{"id":546422,"date":"2022-11-01T19:59:22","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T02:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&#038;p=546422"},"modified":"2022-10-28T09:22:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T16:22:25","slug":"saas-imagery-solution-helps-conservation-startup-detect-change-faster","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/saas-imagery-solution-helps-conservation-startup-detect-change-faster","title":{"rendered":"SaaS Imagery Solution Helps Conservation Startup Detect Change Faster"},"author":5752,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[474892,318502,11042],"tags":[170502,10332,134972,164662,17262],"arcnews_issues":[481982],"class_list":["post-546422","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arcgis-image-for-arcgis-online","category-environmental","category-esri-startup-partners","tag-cloud","tag-imagery","tag-land-management","tag-natural-resources","tag-startups","arcnews_issues-fall-2022","arcnews_sections-collaborations"],"acf":{"short_description":"To better manage and store imagery and improve change detection analysis, Esri partner Skytec implemented ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"To help care for and protect natural resources, including land, water, and wildlife, Esri partner <a href=\"https:\/\/skytecllc.com\/\">Skytec<\/a> employs unmanned aerial systems (UAS), remote sensing, and GIS technology. In 2019, around the same time the small startup graduated from the Esri Startup program, Skytec developed Ranger, an app for detecting whether high-priority areas are undergoing significant change, such as shrinking or disappearing."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":545112,"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Skytec uses drones and near-daily satellite imagery from Esri partner Planet Labs to remotely monitor subscribers\u2019 property. Clients include land trusts that maintain natural resources, organizations that work in forest agriculture, and pulp and paper industries. The Ranger app, built with ArcGIS Web AppBuilder, is optimized for use on desktop computers and tablets and is already monitoring more than 500,000 acres of land across the United States.\r\n\r\n\u201cAs we become more wired [and] more connected\u2014[and with] more people on the planet\u2014things are changing fast,\u201d said Andy Carroll, chief technology officer at Skytec. \u201cRather than being reactive all the time, we can catch things early.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo better manage and store imagery, Skytec wanted a new, cloud-based solution that was simple to deploy and could scale to meet clients\u2019 growing needs. So the small team of environmental scientists began using ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online, a software as a service (SaaS) product that has helped Skytec improve its change detection analysis, provide custom client deliverables, and streamline processes."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h2>Improving Complex Imagery Management Processes<\/h2>\r\nPrior to implementing ArcGIS Image Online, managing and analyzing imagery was cumbersome for Skytec team members. First, they used ArcGIS Pro to mosaic the individual tiles downloaded from Planet Labs\u2019 satellites. Then, they created a tile package from the imagery and uploaded it to make a tiled service."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":545122,"image_position":"left","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Processing imagery required a lot of resources as well. After satellite imagery was collected to perform change detection, the team primarily used a desktop computer to produce different types of models, indexes, and scripts. Skytec didn\u2019t have an enterprise server or cloud resources available to help with storage and processing, so the team needed a solution that could better manage assets\u2014and could scale to allow the company to bring products to market quickly.\r\n\r\nWhile Skytec initially wanted a full ArcGIS Enterprise deployment\u2014and is still working to make that happen\u2014ArcGIS Image Online allows the team to host, analyze, and stream imagery and raster collections in the cloud and power the Ranger app in ArcGIS Online. According to Carroll, ArcGIS Image Online was a good solution for Skytec because it could handle the volume that subscribers needed right out of the gate.\r\n\r\nTo get started using ArcGIS Image Online, Skytec team members tested their raster data in the SaaS offering over several weeks. They leveraged on-the-fly image processing algorithms, also known as raster functions, to create custom raster chains to visualize change. This enabled data analysts to serve out meaningful representations of change over any given area at any given time\u2014which is what Skytec clients are looking for."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h2>Imagery That\u2019s Ready to Visualize and Analyze<\/h2>\r\nWithin five or six weeks of deciding to implement ArcGIS Image Online, it was running live at Skytec.\r\n\r\nCustomers have the option to have their land monitored monthly, quarterly, or at custom intervals. The new method for managing and processing the imagery involves receiving image quads from Planet Labs as tiled GeoTIFFs. These multispectral images are then uploaded as imagery layers to ArcGIS Online for visualization and analysis.