Satellite Monitoring of Saudi Ecosystems and Oceans

KAUST and Spire Global to launch a novel nanosatellite to map Saudi Arabia’s habitats, monitor vegetation health and explore coastal ecosystems

MATTHEW McCABE Director of the KAUST Climate and Livability Initiative

THE DATA FROM THE CUBESAT WILL BE INVALUABLE FOR PROVIDING NEW INFORMATION ON THE STATE OF EXISTING ECOSYSTEMS, AND MONITORING CHANGES RESULTING FROM IMPROVED MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES – SOMETHING THAT CAN BE USED TO SUPPORT ASPECTS OF THE SAUDI AND MIDDLE EAST GREEN INITIATIVES.

SPIRE GLOBAL

“The technological progress made in Saudi Arabia and across the wider region in recent years has been impressive, and we are pleased the country is the location for our first space service agreement in the Middle East. We look forward to further collaboration with KAUST.”

KAUST and Spire Global, a provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, are planning to launch a first-of-its-kind nanosatellite into space in late 2022. The satellite will collect high-resolution data on Saudi Arabia’s terrestrial, coastal and ocean ecosystems over three years to improve our understanding of these ecosystems. Matthew McCabe, professor of remote sensing and water security, and director of the new KAUST Climate and Livability Initiative, is coordinating the project.

The mission will see the launch of CubeSats – specialized, shoeboxsized satellites built from off-the-shelf components and sensors that make them comparatively cheap to construct and deploy. Conventional satellite design normally takes years, and traditional satellite data used for research is predominantly collected by government space agencies. CubeSats are transforming our ability to monitor the earth’s surface and the impact of human activity on the planet. Emerging sensors and remotesensing tools such as CubeSats offer an improved capacity to track and monitor environmental changes such as water or land use. CubeSats can collect meter-scale spatial details of Earth’s terrestrial surfaces on a daily basis. Once launched, CubeSats orbit Earth at heights of 350 to 500 km, transmitting data for a period of a few weeks to over a year before ultimately burning upon reentry into the atmosphere. “In the past, launching a satellite was the sole domain of governments, with costs well beyond the reach of a university. CubeSats are helping to democratize space, providing the opportunity to launch a customized platform at a fraction of the traditional cost,” McCabe said.

McCabe has been using data from CubeSats and other satellites since 2018 as part of a project to help monitor water and food security issues in the Kingdom. The data is used to observe crop health and irrigation rates, which can help to build a clearer picture of water use and guide future policies. CubeSats can also be used to retrieve high-quality imagery of individual fields on a daily basis. As a result, machine-learning techniques can assess the health and condition of individual crops using metrics such as the leaf area index and transpiration rates. This will enable more accurate predictions of potential yields and can pinpoint when and where problems start, allowing farmers to take appropriate action.

What is unique about this project is that it will combine two types of sensors. The nanosatellite will carry a high-performance hyperspectral sensor with the capability to observe areas of interest anywhere in the world across more than 30 user-configurable spectral bands in the visible and near-infrared spectrum. The data generated by this sensor can be combined with Spire’s Global Navigation Satellite System receiver to monitor critical variables such as the presence of moisture in the soil. Combining these two capabilities should deliver unique insights across multiple domains including agriculture, forestry and land management.