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Perhaps the first image that comes to mind when you think of a satellite is that of a huge, heavy device made of sophisticated materials. But not all of them are like that.They range in size from a Rubik’s cube to the size of a bus, and can orbit the planet because they are catapulted on trajectories that are fast enough to overcome gravity (at least for a while). A satellite starts operating when a rocket carries it into space and, once the determined location is reached, releases the satellite into orbit.According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (<a href="https://www.unoosa.org/">UNOOSA</a>) Index of Objects Launched into Outer Space, there are 4,921 satellites currently orbiting.<h1>What is the function of satellites in orbit?</h1>Orbiting satellites around the Earth perform multiple functions including:<ul><li>Communications (we see this in the coverage and data transfer of our devices).</li><li>Earth observation, navigation and positioning (the well-known GPS system).</li><li>Space and planetary studies(vegetation, climatic phenomena, thermal mapping, maximum vegetation peaks, carbon levels, etc).</li></ul><h1>Satellites for environmental purposes</h1>Satellite technology is also a great ally in the study of the Earth and its phenomena. Through remote sensing sensors it is possible to collect data and capture images invisible to the human eye, which can be used to analyze and understand the importance of the balance of ecosystems and help mitigate the environmental crisis.We created a short list of satellites that have been key to the analysis and understanding of our planet:<h1>The Terra</h1>The Terra satellite was launched into orbit by NASA in 1999. It was the first of the Earth Observing System (EOS) program and its objective was to perform the first complete health check of the planet Earth, in particular, the study of the functioning of the carbon and energy cycles.Terra has four sensors that measure specific aspects such as:<ul><li><a href="http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/">ASTER</a>: used to obtain detailed maps of the Earth’s surface temperature, reflectance and elevation.</li><li><a href="http://terra.nasa.gov/About/CERES/">CERES</a>: Measures the Earth’s global radiation balance and also provides data on cloud properties and their role in the radiation fluxes from the Earth’s surface to the upper atmosphere.</li><li><a href="http://terra.nasa.gov/About/MISR/">MISR</a>: Scans the Earth’s surface with nine cameras, each pointed at a different viewing angle to distinguish different types of clouds and land surface cover. Its images <a href="https://blog.le.mu/c%C3%B3mo-ver-lo-invisible-im%C3%A1genes-hiperespectrales-2109e0c321e9">make it possible to see the invisible in four bands: blue, green, red, and near infrared</a>.</li><li><a href="http://terra.nasa.gov/About/MODIS/">MODIS</a>: Scans every point on the planet every 1–2 days in 36 spectral bands. Thanks to this broad capture capability, this sensor senses more of the Earth’s vital signs than other sensors on the same satellite. Among other things, MODIS measures every day the percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by clouds and detects emissions from fires.</li><li><a href="http://terra.nasa.gov/About/MOPITT/">MOPITT</a>: Captures data from the troposphere and observes its interaction with the marine and terrestrial biosphere. MOPITT data will be used to study the distribution, transport and sources of carbon monoxide and methane in the troposphere.</li></ul><h1>Landsat 8</h1>The Landsat mission offers different satellite images at different times and resolutions. From Landsat 1 to 8, instruments such as Multispectral Scanner Sensor (MSS), Thematic Mapping (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapping Plus, (ETM+), Operational Land Imaging (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIS) are available in summary, these instruments allow the following:<ul><li>Coastal and aerosol survey</li><li>Bathymetric mapping, which distinguishes soil from vegetation and deciduous from coniferous vegetations.</li><li>Highlights peaks of maximum vegetation, which are useful for assessing plant vigor</li><li>Distinguishes vegetation slopes</li><li>Highlights biomass content and shorelines</li><li>Distinguishes soil and vegetation moisture</li><li>Improved soil moisture and vegetation reading and penetration through thin clouds</li><li>15-meter resolution, sharper image definition</li><li>Improved detection of cirrus cloud contamination</li><li>100 meter resolution, thermal mapping and soil moisture estimates</li></ul><h1>The EO-1</h1>The last of the list is the first satellite of NASA’s Earth observation program for the new millennium. Launched on November 21, 2000, it is the continuation of the Landsat missions.The EO-1 satellite has three remote sensing sensors:<ul><li>ALI: Land Imager.</li><li>Hyperion: It is the first satellite hyperspectral sensor. It captures the colors of the images of the Earth’s surface without leaving uncovered areas, it has the ability to discriminate images, such as the difference between pine and cedar trees.</li><li>LEISA/AC: It is a set of technologies that captures hyperspectral images. As images transmitted by satellites are distorted by gases in the atmosphere, the AC (atmospheric corrector) restores the images to their original form.