Satellite imagery is being used to determine covid-19 response plans
How satellite imagery has been useful during covid-19: We’ve all seen the satellite images of countries devoid of people as lockdowns keep populations inside. Bloomberg’s Ashlee Vance talks to the source of some of these images, Will Marshall the CEO of Planet Labs, a company that sends hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead to capture day-by-day high resolution images of this unprecedented moment (watch, runtime: 10:50). Marshall says that his company was deemed an essential service as governments were quick to ask for the satellite images to be able to monitor cities and use the data for their covid-19 response plans.
Governments have also been forced to be more transparent: Vance also talks to Alison Puccioni, an open source image analyst, who has been working alongside governments to translate what these images mean. She adds that it works both ways, the availability of the satellite imagery also holds governments accountable. Puccioni gave the example of Iran, which claimed to have lowered their covid-19 fatalities before coming under fire after mass graves were detected from space.