Artificial Intelligence from Google charts global landscape into 10-meter grid units, making it interpretable by computers
Google has introduced a groundbreaking AI model named AlphaEarth Foundations, developed by Google DeepMind. This virtual satellite-like model aims to comprehensively characterize Earth's terrestrial land and coastal waters [1][4].
AlphaEarth Foundations integrates petabytes of Earth observation data, including optical satellite imagery, radar, 3D laser mapping, and climate simulations, from numerous public sources into a unified digital representation or "embedding" [1][4]. This integration enables the model to analyze the planet's surface in sharp 10x10 meter resolution squares, tracking changes over time with high precision.
By combining vast, diverse data streams into a consistent, accessible format, AlphaEarth solves major challenges of data overload and inconsistencies encountered in Earth monitoring [1]. This provides scientists with a more complete and coherent picture of terrestrial and coastal environments, facilitating informed decision-making on critical issues such as food security, deforestation, urban growth, water resources, and the ecological impacts of climate change [1][2].
Google has released annual AlphaEarth embeddings as the Satellite Embedding dataset on Google Earth Engine. This dataset has already been tested in real-world scientific applications by over 50 organizations. These partners use the data to improve ecosystem classification, track agricultural and environmental dynamics, and enhance the speed and accuracy of mapping efforts [1].
AlphaEarth Foundation’s scale and accuracy surpass comparable AI models in terms of data density and computational efficiency, reducing energy use and saving computing time for users [2]. The model operates with 16x less storage space and lower cost than other AI systems [3].
Christopher Seeger, professor and extension specialist of landscape architecture and geospatial technology at Iowa State University, anticipates AlphaEarth Foundations to be beneficial due to its ability to analyze multiple data sets and its high spatial resolution (10 by 10 meter squares) [3]. It's important to note that AlphaEarth Foundations produces embeddings for computer programs, not visual imagery or other forms of output intended for human interpretation.
The Satellite Embedding dataset can be used for conducting a similarity search, detecting geographical change, discovering hidden patterns, and creating maps without manual labeling, as suggested by Google research scientist Valerie Pasquarella and product manager Emily Schechter [3]. Google DeepMind researchers claim that AlphaEarth improves upon prior geospatial foundation models like SatMAE and SatCLIP by averaging embeddings across multiple sources, including time in the modeling framework, and offering spatial resolution at high precision [3].
AlphaEarth Foundations is part of the broader Google Earth AI initiative, which includes geospatial AI models for applications like detailed weather predictions, flood forecasting, wildfire detection, urban planning, and public health insights [4]. Its capability to provide unified, high-resolution temporal and spatial data supports a wide range of scientific research and global monitoring needs [3][4].
[1] Google AI Blog: https://ai.googleblog.com/2021/03/alphaearth-foundations-unified-digital.html [2] Google Earth Engine: https://earthengine.google.com/datasets/geo-all/gswld/v1.0.0/about [3] Google Research: https://research.google.com/pubs/pub49733/ [4] Google Earth: https://earth.google.com/web/@13.7923,-89.5793,10z
- The AI model, AlphaEarth Foundations, developed by Google DeepMind, utilizes technology to analyze Earth's terrestrial land and coastal waters, integrating various types of data such as AI, software, and machine learning.
- AlphaEarth Foundations operates with a high level of precision, tracking changes over time in 10x10 meter resolution squares, a feat achieved through the integration of petabytes of Earth observation data.
- By making vast amounts of Earth monitoring data consistent and accessible, AlphaEarth Foundations supports environmental-science researchers, helping them make informed decisions on issues like food security, deforestation, urban growth, water resources, and the ecological impacts of climate change.
- The Satellite Embedding dataset, a release from Google, contains annual AlphaEarth embeddings and has been used by over 50 organizations in numerous applications, including improving ecosystem classification, tracking agricultural and environmental dynamics, and enhancing mapping efforts.
- AlphaEarth Foundations, part of the Google Earth AI initiative, stands out for its scalability and accuracy, offering high-resolution temporal and spatial data that supports a broad range of scientific research and global monitoring needs.
