users, effectively democratizing downstream applications and unlocking new commercial opportunities. We can truly state we are now living in the age of big remote sensing data. The panel will present case studies and best practices from Big Data and EO stakeholders, demonstrating how data has become a commodity, information is the "new oil," and HPC and Big Data analytics are driving this revolution.

Programme

Piera di Vito, Φ-lab Invest Office, ESA-ESRIN
Matteo Angelinelli, HPC Data Engineer, CINECA
Beatrice Mainas, Business Development Specialist, Serco
Marco Folegani, Co-founder, MEEO *

* Speaker participation subject to confirmation