A team from the Data Science Research Platform (DSRP) at the University of Malta has recently been awarded a EUR 50,000 grant to develop 3D reconstruction models using optical images captured by the Pl茅iades satellite. The SAtellite Training and NETworking (SATINET) project is a collaborative project between the University of Malta and the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), and is funded by the MCST-CNES bilateral funding programme. The principal investigator on this project is Dr Reuben Farrugia, from the Department of Communications & Computer Engineering.
CNES is France鈥檚 national space agency with its headquarters in Paris, and is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research. It has an annual budget of EUR 2.438 billion, which is second in size only to NASA鈥檚. It is most well-known for designing the Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle, as well as the SPOT family of Earth Observation satellites. CNES is currently working on a new generation of satellites, such as Taranis and SWOT. Taranis will be the first satellite designed to observe luminous, radiative and electromagnetic phenomena occurring above thunderstorms, while SWOT, jointly developed with NASA, will be used to monitor Earth鈥檚 lakes and rivers.
The Pl茅iades satellite is the first satellite that captures three consecutive high resolution images of the same region within a relatively short time-frame. This enables researchers to use computer vision techniques to estimate the elevation of objects from the land surface. Researchers at CNES have developed a processing pipeline that is able to generate a 3D reconstruction of scenes captured by the Pl茅iades satellite.
This technology makes it possible to update the digital elevation models on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the 3D reconstruction method has an inherent error margin and can also introduce distortions in the models. The aim of the SATINET project is to use images captured by Synthetic Aperture Radar from Sentinel-1 and adopt more advanced computer vision techniques to improve the quality of the existing 3D reconstruction model. This project will also finance an M.Sc. by research project in collaboration with CNES within the Department of Communications and Computer Engineering at the University of Malta.
Project SATINET financed by the Malta Council for Science & Technology, for and on behalf of the Foundation for Science and Technology, through the MCST-CNES Space Bilateral Fund.
This technology makes it possible to update the digital elevation models on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the 3D reconstruction method has an inherent error margin and can also introduce distortions in the models. The aim of the SATINET project is to use images captured by Synthetic Aperture Radar from Sentinel-1 and adopt more advanced computer vision techniques to improve the quality of the existing 3D reconstruction model. This project will also finance an M.Sc. by research project in collaboration with CNES within the Department of Communications and Computer Engineering at the University of Malta.
Project SATINET financed by the Malta Council for Science & Technology, for and on behalf of the Foundation for Science and Technology, through the MCST-CNES Space Bilateral Fund.
