Key takeaways from ESA Living Planet Symposium 2025
Dr Jędrzej Bojanowski, Director of EO Data Science and Products
Attending the ESA Living Planet Symposium 2025 in Vienna was a truly enlightening experience. The scale of the event was impressive - over 7300 people registered (with 6800 attending in person) from 119 countries, showing just how global and dynamic the Earth observation community has become. With more than 250 sessions, 60 agoras, and over 4200 scientific presentations and posters, there was a real sense of momentum, innovation, and diversity throughout the venue. CloudFerro played an active role at this year’s event, contributing to over 30 activities — including delivering presentations during thematic sessions, leading and moderating discussions, participating in panels, conducting tutorials, and presenting posters. Particularly meaningful for us were the interactions with users of initiatives we co-create, such as the CDSE User Review Meeting and the Destination Earth User Exchange Forum. We were present at three booths — CloudFerro, CDSE, and ESA — where we held hundreds of valuable conversations with attendees.
Below are some important insights and conclusions we have drawn from the event and how our endeavours fit into these changes and achievements of the EO sector.
Satellite launch accessibility
Launching satellites is becoming increasingly easier and more affordable. The primary challenge now lies in selecting the right payload to generate valuable insights for both scientific research and business applications. Ground segment providers are adapting to meet this growing demand, with companies like CloudFerro delivering a comprehensive value chain—from data ingestion to a cloud-based storage to advanced processing and seamless dissemination to end users.
Data standards
The topic of data standards, particularly the Spatiotemporal Asset Catalog (STAC), was significantly addressed. Although STAC is widely adopted, challenges remain, such as inconsistencies in validation across different tools and the need for more complex, nested data collections. Nonetheless, our provision of STAC for users in the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem has received positive feedback.
Shift to cloud-native formats
The transition from traditional data formats like SAFE/JPEG2000 to cloud-native formats such as Zarr is underway. Developments in Zarr v3 and geoZarr are aiming to address issues related to managing numerous small files and enhance functionalities like zoom levels for varying dimensions. However, questions about optimal chunking strategies and metadata presence in individual files persist, along with concerns regarding ensuring data continuity as Copernicus transitions to these new formats.
AI and Machine Learning trends
The integration of AI and machine learning was a prominent theme. Google’s introduction of global EO embeddings—64-dimensional vectors corresponding to each pixel per year—was regarded as a notable advancement. At the same time, CloudFerro had already released its own global embeddings, which were positively received. The potential of these tools and new data formats could transform the utilization of Earth Observation data, despite some initial results lacking visual intuitiveness. There is an expressed need for higher spatiotemporal resolution, with hopes that AI can bridge data gaps and enhance data fusion processes.
And, of course, the European headache – safety, resilience and sustainability kept recurring in various contexts. At CloudFerro we are looking forward to contributing to the ERS (European Resilience from Space), and in the future to the EOGS (Earth Observation Governmental Service) with our insights and our sovereign cloud services.
Community engagement and data federation
There is a growing emphasis on data federation and community collaboration. Users are increasingly interested in accessing multiple data sources through a singular API and login, driving a movement toward more open, collaborative environments. The Earth Observation Exploitation Platform Common Architecture (EOEPCA) is anticipated to set the standard for federated services, a direction also reflected in CloudFerro’s strategic roadmap.
Cloud processing as standard
Cloud processing has established itself as a standard practice in the Earth Observation sector, with CloudFerro gaining recognition during the conference for its contributions in this area. While we may have started as a niche provider, platforms like CREODIAS are now becoming more widely known and trusted. Positive feedback has been noted, especially concerning how our services assist in handling large volumes of satellite data effectively, with an emphasis on the importance of adhering to open standards. Being part of this community continues to inspire us to keep improving and supporting our users even more.
We appreciate the engaging discussions at the CloudFerro, CDSE, and ESA booths, as well as the valuable feedback received on our presentations, sessions, and posters. Stay tuned for further developments as we continue to evolve and enhance our support for the Earth Observation community.