The 24th International Scientific and Technical Conference “DIGITAL REALITY: Space and Spatial Data, Processing Technologies” was held in Yekaterinburg. This is a basic platform for discussing innovative developments in Earth remote sensing, geodesy, cartography, and related sciences. Developments by South Ural State University were presented by the Director of Geoinformation Systems Research and Education Centre Valentina Maksimova.
“We have been participating in this conference since 2014, but this has been the first time that I have encountered the Russian private space industry, which is actively developing in our country,” shared Valentina Maksimova. “People who are involved in launching private satellites into orbit have gathered here. So, we are not limited by the Roscosmos state corporation only. I've seen representatives of the private rocket engineering industry creating their own rockets. They have presented their innovative developments.”
Valentina Maksimova spoke about UralGIS Agro integrator platform, created at SUSU, and demonstrated how satellite imagery can be used for regional development. With the help of satellites, the system finds vacant, abandoned, and unclaimed lands, identifying opportunities for their restoration and use. Thanks to this platform, 368000 hectares of unused lands were identified in the Chelyabinsk Region, leased to farmers, and agricultural profits increased.
“Billions are being invested into rockets and satellites. Highly detailed imagery, 30 centimetres per pixel, is wonderful. Now you can even see a manhole cover from space. But what is the point of all this? One needs to find a user, a consumer for all this. And in my presentation, I have demonstrated how satellite imagery can be used for forestry and agriculture, as well as for solving environmental problems,” emphasized Valentina Maksimova.
In her report, the developer of this unique platform spoke about collaboration with industry ministries and agencies. Conference participants took interest in the Chelyabinsk team’s experience and invited SUSU for further collaboration. The ultimate goal now is to scale these technologies up to the Russian Federation level.