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NV5 Geospatial Blog

Each month, NV5 Geospatial posts new blog content across a variety of categories. Browse our latest posts below to learn about important geospatial information or use the search bar to find a specific topic or author. Stay informed of the latest blog posts, events, and technologies by joining our email list!



Not All Supernovae Are Created Equal: Rethinking the Universe’s Measuring Tools

Not All Supernovae Are Created Equal: Rethinking the Universe’s Measuring Tools

6/3/2025

Rethinking the Reliability of Type 1a Supernovae   How do astronomers measure the universe? It all starts with distance. From gauging the size of a galaxy to calculating how fast the universe is expanding, measuring cosmic distances is essential to understanding everything in the sky. For nearby stars, astronomers use... Read More >

Using LLMs To Research Remote Sensing Software: Helpful, but Incomplete

Using LLMs To Research Remote Sensing Software: Helpful, but Incomplete

5/26/2025

Whether you’re new to remote sensing or a seasoned expert, there is no doubt that large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini can be incredibly useful in many aspects of research. From exploring the electromagnetic spectrum to creating object detection models using the latest deep learning... Read More >

From Image to Insight: How GEOINT Automation Is Changing the Speed of Decision-Making

From Image to Insight: How GEOINT Automation Is Changing the Speed of Decision-Making

4/28/2025

When every second counts, the ability to process geospatial data rapidly and accurately isn’t just helpful, it’s critical. Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) has always played a pivotal role in defense, security, and disaster response. But in high-tempo operations, traditional workflows are no longer fast enough. Analysts are... Read More >

Thermal Infrared Echoes: Illuminating the Last Gasp of a Dying Star

Thermal Infrared Echoes: Illuminating the Last Gasp of a Dying Star

4/24/2025

This blog was written by Eli Dwek, Emeritus, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD and Research Fellow, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. It is the fifth blog in a series showcasing our IDL® Fellows program which supports passionate retired IDL users who may need support to continue their work... Read More >

A New Era of Hyperspectral Imaging with ENVI® and Wyvern’s Open Data Program

A New Era of Hyperspectral Imaging with ENVI® and Wyvern’s Open Data Program

2/25/2025

This blog was written in collaboration with Adam O’Connor from Wyvern.   As hyperspectral imaging (HSI) continues to grow in importance, access to high-quality satellite data is key to unlocking new insights in environmental monitoring, agriculture, forestry, mining, security, energy infrastructure management, and more.... Read More >

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ENVI-powered Urban Heat Island GeoService Available on CloudEO

Rebecca Lasica

If you’ve spent much time in a large metropolitan area, you probably noticed that temperatures in the city tend to be higher than in surrounding areas. These temperature variations are known as urban heat islands (UHI). While these pockets of heat are a fact of life to city dwellers, they have wide ranging impacts on energy consumption, human health and safety. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could login to a website, select an area of interest, and gain insight in a specific UHI?

To be able to study UHIs, you would first need to obtain geospatial information, such as a time series of satellite imagery with thermal information, for your area of interest. Next, you’d likely require some set of specialized algorithms to process the data, not to mention a certain level of expertise to run the processes. What if we used our expertise and wrapped the data, the algorithms, and the processes together into an automated workflow, so all you would need to do is define an area and ask a question? Skipping to the punchline… that’s what we did!

The first Harris-built GeoService exposed on the CloudEO store is the “Urban Heat Island” service. This service provides a historical analysis clearly identifying thermal peaks within urban areas. Users are able to intuitively select an urban area of interest and a date range. The GeoService reaches into the Landsat-8 archive and searches for at least 5 scenes within the date range having less than 20% cloud cover. With an 18-day revisit rate, it is easy to identify an optimal number of scenes to paint a picture (literally a heat map!) of temperature peaks that identify seasonal thermal variations. These variations, (UHIs), are used to assess heat loss/absorption from buildings, roads, and other manmade surfaces impacting localized weather within cities. These fluctuations affect air quality and urban climate which are essential for human health and welfare, urban planning, energy consumption, and environmental sustainability.

Without a need for time-consuming data searches and expensive on-site surveys, research organizations, real estate developers, construction and insurance companies can quickly get low-cost, relevant information pertaining to the extent of thermal anomalies within the selected urban areas. This information is used to evaluate urban development and to simplify energy needs and consumption models for urban areas.

CloudEO and NV5 Geospatial are working together to bring this and other ENVI-powered GeoServices directly to the market to help you solve some of your most challenging business problems. In addition, ENVI algorithms are directly exposed on CloudEO making the ENVI API more accessible than ever so you can develop your own GeoServices to run at-scale, or collaborate with us to develop the right solution for your business. To learn how to build your own GeoService, request the whitepaper: Building GeoServices for the CloudEO Store using ENVI®.

Be sure to watch our on-demand webinar demonstrating the Urban Heat Island GeoService and to learn more about developing and deploying your own solutions on CloudEO! Or try the Urban Heat Island GeoService for yourself here https://store.cloudeo-ag.com/urban-heat-islands.

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