Microsoft Launches ‘Planetary Computer’ to Reach Biodiversity Goals

Microsoft is creating a new Planetary Computer platform to provide insights about species, biodiversity, and ecosystems. The move represents the next step in the company’s 2020 sustainability efforts, according to the tech giant. On a broader scale, Smith said that the Planetary Computer would offer the following insights for businesses, conservation organizations, and scientists:

    Forests: Satellite imagery, machine learning tools, and user-contributed data about forest boundaries so forest managers would have an integrated view of forest health.

    Water: Satellite data, local measurements of streams and groundwater, and predictive algorithms for land planners and farmers to make decisions about water resources.

    Wildlife Conservation: Combining information about terrain types and ecosystems with data about where species live so that wildlife biologists can benefit from each other’s data.

    Climate Change: Combining satellite imagery about ecosystems with artificial intelligence to provide up-to-date information about ecosystems as well as a platform for leveraging predictive models to estimate global carbon stocks and inform decisions about land use.