Satellites for sustainability

There are around 750 active satellites in orbit which observe the Earth constantly.
With the recent interest in algorithms for processing large amounts of data, and ever better hardware for running them; this information from satellites could become increasingly useful in areas from renewable energy to smart agriculture.

A couple of examples:

Using cloud cover to predict solar radiation, and hence output from
solar farms. Knowing the expected solar PV output helps utilities plan
out backup generation, and some countries have legislation which fine
solar farm operators for mismatches with predicted generation.

Using multispectral data from satellites to determine different types of
soil or land use; this level of mapping is very helpful for environmental
protection and agricultural planning, but is expensive to undertake
(Thanks to Chris Davis for the suggestion)

For this first session in May I'm thinking that we have an informal discussion on the possibilities; one exciting thing about this area is that the data is free and openly accessible; and can be a great platform to start playing with artificial intelligence.

If you have a more specific idea - feel free to post on here, or email me at boyuanxiao@gmail.com