Monitoring Unauthorized Land Use with Planet's High-Frequency Skyset Imagery

Monitoring Unauthorized Land Use with Planet's High-Frequency Skyset Imagery

Table of Contents:

I. Introduction II. Planet Skyset Imagery III. Challenges in Traditional Satellite Imagery IV. Planet's Solution V. Orissa Space Application Center and Vassar Labs VI. Bhuvaneshwar Land Use Intelligence System (BLUIS) VII. AI and ML Algorithms for Change Detection VIII. Citizen Engagement through Mobile App IX. User-Specific Dashboards X. Conclusion XI. FAQ

Article:

Introduction In today's world, safeguarding public assets is of utmost importance. With the help of high-frequency Planet Skyset imagery using AI and ML, it is possible to monitor unauthorized land use changes and encroachments. In this article, we will discuss how Orissa Space Application Center (OSAC) and Vassar Labs leveraged Planet's high-frequency, high-resolution Skyset imagery to monitor unauthorized land use changes and encroachments in Bhuvaneshwar, the capital city of Orissa state in India.

Planet Skyset Imagery Planet is an aerospace company that builds, launches, operates, and maintains the industry-leading satellite constellation. The mission of Planet is to image the entire world every day and make the information visible, accessible, and actionable to anyone. Planet's Skyset imagery offers low latency, sub-daily revisit, and complete coverage. The Skyset satellites are capable of capturing multispectral imagery in 50 centimeter spatial resolution. Planet's Skyset imagery is affordable and can be accessed directly in industry-standard GIS software products.

Challenges in Traditional Satellite Imagery Traditional satellite imagery faces challenges in providing real-time or near real-time understanding about assets, particularly in light of COVID-19. The traditional surveying and analysis methods are not feasible, and the traditional satellite tasking model is not equipped to deliver high-resolution imagery efficiently. Inaccurate and outdated data may lead to a lack of insight, inaction, and ultimately uninformed decision-making.

Planet's Solution Planet's solution offers the freshest data to ensure confident and accurate decision-making. Planet's satellites are capable of giving complete coverage, and the tasking API allows users to take part in the tasking workflow by themselves. Planet's data is available in the GeoTIFF format, which can be accepted by any GIS or remote sensing platform for further analysis. Planet's Skyset imagery offers a low latency of around 10:30 in the morning pass and 1:30 in the afternoon pass. Planet's Skyset imagery is sub-daily revisit, and the revisit frequency can be customized based on the user's demand and feasibility study.

Orissa Space Application Center and Vassar Labs Orissa Space Application Center (OSAC) is the apex body of the state of Orissa for space technology applications. OSAC is equipped with sophisticated GIS and computer labs with the latest GIS and image processing software. OSAC has a team of well-experienced multi-disciplinary application scientists to undertake remote sensing and geospatial technology projects. Vassar Labs is a technology provider for the solution developed by OSAC. Vassar Labs developed the AI/ML algorithms, mobile app, and geospatial data analytics for the solution.

Bhuvaneshwar Land Use Intelligence System (BLUIS) BLUIS is a project of the Government of Orissa to protect the government land using satellite imagery and AI/ML. BLUIS enables the government officials to identify any unauthorized changes in the government lands through three different means: leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery, crowdsourcing through the citizen, and crowdsourcing through department officials. Once an alert is raised, the alerts are triaged and sent to the concerned ward officer based on their restriction for validation and evidence collection. The alerts are validated through a structured workflow under the ID system. The alerts are acted upon and resolved in a timely manner to ensure that everybody is doing their job.

AI and ML Algorithms for Change Detection The AI/ML algorithms used in BLUIS are based on TensorFlow convoluted neural network with the unit architecture. The algorithms classify the imagery on single classes into buildings, greenery, fallow, roads, etc. The system looks at the temporal change in imagery to detect where a new building has come up. The system identifies where a new building has come up and sends alerts to the official for validation. The alerts are validated through a structured SOP laid out by the department. The alerts are acted upon and resolved in a timely manner to ensure that a valid alert can get resolved in the quickest way possible.

Citizen Engagement through Mobile App BLUIS engages citizens through a simple mobile app. Citizens can report an unauthorized change that they feel should not have happened in the Bhuvaneshwar area. The system is meant to track unauthorized changes in government lands. Once a citizen reports an alert, an SMS goes to him right away saying that they received the alert and are acting on it. The citizen can log into the same mobile app to see the status of the alert he has reported and see where in the process the current alert is.

User-Specific Dashboards BLUIS provides user-specific dashboards to give visibility on the alerts, their status, the SLAs, and escalation processes. The dashboards are provided so that the ward officer, zone officer, and apex officer can see and act and ensure the performances are improved at their level.

Conclusion In conclusion, safeguarding public assets is of utmost importance. With the help of high-frequency Planet Skyset imagery using AI and ML, it is possible to monitor unauthorized land use changes and encroachments. Orissa Space Application Center (OSAC) and Vassar Labs leveraged Planet's high-frequency, high-resolution Skyset imagery to monitor unauthorized land use changes and encroachments in Bhuvaneshwar, the capital city of Orissa state in India. BLUIS is a project of the Government of Orissa to protect the government land using satellite imagery and AI/ML. BLUIS engages citizens through a simple mobile app and provides user-specific dashboards to give visibility on the alerts, their status, the SLAs, and escalation processes.

FAQ

Q: What is Planet Skyset imagery? A: Planet Skyset imagery is high-frequency, high-resolution multispectral imagery captured by Planet's Skyset satellites. The Skyset satellites are capable of capturing multispectral imagery in 50 centimeter spatial resolution.

Q: What is the frequency of Skyset imagery over Bhuvaneshwar? A: The Skyset imagery over Bhuvaneshwar is captured on a monthly basis.

Q: Can we access Planet imagery directly in industry-standard GIS software products? A: Yes, Planet imagery can be accessed directly in industry-standard GIS software products. Planet supports open platforms and has plugins for QGIS and Esri.

Q: What AI/ML algorithms are used in BLUIS for change detection? A: The AI/ML algorithms used in BLUIS are based on TensorFlow convoluted neural network with the unit architecture.

Q: How are citizens engaged in BLUIS? A: Citizens are engaged in BLUIS through a simple mobile app. Citizens can report an unauthorized change that they feel should not have happened in the Bhuvaneshwar area.

Q: What are the user-specific dashboards provided in BLUIS? A: User-specific dashboards are provided in BLUIS to give visibility on the alerts, their status, the SLAs, and escalation processes. The dashboards are provided so that the ward officer, zone officer, and apex officer can see and act and ensure the performances are improved at their level.