Integrating Earth Obsertation data in spatial data infrastructures – TELKANTE LAB

The TELKANTE LAB project between UMR LETG (CNRS) and ALKANTE aims to develop technical and software solutions for integrating remote sensing data into spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). Indeed, the complementary nature of the LETG and ALKANTE teams opens promising expectations towards scientific and technological advances to facilitate the use of spatial information for a wide range of applications (agriculture, urban planning, ecology, climatology, etc.), benefiting from the launch of numerous satellites and easier access to remote sensing images.

On the one hand, ALKANTE, a 55-employee SME based in Brittany, has long-standing experience in the implementation of SDIs via the development of the PRODIGE interministerial software, which promotes the use of geographic information by private or institutional users (e.g. Ministries of Ecological Transition and Health). However, this open source software solution, although widely used by local authorities, does not currently integrate information from remote sensing. For its part, LETG is recognized for its expertise in processing remote sensing data (optical and radar imagery, 2D and 3D) and producing indicators for monitoring socio-environmental dynamics (e.g. urban dynamics, monitoring agricultural practices, climate change, etc.), but is struggling to make its results visible beyond the academic world.

The TELKANTE LAB project is therefore structured around three research axes covering the entire technological chain, from data identification to the production and visualization of geographic information by and for users.

Axis 1 - Integration of remote sensing data into SDIs: LETG will be responsible for identifying remote sensing data and their derived products to be integrated into GDIs. ALKANTE will ensure data access and interoperability. In particular, it will anticipate the need to process « Big Earth Observation Data ».
Axis 2 - Geographic information processing: LETG will develop indicators for monitoring socio-environmental dynamics based on remote sensing, drawing on the latest scientific advances in image processing (time series analysis, artificial intelligence). ALKANTE will be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the processings in the SDIs.
Axis 3 - User experience: This axis aims to develop modules enabling users (citizens, government representatives, companies) to play a central role in SDIs, as contributors ("citizen sensor") and interpreters of data according to their own experiences, intentions and motivations ("experience sharing").

The project is part of a dynamic sectoral context supported by the France 2030 plan to develop industrial competitiveness and forward-looking technologies to meet public sector needs for spatial data and associated services. In this context, the innovative nature of TELKANTE LAB concerns the development of solutions aimed at improving the ability to identify, process and interpret geographic information. To achieve this, the 54-month project will focus on territorial contexts that are priorities for the LETG and at the heart of major contemporary socio-environmental issues: (1) urban dynamics in a context of climate change, and (2) agricultural dynamics in the Amazon. These two application cases will enable us to develop a wide range of new solutions in the form of service offers and products aimed at turning the initial idea (TRL3 - integration of remote sensing data into IDGs) into prototypes (TRL5 to 7 - demonstrator) and then into a product accessible online and available on the market (TRL9).