GDA APP
Global Development Assistance (GDA) Analytics & Processing Platform (APP)
Putting the power of satellite data directly into the hands of the development community.
Context
Earth Observation produces data that can answer concrete questions of real consequence for sustainable development: where built-up areas are expanding, how vegetation is changing over time, where surface water availability is shrinking, how the ground is deforming. This is precisely the information that governments, agencies and financial institutions need in order to plan interventions, allocate resources and monitor their effects.
And yet much of this potential remains untapped, and satellite data rarely reaches the decision-making table.
There are two main barriers. The first is technical: processing satellite data calls for specialist skills, dedicated software and computing infrastructure. The second is interpretive: even once the data have been processed, they often remain “raw signals” (values, images, measurements) that do not automatically translate into clear, usable evidence for the person who has to make a decision.
The ESA Global Development Assistance (GDA) programme was created to remove these barriers, making the use of satellite data a routine practice in development cooperation. Its slogan: Accelerating Impact.
The project
GDA Analytics & Processing Platform (APP) is one of the four cross-cutting activities of the GDA programme. MEEO leads the consortium that designs and develops the GDA APP, working alongside GeoVille, GMV and EarthPulse.
GDA APP is an online platform that puts the power of satellite data directly into the hands of the development community, without requiring specialist expertise in the EO field. It is an open-source environment that is scalable from a single area to large volumes of data.
The platform is built on the FAIR principles, the international standard that ensures data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable (able to work with other systems) and Reusable. In practice, this ensures that the results produced do not remain isolated, but can be found, shared and combined with other sources.
At the heart of the platform are its processing capabilities (EO Capabilities): tools that start from raw satellite data and extract specific, usable information, independently of the application domain. The result is an insight ready to be read and interpreted: maps, charts, indicators, projections and time series.
Three levels of access
The APP is designed to serve a broad spectrum of users, from newcomers to EO data to seasoned experts, through three complementary access levels:
- EO Capability Widgets. Intuitive interfaces that let non-technical users quickly run any EO capability on complex datasets and analytical workflows.
- Explorer. A Web-GIS environment to explore the products generated together with a wide range of EO and other geospatial datasets, placing results in their broader spatial context.
- Advanced Tools. Programmatic capabilities (JupyterLab, Docker images, job monitoring tools) to manage and customise data processing, alongside integration with users’ in-house systems.
What MEEO does
As prime contractor: full-stack design and technical development of the Platform, including infrastructure management and integration of partner processing capabilities.