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Latitudo 40, the startup that solves the problems of cities with the help of satellites

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Latitudo 40, the startup that solves the problems of cities with the help of satellites

Latitudo 40 is the Italian startup that thanks to data processed by satellite images is helping cities like Turin, Helsinki and Barcelona in planning strategies and environmental policy: “We analyze everything that is not in real time, such as concentration of urban green, buildings, water, number of cars, pollution and any other parameter that ours artificial intelligence algorithms I am able to extrapolate from the photos taken by satellites “, explained the co-founder, Vincenzo Vecchio.

This industry is constantly evolving, and although satellite technology has been around for years, commercial applications are recent. Latitudo 40 was born in 2018 as a spinoff of the University of Naples Federico II; not by chance the name is a reference to the latitude of the Campania capital. “At the time we were a group of engineers specialized in remote sensing, led by some teachers, who even faced the difficulty of purchasing images – Vecchio told us again – Today Airbus offers an immediate pay-per-use service, there is even the large free archive of the Copernicus program of the EU Commission. But years ago there was talk of subscriptions worth 100 thousand euros with bureaucracy and documents that required 3 months of work “.

Image providers are numerous, and they can range from typical radar fingerprint photographic shots (Sar, i.e. synthetic aperture radar) with different levels of accuracy and resolution. This means that artificial intelligence can detect structural, chemical and thermal differences by analyzing color variations. Obviously we are not talking about real-time updates, but shutter speeds ranging from a few hours to a few days, depending on the case.

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What can be done with Latitudo 40
Vecchio explained to us that “the most accurate photos get to 30cm resolution: we used them to count the number of cars in parking lots, analyze buildings and unauthorized buildings, and radar ones to detect micro-movements inside bridges and other civilian infrastructures at risk. For Terna, we monitored the vegetation that could put the electricity grid at risk “.

Today the main customers are the Public administration or system integrators dealing with PA. And the main activity is now the one that falls under the umbrella of sustainable development (ESG, i.e. environmental, social and corporate governance). Think of the possibility of having a 6-7 year history of each element of a city: the relationship between green and built-up area, the level of pollutants, the soil temperature “and also urban cooling and carbon sequestration”. Vincenzo Vecchio underlined that the commitment of the cities is being played on these last two technical terms, since they refer to the cooling and CO2 capture capacity of the urban environment: “We can also simulate the effects of increasing areas green or new structures on these parameters, for example, a Barcelona there is a serious problem of heat blisters, which in some areas could put people’s health at risk, especially the elderly “.

Another recent application concerns agriculture: there are large companies and agronomists who need data to be fed to the so-called farm management system, the latest generation management systems for farms and livestock. Specifically, the satellites make it possible to refine the analysis of the soils, the vegetation indices, the state of the leaves and also the degree of humidity: “In the early years we worked a lot as consultants, today this happens in the most complex cases, but basically we supply an access to a platform that it shows all the data within an easy graphical interface – the engineer Vecchio pointed out – It is a sort of dashboard, with the area of ​​interest in the foreground, the data, the history, the forecast section, the search strings and any other element useful for decision makers and their consultants ” .

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What will happen in the next few years
As for the future, Latitudo 40 definitely points towards enhanced predictive analytics, thanks also to the more accurate implementation of the so-called digital twin (things?) citizen. The idea is that thanks to the collection of more data from sensors and observation, a model can be created on which to experiment with new solutions and evaluate the impact of each project. That’s not all: “We are also thinking of buying and selling CO2 credits with companies on the one hand and accredited companies on the other – Vecchio anticipated us – In this way, the municipalities themselves could obtain funds to re-invest on new environmental projects and in fact stimulate a virtuous circle “.

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