UAE University Space Science Conference Puts AI Analysis of Satellite Data in Focus

WAM said the AI-based work covered analysis of space imagery and change detection, extraction of road networks from satellite images, and vision models for space imaging. Other papers dealt with automatic detection and classification of solar radio bursts, modelling of the Sun's surface magnetic field and identification of asteroids that could pose a hazard.

Ilias Fernini, who chaired the organising committee, said the programme was designed to link space mission results, astronomical research and applications of satellite data. He said the conference was a chance to discuss "the challenges of analysing space data" and to explore cooperation between research teams, particularly in using AI and remote sensing for environmental monitoring and planetary studies, according to the agency's Arabic report.

Noura Rashid Al Saad of the UAE Space Agency gave a keynote on the scientific results of the Hope Probe's five years at Mars. Sessions drew on Emirates Mars Mission data to study dust storms, surface temperature and the influence of crustal magnetic fields on the planet's atmosphere. Presenters also covered the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, the Arab satellite 813 and the Emirates Lunar Mission, along with work on payload development, robotic systems for deploying payloads on lunar vehicles and small satellites for space-weather applications.

A panel titled "Beyond Orbit: Investing in the Value of Satellite Data" looked at commercial and public uses of Earth observation. Papers on this theme covered surface water quality monitoring in the UAE, environmental remote sensing and mineral mapping in the Hajar Mountains using hyperspectral imagery.

Participants included the UAE Space Agency, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, Khalifa University, the University of Sharjah and its space sciences academy, the American University of Sharjah, NYU Abu Dhabi, Zayed University and the Abu Dhabi space company Space42, WAM reported.

The conference shows how far the UAE's space programme now depends on data science as much as on spacecraft. The country's missions, from Hope to the planned asteroid belt probe, produce large datasets, and the research presented in Al Ain suggests that local universities and companies are turning to machine learning to get scientific and commercial value from them.