Cloud-based EO infrastructures and platforms have emerged to meet the growing demand for efficient data processing, analysis, and visualization close to the data. We can distinguish between infrastructure providers and platform providers.
Infrastructure providers
EO-based infrastructure providers focus on offering the underlying infrastructure necessary for processing, storage, and dissemination of EO data. They provide the computing resources, storage capacity, and networking capabilities required to handle large-scale EO data processing and analysis. These providers often build and maintain data centers and server clusters, ensuring reliable and scalable infrastructure for EO applications.
In comparison to the traditional approach (Figure “EO research without cloud facilities”), this approach allow users to use computing resources close to the EO data (see Figure “EO cloud providers”). Users do not need to download and manage EO data on their own, they can simply use what is already available on the infrastructure. However, there are no EO-specific services for data discovery, access, visualization, and analysis.
Figure: EO cloud providers.
Examples of EO-based infrastructure providers
- Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS offers a wide range of cloud services, including storage (Amazon S3) and computing (Amazon EC2), which can be leveraged for EO data processing and storage. Various open data are available on AWS (https://registry.opendata.aws/).
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP): GCP provides infrastructure services like Google Cloud Storage and Google Compute Engine, which can be utilized for EO data management and analysis. Various open data are available on GCP (https://cloud.google.com/datasets).
- Microsoft Azure: Azure offers cloud-based services such as Azure Storage, Azure Virtual Machines, and Azure Machine Learning, enabling EO applications and workflows.
- Open Telekom Cloud: Open Telekom Cloud is a cloud platform offered by Deutsche Telekom. It provides scalable infrastructure resources, including computing, storage, and networking capabilities, suitable for processing and storing large volumes of EO data.
- Cloudferro: Cloudferro is a cloud infrastructure provider specializing in geospatial data processing and analysis. They offer scalable and secure cloud resources optimized for EO applications. Cloudferro provides high-performance computing, storage, and networking services tailored for EO data processing workflows. Various open data are available on Cloudferro (https://cloudferro.com/en/eo-cloud/storage-big-data/).
Platform providers
Platform providers focus on delivering comprehensive EO platforms that combine infrastructure, tools, and services into a cohesive environment. These platforms typically offer a suite of integrated capabilities, including data storage, processing, analysis, visualization, and collaboration tools. They provide a user-friendly interface and simplify the EO data lifecycle, enabling users to access, process, and analyze EO data without managing the underlying infrastructure.
On top of providing the infrastructure which allows users to do the computations close to the EO data , making available a platform additionally enables the use of specific Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for the discovery, access, visualization, exploitation, and analysis of EO data. EO platforms are often made available on infrastructure providers to benefit from the EO data storage. Users of a platform can now use harmonized interfaces for all data, which is available on the platform.
Examples of cloud-based EO platform providers
- Google Earth Engine is a platform specifically designed for EO data analysis. It provides access to a vast amount of satellite imagery and geospatial datasets, along with powerful processing capabilities and built-in algorithms.
- Sinergise Sentinel-Hub is a platform focused on accessing and processing satellite data. It provides APIs and easy-to-use tools for accessing, processing, and visualizing EO data.
- Microsoft Planetary Computer is a platform that combines geospatial data and AI capabilities for Earth observation. It provides access to various global datasets, including satellite imagery, climate data, and environmental data. The platform aims to facilitate large-scale data analysis and support sustainable development and conservation efforts.
- Euro Data Cube is a platform on top of various cloud infrastructures to provide an interactive development environment with a standardized access to various EO data. It provides a JupyterLab environment for data exploration and analysis, as well as capabilities to run processing jobs.
- OpenEO Platform is a platform based on OpenEO, which aims to standardize and simplify the access and processing of EO data. It provides a unified API and common data model, enabling interoperability across multiple EO data providers and processing backends. The platform allows users to run EO workflows on various cloud-based infrastructure providers.
Summary
In summary, EO-based infrastructure providers primarily focus on providing the underlying infrastructure and resources, while platform providers offer integrated environments with a wide range of tools and services to support EO data processing, analysis, and visualization. These two types of providers complement each other in the EO ecosystem, enabling users to access and leverage EO data effectively.