Satellite imagery to improve cities – El País
AgForest develops algorithms for diverse applications: from locating asbestos to detecting sanitation leaks
A study in the journal Nature revealed in 2020 that the mass of everything built by humans already exceeds biomass. In other words, the artificial outweighs the natural. It was a surprise that shocked Pablo Quesada from Malaga, a graduate in Geography and Land Management, and specialized in the processing and interpretation of geospatial data. “I understood that something had to be done. And that the battle for sustainability could also be fought a thousand kilometers away: satellite information is key,” he recalls. This was the starting point for AgForest, a start-up that was born in 2022 and began marketing in the summer of 2023. In that year, it turned over its first 300,000 euros and became profitable.
The company’s first project was based on a legal change. As of spring 2021, Spain requires municipalities to map the asbestos in their territories and to gradually dismantle it. “It was a business opportunity,” recalls Quesada, a founding partner along with Juan Carlos Martín Sánchez and Santiago Iglesias. The entrepreneur developed an algorithm that, thanks to the interpretation of satellite images, detects with an accuracy of 90% the uralite roofs, the main container of the carcinogenic material. The system also reveals whether it is installed in places of special risk, such as health centers or schools, in order to propose a priority plan. Valladolid was its first customer, and soon municipalities such as Ibiza, Tarrasa, Antequera, Malaga and Legazpi joined in.
The application of this technology is now the spearhead of AgForest, which has created a first version of the software. Through paid licenses, it allows users to improve the management of the asbestos life cycle: from a mapping of locations to updates with field work and material removals. “The idea is that there will be other information on this platform to make it a tool for sustainable management of cities,” says Quesada. The firm has announced the investment of six million up to 2028 for its R&D&I area and to develop new applications in three main areas: waste and pollution, water resource management, and environmental, economic and biodiversity risk analysis.
“The possibilities are many,” he emphasizes, aware of the multiple perspectives offered by the analysis of images obtained by public and private satellites. To demonstrate this, the company has developed projects with public administrations to detect heat islands in cities -places that, due to their materials, trap heat and increase temperatures- or to estimate the soil’s carbon capture capacity. They have also developed predictive models to detect water leaks in the sewage network or water pollution. In Portugal, they have monitored an almond tree plantation: their technology has made it possible to know the exact number of trees, how many are not growing as they should, when the fruit is at its optimum ripening point and even to estimate the year’s production. During 2024 they expect to exceed one million euros in turnover.
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