Inside the Satellite Detective Agencies That Catch the Companies Destroying the Planet Ariel Schwartz - Fast Company
go to original February 14, 2016

Technology Illuminating the Global Fishing Fleet (Global Fishing Watch)

Satellites are getting smaller, cheaper, easier to launch. A growing number of startups, including Planet Labs and Skybox (purchased by Google in 2014) are operating fleets that send back imagery from all corners of the planet, taking pictures sharp enough that you can see a manhole cover, though not a face or a license plate.

To capitalize on this new glut of images, Purdy and Ray Harris, a geography professor at University College of London who has dedicated his career to Earth observation, teamed up in 2014 to launch Air and Space Evidence, a consultancy that specializes in using satellite and drone imagery as evidence in insurance and legal cases. The two Rays, who act as middlemen between satellite companies and people who want to use satellite data, call their business the world's first "space detective agency."

So far, Air and Space Evidence has had more media attention than actual clients—but there have been some cases involving companies that engage in illegal activity.

Read the rest at Fast Company

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