</li></ul><h1>What happens when a satellite completes its life cycle?</h1>Once a satellite has served its purpose, it begins to lose altitude and fall. Generally, most end up disintegrating in the atmosphere; others, usually farther away from the atmosphere, are taken to another orbit.Depending on how close to the atmosphere the satellite is located, its lifetime can be up to 15 years according to <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11S.pdf">international agreements</a>, with the exception of extraordinary cases such as the Hubble telescope, which was launched in 1990 and is still in orbit.<h1>Who can launch a satellite?</h1>At present, everyone. It is not a simple process, nor is it cheap, but it is a possibility that has been opening up to the public in recent years.<blockquote>“Generally, companies that launch a satellite hire another company to help them with monitoring and data management. They provide ongoing operational support and take the satellite out of orbit at the end of its life cycle,” says Zachary Cohen, Strategy Associate at Odd Industries.</blockquote><h1>What about people’s privacy and satellite surveillance?</h1>The resolution of the images that satellites can capture ranges, for the most part, from 5 to 30 meters from an orbit of 400km altitude, meaning that each pixel in the image measures 5x5m.This means that the resolution of most satellites cannot identify people or animals of smaller or similar size (you would have to be a person of more than 25 m2 to be distinguished by the satellite as anything more than a pixel!).However, there are some satellites with resolutions of less than 30cm (usually for military purposes), so the responsible, ethical and informed use of these technologies is critical for people’s privacy.If you are interested in learning more about the ethical and responsible use of satellites, and how they can help to understand, analyze, and revert environmental crises, we invite you to sign up for Lemu’s early access and be among the first to hear about environmental solutions and news by logging on to <a href="https://le.mu/">Le.mu</a>.

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Satellites: The Silent Sentinels of Earth

<h1>A Key For Tackling the Environmental Crisis</h1>Concern about carbon emissions and the possible actions that companies and governments have in their agenda have increased considerably during the previous months. The triple environmental crises have regained presence in conversations of world leaders.We surely are aware by now of eco-friendly alternatives to our daily life choices, organic foods, sustainable clothing, and zero waste gadgets. These solutions are indeed helpful, yet not enough for tackling the environmental crises.We’re probably less aware of how technology can help us protect, restore, and, regenerate nature — the most valuable asset on Earth.Technology can help save the planet.And nature now needs tech support, too.Nature-tech, which combines a handful of technologic solutions, can measure, track, and help ecosystems thrive. Let’s go into detail below.<h1>AI &amp; Forests: An Odd Match</h1>Most of us wouldn’t imagine this could make a good combination because of the bias towards it. So let’s talk about how it started.Reforestation is not a new topic for environmental programs, but the efficient use of technology in reforestation is. Many companies have decided to reorient their industries towards what we now call “Climate Tech”, which is simply to increase productivity in any research, measurement, and analysis process required in soil reforestation.Nature tech was born out of Climate tech. According to <a href="http://natureforclimate.org/">NatureforClimate.org</a>, Nature tech, in its broadest sense, is high-tech applications that enable, accelerate and scale-up NbS (as for Nature-based Solutions), covering the following areas:<ul><li>Technology to deploy NbS, such as LiDAR technology for reforestation</li><li>Technology to monitor, verify and report on NbS such as satellite monitoring and DNA testing</li><li>Technology to improve transparency around NbS</li><li>Technology to connect people and conservation projects involved in NbS</li></ul>In short, nature tech aims to protect, sustainably manage, and restore ecosystem services, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.<h1>The Answer is in the Trees</h1>On average, a tree absorbs between 10kg and 30kg of CO2 per year, therefore, 22 trees are required to supply the oxygen demand of only one person a day.The application of nature tech can help forests in the reduction and compensation of CO2, since trees are an important source for reducing and offsetting the emissions generated by their deforestation. Returning the real value to the trees should be essential in any environmental program that helps combat the environmental crises we face today. Therefore, nature tech and NbS are the key to environmental action in today’s society.<h1>Algorithm of the Forest</h1>Many see nature and technology as polar opposites, and by extension believe that “ecological” and “technological” solutions to global crises exist in conflict.It’s not just about technology alone: although a great tool, we know it cannot solve everything at once.It all counts: From small, individual actions like eating organic food to zero waste products, to nature-tech solutions that help accelerate and scale up NbS at a bigger scale. We believe all are key to improve the health of our biosphere.We believe technology and nature can work together, instead of against one another.Through our atlas of the biosphere we use a collection of algorithms called LemuRank that unleashes the planet’s natural capital to demonstrate that the conservation and restoration of ecosystems are the best possible investment for the future of Earth.We cannot waste the potential of technology, and we cannot waste this unique nature.If you want to know more about how we’re tackling the environmental crisis, feel free to sign up in our early access in <a href="http://le.mu/">le.mu</a>

