earth observation for utilities

Top 5 Earth Observation Business Cases For Utilities O&M in 2022

Earth Observation satellites are used by utilities all over the world to increase their risk awareness and digitalise their operations. But what kind of data can satellites provide, and what are the most common use cases?

While some innovative organisations are exploring the capabilities of new sensors, such as methane and thermal, there are several business cases that are becoming common in the market. Based on our extensive experience working with utilities of all kinds and sizes, in many different countries, here are the Top 5 use cases for utilities O&M.

1) Vegetation management and wildfire prevention
Many power TSOs and DSOs want to optimize vegetation management activities. Satellites can help them move from calendar-based towards risk-based actions, by telling them, where the vegetation is closest to their power lines, if the corridor has been properly cleared by their contractors, location of unhealthy trees at risk of being blown down. Satellites can even provide data on the wind conditions, humidity and temperatures along power lines so utilities can prevent wildfires caused by power strikes.
 
2) Detection of dangerous human activities
Human activities above underground pipelines or under HV power lines, such as unauthorized building works, represent a huge threat to the integrity of the assets and to the workers themselves. Satellites can help network operators monitor their network at scale, as frequently as every couple of weeks.
 
3) Preventing landslides and understanding land motion
Landslides can be a big threat to utilities managing extensive assets on mountainous and high rainfall areas. Moreover, land movements can create major issues for both overhead and underground assets, especially when two areas close to each other are moving in different directions. Satellites can help predict and monitor landslides, as well as continuously monitoring the direction and speed of land movement over time.
 
4) Monitoring extreme weather events

Climate change is driving an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events in many parts of the World. Floods, storms, heat waves, can all cause serious threats to asset integrity and service continuity, especially for exposed overhead power lines. Earth Observation satellites can help in both understanding how a networks risks have changed over the last 15 years as well as near real time monitoring of extreme events to help utilities prepare and respond quicker.

5) Monitoring biodiversity
More and more utilities are starting to see themselves not only as energy, gas or water distributors, but also as landowners that need to care about the sustainability of their distribution activities on the environment. Therefore, sustainability managers are starting to account for the evolution of the natural capital in and around their assets. For them satellites offer a unique opportunity to track and monitor the changing biodiversity and value of their natural assets.

While Earth Observation might seem new to many utilities, few know that it is increasingly being used by those who manage extensive networks, especially in rural areas. While the technical capabilities of the technology and services available are improving fast, there are already several viable use cases that make satellites a no-brainer for utilities’ asset managers.

Our latest news:

climate data layer gradient map

Spottitt MF Monthly Update: New Features & Enhancements

At Spottitt, we’re constantly working to enhance your experience with our analytics platform, by making data visualization and reporting more intuitive, flexible, and insightful. This month, we’re introducing several updates which give you even more control and customization.

🌍 Your Free Climate Data Now Displayed as a Gradient Layer in a Map Format
Just like our other data layers, your free climate data can now be viewed on the map in a compact gradient color format. While generating a report on how each climate parameter impacts your assets is the best way to match this data to your assets and can be nice to view these data layers – helping you assess environmental exposure at a glance.

asset risk report creation across multiple data layers

Introducing an Upgraded Spottitt MF 2.0: What’s New? Part 2.

The upgraded Spottitt platform now empowers users to customize reports in a single step, using multiple data layer types, filters, and display preferences.

Layer types refer to the specific input data leveraged for a monitoring use case.

Depending on the source data purchased through Spottitt MF, the available layer types might include but are not limited to: Optical Vegetation and Man Made Classes, Wind, Precipitation and Temperature Classes, SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) Land & Asset Motion Classes, Digital Elevation Data Classes.

satellite Earth Observation data for asset analysis

Introducing an Upgraded Spottitt MF 2.0: What’s New? Part 1.

As climate change intensifies and extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, it’s clear that understanding climate and weather variables is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ for asset owners. Recent disasters all over the globe, including the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, USA, only emphasise the necessity of integrating climate and weather data into asset monitoring workflows.

Building on our past successful climate impact analytics projects, such as updating severe weather maps for SPEN, we are thrilled to announce the coming soon launch of Spottitt Metrics Factory 2.0.

Welcome to Spottitt’s Chief Technology Officer

We are thrilled to announce that Sebastian Sobocinski has joined us as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

With a wealth of experience as a CTO, Chief Product Officer (CPO), and Software Development Director, Sebastian brings a strong background in IT project management. As he puts it, he is passionate about leveraging his extensive knowledge and skills to create value and drive impact through innovative business and technology solutions.

Spottitt Closes Investment

Spottitt Closes 800K USD Bridge Financing Round

In only 12 months since its launch, our AI-powered geospatial analytics service, Spottitt Metrics Factory, has gained significant traction and annual recurring revenue (ARR) among critical infrastructure owners.

Today, we are thrilled to announce the successful closure of an $800,000 bridge financing round.

This round has been led by US based VC fund, Right Side Capital Management, with support from our existing shareholders, KIC InnoEnergy SE, three amazing angel investors, and Spottitt founders CEO Lucy Kennedy and CFO Paolo Senes. We could not have achieved this funding milestone so swiftly and smoothly without the Qubit Capital team.

Spottitt Provides a Solution to Automatically Detect Changing Conditions on the NSW Road & Rail Network

Spottitt became Finalist in Transgrid’s Challenge for real-time insights for company’s easement route planning and Champion for Transport for NSW Challenge for tracking safety of roads and railways using satellite data.

The New South Wales network includes 6,800 route kilometres of operational rail lines and 17,600 km of state roads and highways.

TfNSW has identified Earth Observation satellites as a valuable addition to the monitoring technologies currently deployed and was looking for innovation to automatically detect changing conditions of network and potential risk modelling.