Maximizing Efficiency: 5 Reasons to Start Using Data from Space in Real Estate and Land Management

With the increasing availability and affordability of satellite data, real estate and land management professionals now have access to a wealth of information that can help them make more informed decisions. In this article, we will explore the key benefits of using satellite data in real estate and land management for all kinds of industrial facilities, residential projects, as well as commercial and special-purpose properties.

1. Cost-effective monitoring of sites 

Satellite imagery enables real estate and development professionals to keep an eye on all their sites of interest in near-real time. Additionally, after applying suitable algorithms on the top of the imagery, automated insights and reports from the sites can be viewed almost instantly. The great thing about satellite intelligence is its cost-effectiveness and consistency across time and space. Without satellite imagery, the sites need to be checked in-person or with drones which can get pricey, difficult and time-consuming. SpaceKnow specializes in combining a variety of imagery sources and utilizes publicly available imagery to the fullest in order to increase data frequency within a budget (see more info here).

Image 1: SpaceKnow analysis of a residential housing project in Egypt. The wealth of information is maximized by combining high-resolution optical imagery allowing for detailed spatial insights (upper image) with low- or medium-resolution imagery providing high data density (bottom image). The bottom image shows the value of Sentinel-1 SAR data in uncovering the exact duration and timing of construction of a specific building (the building is shown as a white rectangle, and the measurements are shown at the bottom part of the image where each dot represents the values for a single image).

2. Enhanced risk management

Satellite intelligence can help real estate and land management professionals to stay on top of any developments and be alerted about signs of encroachment (such as new man-made structures, changes to land or expanding vegetation), unreported delays in construction progress, or unusual changes in activity in near-real time. It can also detect and monitor changes in environmental conditions, such as soil moisture, land subsidence, and weather patterns. This helps real estate and land managers identify potential risks and take necessary measures to prevent or mitigate them.

3. Improved operational efficiency

Satellite data provides comprehensive and up-to-date data on various aspects of real estate and land management, which can significantly support decision-making. The data can improve efficiency in operations by identifying spots and periods of unutilized capacity, keeping track of construction progress even in remote areas, or in some cases, even identifying bottlenecks in the production process and supply chain. 

Image 2: SpaceKnow “construction timeline per component” analysis in a major industrial facility: a variety of valuable insights, such as installed capacity, level of utilization or level of activity, can be derived by carefully observing the level of activity and outcomes at specific parts of a facility.

4. Maintained control over any location(s) in the world

The key benefit of satellite imagery is the scale of analysis. SpaceKnow’s computing and analytics capabilities are built for scale and analyze, on average, 16 million km2 every single day. It does not matter how extensive, remote or geographically dispersed the sites of interest are. Satellite intelligence enables clients to maintain control over many locations of any size anywhere in the world.

5. Insightful pre-construction analysis

Travel back in time with Satellite Imagery. Analyzing historical data in terms of forest cover, patterns in traffic, occurrence of floods, signs of contamination and landslide or urbanization pace provide you with the information to more fully understand the location’s characteristics and risks. In short, satellite data can be a powerful input for data-driven decisions about locations.

Image 3: Example of insights for pre-construction analysis: water surface and flooding analysis on optical imagery (top image), intensity and patterns of traffic analysis on radar imagery (middle image), ships, cars and trucks detection on optical imagery (bottom image).

Ready to start benefiting from satellite intelligence? Contact us to receive a tailor-made offering. Let us take care of everything from automatic imagery ingestion to analysis and reports, with all the information delivered directly to your mailbox, so that you can spend more time on what you do best.

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