As a result, new and novel technical monitoring solutions are proliferating. We see this with inline product densitometers and in-situ leak detection probes on our pipelines, as well as lane-drift and tyre pressure alerts on our automobiles. We are witnessing the dawn of a new space age where commercial access to space has become a reality. Given this, have the days of routine visual aerial patrol become numbered?
Sophisticated satellite-based data collection technologies, such as hyperspectral imagery, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), or laser imaging, detection and ranging (LIDAR), have all proven expensive to employ, which has severely limited their application in routine industrial application. The sensors themselves were expensive and the resulting data they generated all required unique infrastructure to process, even before considering the cost of deployment and operation. However, several industry changes have recently fallen into place that have radically upended the possibilities. Foremost among them is …
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