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Government departments, emergency services & LAs will receive free access to thousands of high-resolution satellite images of Britain, under plans announced by Science Minister Sam Gyimah. The UK Space Agency’s Space for Smarter Government Programme (SSGP) will provide access to archives of images and radar data for research & development projects. The images will provide an unprecedented level of detail of major British cities, transport networks, national parks and energy infrastructure. This will stimulate further growth in the UK’s world-leading space industry, which already employs around 40,000 people, while benefitting the public sector in areas such as planning and development. This type of satellite data is already being used in a number of pilot projects. It has been combined with machine learning techniques to help Bournemouth Borough Council identify the best locations for electric vehicle charge points across the city. While the Environment Agency has trialled satellite images as a tool to monitor plastic pollution off Britain’s shoreline to support clean-up operations and protect wildlife. |
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