The European Space Agency (ESA), in coordination with the European Commission, is launching a special edition of the Custom Script Contest, focused on the support of space assets during the COVID-19 crisis, managed by Euro Data Cube group. The contest is looking for remote sensing experts, machine learning scientists and interested public to make proposals on how satellite data can help with observation of changes in economic operators, changes in human activity distribution and changes in agriculture activity, among other applications. The aim of the contest is to help mitigate the COVID-19 situation in the upcoming months.
Participants can produce scripts using data from various sources, such as the European Sentinel satellites, Airbus and Planet data, as well as data from Pleiades and PlanetScope. Different tools can be used, including EO Browser, Sentinel Hub and xcube services, eo-learn, and Jupyter Notebooks.
Participants can contribute to the context in different ways. Remote sensing enthusiasts can come up with an idea, compile a presentation and send it through. Earth Observation experts can perform a detailed analysis. Machine learning experts can model agriculture activities and identify potentially abandoned areas, resulting in reduced yields in the harvest seasons. Satellite data providers can contribute with additional data. Any contribution is welcomed.
The contest will start on 6 April 2020 and will be running until the end of May. However, due to the importance of the matter, participants are highly advised to submit proposals as soon as possible. Best proposals will be selected on a continuous basis and the grand prize will be awarded at the end of the challenge. The best ideas will be then presented to the European Commission in the context of the dossier ESA is preparing on space as a support to COVID-19 situation in the EU.
Sentinel Hub is a cloud-based GIS platform for distribution, management, and analysis of satellite data. This platform makes satellite data from Sentinels, Landsat and other providers easily accessible for browsing, visualization, and analysis. Sentinel Hub, together with the Copernicus Earth observation programme and the European Space Agency, has recently started organizing Sentinel Hub Custom Script Contests. The aim of the contests is to find innovative ideas and scripts that can facilitate and improve the use of satellite data in different applications and fields.
If you want to know more about the contest, visit the Custom Script Contest - COVID-19 edition. To learn how to create a script and to have a look at the scripts of the previous contests, see Custom Script Contest – Past Runs.