\r\n\r\nThe upload process enables Skytec to automatically create a single tiled imagery layer that\u2019s ready for clients to visualize and the Skytec team to analyze. Users can go into the Ranger app, zoom in on the imagery layer, and see current or previous images throughout the lifetime of their subscription."},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[545132,545142]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Skytec creates and serves out both tiled and dynamic imagery layers. Tiled imagery layers are fast to create, while dynamic imagery layers enable on-the-fly processing using multiple processing templates, all within the Ranger app.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s neat that a single layer can be used in production and to generate derivative products at the same time,\u201d said Carroll. \u201cYou can\u2019t do that with a tile service.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h2>Quick Deliverables Make a Difference<\/h2>\r\nSkytec has been using ArcGIS Image Online for a little more than a year and has already seen an array of benefits, including a seamless onboarding experience that enables the company to go to market quickly. Onboarding people, from clients to data analysts, is simpler because ArcGIS Image Online is user-friendly and easy to learn.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt takes less time out of the day to get people up to speed internally and externally,\u201d said Andrew Mindermann, senior data analyst at Skytec. \u201cThat\u2019s been a huge time-saver.\u201d\r\n\r\nArcGIS Image Online has streamlined overall processes as well, including automating and speeding up the derivative product process.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe on-the-fly processing capabilities available in ArcGIS allow us to avoid redundant storage,\u201d said Mindermann. \u201cWe\u2019re streamlining it and really making the most out of all the products that we generate. We\u2019re trying to reduce any type of doubled effort or unnecessary storage, not only for us but [also] for our clients. And it benefits the performance as well.\u201d\r\n\r\nArcGIS Image Online has significantly improved change detection for clients. For example, Skytec onboarded a new client recently that immediately saw two potential violations of conservation easements (boundary encroachments and harvesting) during their one-hour phone call.\r\n\r\n\u201cThose are the experiences we are beginning to have with all our clients,\u201d said Carroll. \u201cWe\u2019re detecting things on the landscape that [may have gone] undetected and saving people from driving out to a site in person. That\u2019s been pretty rewarding.\u201d\r\n\r\nNow, as soon as products from Planet Labs are uploaded to ArcGIS Image Online, it takes 15 minutes for the Skytec team to generate derivative products. Visualization models, for example, are made within the cloud and can be chained together and automated, saving time. And clients receive deliverables much faster. For a recent request, Skytec uploaded imagery for a client into the Ranger app 24\u201348 hours after tasking a satellite."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":545152,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cBeing able to act quickly is key to detecting change at this level,\u201d said Mindermann. \u201cIt\u2019s knocking out a lot of time [and] increasing efficiency.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe ability to customize with ArcGIS Image Online has been very helpful, too. For example, if Skytec team members need to change the indexes they\u2019re using, they can do that directly in a browser instead of creating and uploading functions using a desktop computer on the local network. The security and reliability of ArcGIS Image Online allow team members to focus on the science of their work rather than on the infrastructure. Previously, processing imagery tied down an entire computer. Now, ArcGIS Image Online off-loads that and lets the team continue working while the processing is running in the cloud.\r\n\r\n\u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about the back end, the database, the structure, [or] the security of the servers,\u201d said Carroll.\r\n\r\nIn delivering the product through ArcGIS Online, Skytec has essentially opened a gateway between two different ArcGIS Online organizations. And it\u2019s secured by the user, who can easily control access to the data via built-in security features.\r\n\r\nAccording to Mindermann, ArcGIS Image Online has been a game changer, equipping Skytec with the same capabilities as larger organizations.\r\n\r\n\u201c[ArcGIS Image Online] gives us the ability to compete with what typically might be a whole team of data scientists that are handing off different components of models or multiday processing,\u201d added Carroll."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"The Esri Startup program gives emerging businesses an edge by helping them integrate spatial functionality into their products and services. Learn more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/about\/partners\/our-partners\/startups\">Esri Startup Program<\/a>.","snippet":""}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SaaS Imagery Solution Helps Conservation Startup Detect Change Faster | ArcNews | Fall 2022<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To better manage and store imagery and improve change detection analysis, Esri partner Skytec implemented ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/saas-imagery-solution-helps-conservation-startup-detect-change-faster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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