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AI & Forests: An Odd Match

Human beings have always been attracted to discovering the secrets of the natural world.Thousands of years ago, travelers were guided by the sun and stars to know where they were and where they were going, then Scandinavian sailors used sunstones and rudimentary compasses. As the invention of magnetic compasses came along, everything quickly evolved into today’s GPS systems.Today, we can not only discover and study nature through our eyes, but also through Earth observation, navigation and positioning technologies (the well-known GPS system), thermal, vegetation and weather mapping satellites, just to name a few. These technologies allow us to perceive what we cannot see or feel with our senses, since they cover a whole range of spectra that are invisible and intangible to human capabilities.Curiously, we are just beginning to take advantage of technology to understand the wonderful complexity of the biosphere: nature is still a mysterious, imposing, and impregnable place.Ecosystems such as the dense and impenetrable rainforest harbors species about which little or nothing is yet known due to its inaccessibility: even after thousands of years of expeditions, road marks, compasses and satellites, we still cannot fully fathom the magnitude of their importance in the delicate balance of life. &nbsp;<h2>New technologies, new species</h2>In general, it is scientists who are constantly discovering, studying and preserving new species in the field, but in an ecosystem as complex as the rainforest, this becomes a titanic task.A clear example of this is the recent announcement of the discovery of <a href="https://www.elmostrador.cl/dia/2021/03/24/descubren-poblacion-desconocida-de-monito-del-monte-en-la-region-del-maule/">a new species of opossum — “chumaihuén” or “monito del monte” as locals call them—, in the southern region of Chile</a>, (Dromiciops bozinovici) the only living representative of the order Microbiotheria, an ancestral group of Australian marsupials. This fact would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the camera traps and satellite technologies that were installed to support scientists in the study of the Valdivian rainforest, the monkey’s habitat.This may be a good reason, among many others, to find new ways to link technology and nature and understand them as an ally in the conservation and protection of ecosystems and all the species that inhabit them.<h1>An Atlas of the Biosphere</h1>From sunstones, compasses, and GPS, we learned that there is still much to discover and study, that we are just another species on the planet, and that the importance of life lies in respecting the biosphere as a whole.We find that the ethical use of satellite technology is one of the ways we can help discover and preserve unique species on Earth, as well as collect data on ecosystems in a non-invasive way: from understanding their geographic location, to the characteristics of the soil and vegetation of habitats, to discover how a given species interacts with its environment and where its territory extends to.<blockquote>“Satellite-based remote sensing data complement field data by adding three important aspects: scale, temporal resolution and speed. Satellite imagery provides us with millions of measurements across the globe and over time. This allows for a much more comprehensive analysis of ecosystems.The possibility of near-real-time measurement also allows for quicker action in response to threats such as fires or natural disasters — for example, the monitoring of the ongoing volcanic explosion on the Canary Islands,” says Sangeetha Narayan, Product Manager at Odd Industries.</blockquote>We believe that investing in conservation is the best tool to understand the power of nature, uncover its secrets, and preserve its value to tackle the environmental crisis. That’s why we developed an atlas of the biosphere: a collection of maps, geospatial data and algorithms that will help us understand and protect species ranging from the Chilean bush monkey to fungi and bacteria that still remain unknown, all part of the only living planet we know of so far.We are looking forward to showcasing the development of our atlas, so we invite you to <a href="https://le.mu/">sign up for early access here</a> and find out more about bringing the wild world to as many people as possible.Let’s not waste the potential of technology, let’s not waste this opportunity to support the conservation and restoration of this irreplaceable nature.