From satellite imagery to insight — and now even faster
With the Spheer platform, governments and organisations can monitor areas using satellite imagery. A user provides a handful of examples — "this is a healthy reed bed, this is not" — and the platform learns from them automatically. Fast, accessible, and no technical knowledge required.
That approach works well, but depends on the quality of the examples provided. If they are scarce or not representative enough, it directly affects accuracy. Spheer is now researching a way to make this more robust: instead of first collecting examples and then looking for changes, the system flips the process. It automatically detects where something has changed in a satellite image — before a user has specified what should change. Only then does the user step in, to assess which changes are relevant.
Detect faster, monitor smarter
The result: monitoring that is less dependent on pre-supplied examples, and that surfaces changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.
About the Just Transition Fund
This research is funded by Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) through the VIA Groningen grant, part of the European Just Transition Fund.
The JTF is a European fund that supports regions navigating the transition to a climate-neutral economy. Its goal is to prevent regional inequalities from widening and to strengthen the economic structure of areas most affected by this transition. In line with broader EU cohesion policy, the JTF focuses on reducing regional disparities and fostering sustainable development. In the Netherlands, the fund supports projects that contribute to economic diversification and the strengthening of knowledge and innovation, such as in the province of Groningen.
