What is Azure Orbital Analytics?
Azure Orbital Analytics is a platform for processing and analyzing satellite and geospatial data. The service combines data acquisition via Azure Orbital Ground Station with powerful analytics pipelines for image processing, Machine Learning, and AI-powered detection.
The platform offers pre-built models for common use cases like object detection, land classification, and change detection, as well as the ability to train and deploy custom ML models.
Core Features
- Pre-built AI models for satellite image analysis
- Integration with Azure Machine Learning
- Scalable processing of large datasets
- Support for common satellite data formats
- Geospatial analytics with Azure Maps
Typical Use Cases
Agriculture: Analysis of vegetation indices, crop forecasting, and irrigation optimization based on multispectral data.
Environmental Monitoring: Detection of wildfires, floods, or deforestation through automated image analysis.
Urban Planning: Change detection in urban areas, traffic analysis, and infrastructure monitoring.
Benefits
- Fast time-to-value through pre-built models
- Scalable cloud processing for petabyte-scale data
- Integration with Azure AI and ML services
- Combination with Azure Orbital for end-to-end workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
Which data sources are supported?
Azure Orbital Analytics processes data from commercial satellite providers, open data sources like Sentinel and Landsat, as well as custom satellite data via Azure Orbital Ground Station.
Can I use custom ML models?
Yes, custom models can be integrated via Azure Machine Learning. The platform supports common frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch for geospatial applications.
How are large datasets processed?
The platform uses Azure Batch and Spark for parallel processing. Petabyte-scale archives can be efficiently searched and analyzed.
What is the service status?
Azure Orbital Analytics is in preview. Features and pricing may still change.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you with Azure Orbital Analytics: development of geospatial pipelines, training of custom ML models, and integration into existing workflows.
