Earth's surface meets the Internet of Things

Useful Earth observation data are available for every square metre of Earth's surface, but they are not always easy to access in order to design and implement new services and business ideas. A team from the Linz Center of Mechatronics, Austria, is combining Earth observation (EO)and the Internet of Things (IoT) using a grid-based approach to give every part of Earth's surface a 'Pixel Twin'.

Each Pixel Twin will be a gateway to access all the data available from Earth observation portals associated with that piece of Earth's surface. They will live within the EU's  FIWARE IoT framework, which brings together data sources with the services built on top of them.

"We envision a world in which you can communicate with every fragment of Earth's surface, by addressing its Pixel Twin. Furthermore, the combination of EO and IoT data improves data quality and enables new fields of application," says Leander Hörmann, from the Linz Center of Mechatronics.

"Pixel Twins would become a part of our economy. They could also provide or demand services themselves: if a Pixel Twin of an agricultural field notices that it is too dry, for example, it could request irrigation."

"The funding from ESA Discovery has allowed us to develop the concept and the algorithms needed for the integration of EO data with IoT data as well as to have a look at a broad range of use cases that could benefit."

"Projects such as Pixel Twin are paving the way to enhanced monitoring of Earth by combining Earth observation data and in situ information in a standardised, automated way. The Pixel Twin team is exploring use cases such as precision farming and solar energy production, which help ESA support sustainability and the transition to a greener future," says Bertrand Le Saux, ESA digital technologies engineer overseeing the project.