• 1
    Pre-emptive satellite prediction of food waste
    7 months agoopen0
    Use satellite imagery to predict, at the farm or local geography level (e.g. <20mile radius level), harvest time and yield of produce. Use this information to predict when and where too much food is going to be produced and likely result in food waste, and set up operations to pick up and utilise this food. Unknowns: - Where exactly food waste happens close to the farm level. Food waste closer to the farm is more prevalent in the global south, in these geographies what do farmers currently do with excess produce? Are there already local solutions that solve this problem e.g. do farmers text friends to sell of their goods cheap, do they successfully sell them at market just for lower cost, or do they fail to sell them at market? Only in this last scenario does this project, in its current wording, add value. Known issues: - Getting traction with tech use for traditional (or older) farmers - Setting up infrastructure on the ground. How do you actually pick up the excess produce? Transport it? Maybe a too good to go style app that alerts entrepreneurial local businesses to buy and sell cheap produce could work around this problem and mean no physical assets are required. Existing companies: - Apollo Agriculture, don't do quite the same thing but tangentially related. Use satellite and other data to predict which crops would grow best on different pieces of land (thanks AG for the info on them!).
  • 5
    Help property insurers price climate risk and verify claims using satellite imaging
    8 months agoopen4
    Context: Climate change poses significant risk to insurers of residential and commercial properties, with some already withdrawing from regions hard-hit by wildfires, flooding and extreme weather events (1, 2). Problem: Assessing a property's level of exposure to extreme weather and climate change is difficult and time-consuming. So is the process of verifying and assessing claims, as the site of a landslide, severe flood or wildfire can remain inaccessible for weeks after the event. Solution: Leverage recent developments in satellite imaging (eg: SAR) and computer vision to help property insurers price climate risk and verify claims. Sources: 1: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/27/state-farm-home-insurance-california-wildfires 2: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/12/florida-farmers-insurance-climate-crisis