Employee spotlight: Alexey Unagaev, Head of GIS

What is your background and your research area of interest?

I’m a geographer and GIS specialist with a PhD in Geoecology & Nature Management and am interested in ecological & environmental research and analysis using remote sensing data.

How do your expertise & research interests align with Deep Planet’s mission (‘to harness AI and satellite imagery for the benefit of the planet’)?

I really believe that a successful solution to the problems of sustainable agriculture is impossible without rational management of natural resources and environmental protection, especially in the era of global climate change. I can contribute to cutting-edge research and publications in agricultural remote sensing, which can be of significant practical benefit to farmers and help get the best agricultural results, especially when you have the unique opportunity to test your research or calibrate it involving valuable field data that customers provide you.

How has Deep Planet helped you in your research and career development?

Through my work with Deep Planet, I gained access to many specialised sources of geographical data, which gives me the opportunity to work with rich sets of data of different formats and details, like modern high-resolution satellite imagery, and to test different methods of their analysis.

For example, the projects on detecting and identifying single Frankincense trees and trees at woodlots in Zambia, as well as detecting individual vines in a vineyard were truly exciting research challenges. These kinds of projects allow us to evaluate the capabilities of modern sensors and to realise the perspectives of further development of remote sensing of the Earth, and, consequently, the growth of our professional competence.

What are challenges in your role at the intersection between cutting-edge research and practice?

As a scientist and engineer, you need to keep abreast of modern remote sensing trends and the most advanced methods of geographic data analysis, so that the scientific approach brings maximum benefit in practice. Most modern geographical information systems still don’t have very developed tools for in-depth analysis of big temporal sets of data, so to provide meaningful data I work closely with machine learning specialists as their methods are often more powerful. For example, the traditional GIS and satellite image interpretation methods are successfully combined with machine learning and data science capabilities. At the same time, it is very important that the output data and models are translated in a way for people (e.g. farmers) to easily understand and use.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The ability to help our clients get what they want and to know that you can actually achieve it, which ultimately contributes to the success of local farms and contributes to the sustainability of agriculture on a global scale. It is also very nice to see how sometimes your experience helps your colleagues solve work issues on their part, as well as help them gain new experience.

What is the company culture like?

In any team, a responsive and friendly atmosphere is very important, allowing you to focus on solving problems as deeply as possible, and this is exactly what I have, working in the company. The founders are very responsible, open, and always ready to request and provide additional information about the details of the projects you work on. We all work together towards the same goals, and the company provides full information to its employees about the progress in each project and each new customer.

What do you think differentiates Deep Planet (their work, their staff) from other companies?

Deep Planet stands out from other companies with a very ambitious, smart, and original research and development approach to its projects. Our work involves many different kinds of remote sensing data at different resolutions and is based on the unique and rich experience in scientific research of every member of our team. Other companies also try to do similar analyses and predictions, but Deep Planet not only creates what is possible to do but also boldly sets up a wide variety of experiments, many of which turn out to be feasible from the scientific side and very useful for agricultural practice.

Tell us a fun fact about you that few people know of.

I’m a good football player and I play the guitar. :-)

“Working for this company means exploring the feasibility of various non-standard ideas, which may have significant potential in the future, both in terms of scientific research and in terms of practice.”