Closing the Geospatial Data Gap with Breece Robertson

"There's been a big [data] gap in the middle between satellites and what we can gather on the ground. We're starting to see that gap close."

Watch geospatial expert Breece Robertson on The Point Cloud, Agerpoint’s interview series featuring leaders at the intersection of climate, agriculture, nature, and technology. 

Hear the full interview above, watch and read highlights below, and listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

In the latest episode of #ThePointCloud, geospatial expert Breece Robertson highlights the rapid advancement of AI and its impact on geospatial technology and the people who use it.

 "AI and machine learning, those are huge areas where we've seen really rapid advances over the last even year, even six months," she states. These advancements are driven by improvements in computing infrastructure and smarter algorithms, alongside enhanced access to high-resolution satellite imagery and on-the-ground capture technology.

Robertson notes that "[t]here's been a big gap in the middle between satellites and what we can gather on the ground. And we're starting to see that gap close."

When asked about a breakthrough technology she would like to see, Robertson emphasizes the dual-edged nature of AI’s potential. 

"AI really requires huge computing capabilities. And we know that those capabilities are also contributing greatly to the carbon issue and the climate issue," she cautions. 

Despite these concerns, she highlights significant benefits, particularly with the Agerpoint Capture app.

"The fact that you can take a capture of a location, have AI and machine learning calculate hundreds of different types of attributes within that one plot of land, or that one area of forest, is really amazing," she explains.

Roberts says these advances will help conservationists, land stewards, and indigenous communities, empowering them to utilize existing technology more effectively.

At 17:45 in the full interview, Roberts is asked whether anyone has confronted her with the idea that analyzing the natural world somehow diminishes its wild beauty.

“Definitely,” she says. “Even some friends.”

Roberts acknowledges the human tension between imagining untouched natural places and the use of technology to measure it.

However, she says, measurement technologies like satellites and acoustic monitors “have massive benefits - by knowing what species are in those forests, by being able to monitor canopy cover, moisture content, carbon sequestration potential in these places.” 

“Given where we're at, at this time in our world's history with the massive biodiversity loss and climate change issues that we face, having this information, I think, is more helpful than not.”

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