LuxCarta Launches BrightEarth Global Mapping Products

LuxCarta has launched its BrightEarth™ product line, a series of specialized global geospatial products derived using artificial intelligence algorithms. The initial releases include a global cloud-free mosaic and related 10-class land use/land cover (LULC) based on Sentinel-2 imagery.

“Customers were asking if we could deliver a higher-resolution global cloud-free image mosaic and related classified imagery – or LULC,” said Albéric Maumy, managing director of LuxCarta. “There is a large gap in the market between free imagery at 30m and what the market is demanding. BrightEarth is our answer.”

LuxCarta has applied its tuned artificial intelligence algorithms on a constantly refreshed supply of raw Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to create BrightEarth products. The global mosaic delivers a seamless cloud-free 10-meter resolution image of the entire Earth in bright and natural color. The algorithms select the most recent cloud-free images available, with the current iteration of the BrightEarth globe created using 78% of images from 2019-2020.

The mosaic will be followed by a 10-class LULC that seamlessly integrates with it – even along problematic coastlines – later this year. LuxCarta has specialized in the classification of earth imagery to create LULC for the world’s telecommunications industry for decades, where the product is referred to as “clutter” and is used to aggregate user locations for RF planning purposes. The company’s R&D team is now focused on adapting manual extraction techniques to machine-learning approaches to expand the number of automated classes delivered in BrightEarth.

Ultimately, BrightEarth products will be created in the cloud and delivered via the cloud. The mosaic will be inserted into LuxCarta’s online delivery system later this year, with the LULC to follow. Flexible licensing and purchasing options for use in a customer’s integrated products, as well as delivery through an API, will make this geospatial mapping service an ideal fit for customers requiring consistent, high-quality data for locations around the world.