December 2021 – The new ySpace from the software laboratory YMS in Trnava is monitoring the growth of parasites in forest undergrowths on selected areas of the Forests of the Slovak Republic. It collects and evaluates satellite data from European Sentinel satellites and helps foresters determine, which areas it attacks the hardest and where and how to intervene most effectively.
Resolution in centimeters
Satellite technology is developing at a rapid pace and it can literally focus on a bald spot on a person’s head. It monitors constantly larger territories in better and better resolution, captures wider spectres, monitors the presence of substances in the atmosphere. To be able to use such a large amount of data, it is necessary to have software that can process it and present the results in a comprehensible way to the user. That’s exactly what ySpace does, making it a highly specialized and high-capacity space “translator”.
Usable practically anywhere
ySpace will translate various data from the satellite in such a way that anyone can understand and use them. It automatically downloads, reads and analyzes current satellite images and simply and understandably provides the result to the user. If the client is also using the GIS (Geographical Information System), it will incorporate the results directly into an existing map, allowing for the combination of recorded data with current satellite data. It serves foresters, farmers, water managers, infrastructure managers, large businesses, state enterprises, and different types of territories. ySpace is the pilot project of YMS and partners, financed by the European space agency, which is competing for the nomination of the most innovative act of the year 2020.
The battle with parasites
In cooperation with the foresters of Forests of the Slovak Republic (FSR), YMS is monitoring health condition of vegetation and identifying the occurrence of licorice. “As the first solution of its kind, ySpace monitors and analyzes territories for a specific user. This means that from satellite images it automatically and regularly evaluates the desired parameter, or combination of parameters, that the client needs to monitor. After entering a specific event and determining the area to be monitored the app will “deliver” a processed and understandable result. For FSR it monitors the growth of vegetation during the season and possible parasite infestation. This is commonly controlled empirically, with a physical inspection. But satellite images available every 7 days can do the same job from a distance and automatically’, explains Radoslav Béreš, director of Business Development at YMS.
ySpace as a “space translator”
ySpace monitors changes and events on the Earth’s surface. The concentration of substances in the atmosphere, water in vegetation, escape of substances, efficiency of heating systems, illegal activity in the country, infestations of a territory, and the like. “Practically every industry, whether it’s natural resource management, infrastructure, industrial parks or agriculture is finding solutions to problems, or maybe challenges for the future, with which the satellite can help. Development in calamity areas, the state of vegetation, areas with floods, areas with droughts, erosion on agricultural soil, or operational problems“, continues Radoslav Béreš.
Available everywhere
It is especially important to use satellite research of Earth on large areas that can not be regularly inspected physically with crews, because they are located in hard-to-reach terrain. Likewise, events that don’t occur in the visible spectrum and are therefore impossible to detect with the naked eye, like health of vegetation, soil degradation, or leakage of substances. Satellites take images of the Earth’s surface in tens, sometimes hundreds of parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, giving the ability to detect many ongoing phenomena.
ySpace – space innovation – practical and universal tool
Team YMS developed an innovative tool that is very simple to use. Its high added value lies in the precise focus on specific phenomena. ySpace combines satellite data, flight photogrammetric or laser imaging, even data from drones. It, therefore, allows for monitoring of various parameters, like surface temperature, changes in sea levels, temperature, and cleanliness of the atmosphere. Thanks to that an accurate and comprehensive view of the going-ons in the area is acquired. After setting up the various inputs and algorithms it works completely automatically. The user regularly receives information that help make the right decisions to reduce negative impacts, increase agriculture efficiency, or at least document the course of events over time.
The value of the system isn’t in the number of functionalities or the use of technologies, but mainly in the data and their interpretation. Due to this are YMS systems at the top of available solutions in Slovakia and abroad.