<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><base href="/"><title>How Orbital Insight Measured Hurricane Harvey's Flooding Through The Clouds</title><meta charset="UTF-8"><meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><link rel="canonical" itemprop="url" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/09/26/how-orbital-insight-measured-hurricane-harveys-flooding-through-the-clouds/"><script>!function(e){function n(r){if(t[r])return t[r].exports;var o=t[r]={i:r,l:!1,exports:{}};return e[r].call(o.exports,o,o.exports,n),o.l=!0,o.exports}var r=window.webpackJsonp;window.webpackJsonp=function(t,c,a){for(var i,u,f,s=0,d=[];s<t.length;s++)u=t[s],o[u]&&d.push(o[u][0]),o[u]=0;for(i in c)Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(c,i)&&(e[i]=c[i]);for(r&&r(t,c,a);d.length;)d.shift()();if(a)for(s=0;s<a.length;s++)f=n(n.s=a[s]);return f};var t={},o={6:0};n.e=function(e){function 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<div _ngcontent-c20="" innerhtml="<div id=&quot;attachment_21238&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FDuring-Harvey-SAR.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FDuring-Harvey-SAR.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>Orbital Insight</small> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=&quot;&quot;> 
  <div class=&quot;caption-container&quot; ng-class=&quot;caption_state&quot;> 
   <fbs-accordion current=&quot;0&quot;> 
    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>SAR image of Lake Houston during Tropical Storm Harvey</p> 
   </fbs-accordion> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
</div>
<p>A few weeks ago, Orbital Insight, one of the startups on the <em>Forbes</em>&amp;nbsp;<a href=&quot;https://www.forbes.com/next-billion-dollar-startups/#40e1c6e24441&quot; target=&quot;_self&quot;>Next Billion Dollar Startups</a> list, applied its know-how to determine how much flooding Houston endured during Hurricane Harvey.</p>
<p>The company, which was founded in 2013 by James Crawford, applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to satellite images. This enables it to track a number of different things its customers are interested in, from environmental changes to oil &amp;amp; gas production. The company even employs some good old-fashioned&amp;nbsp;car counting from orbit to predict quarterly revenues for retail chains.</p>
<p>When the company applied those methods to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey, it found an astonishing result - a total flood extent <a href=&quot;https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/understanding-the-extent-of-flooding-in-houston-from-hurricane-harvey-a1c84e37b66a&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;>three times greater</a> than other estimates have shown. Insodoing, they helped refine a model for flood extent that they've been building for their customers, which includes insurance companies, government agencies, and NGOs.</p>
<p> 
 </p>
<p>Why are Orbital Insight's customers interested in flood data? Because flood insurance is big business - premiums come in at about $3 billion per year - but flood models are in dire need of improvement. FEMA's flood insurance program is about $25 billion in debt. One reason why that is is that floods are simply difficult to forecast. For example, FEMA flood mapping <a href=&quot;https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/09/18/fema-flood-maps-missed-claims-harvey-houston/#3cca88589938&quot; target=&quot;_self&quot;>missed 75% of the actual floods</a> that occurred in Houston between 1999 and 2009. And one reason why floods are hard to forecast? Clouds.</p>
<p>&quot;If there's a flood, chances are there were clouds,&quot; said Crawford. &quot;If there are clouds, you can't get images.&quot;</p>
<p>That means that it's hard to tell from satellites how high flood waters during a storm. That's where Synthetic Aperture Radar (or SAR) data comes in. SAR images come from a satellite electronically simulating a large radar antenna using its own flight path. The resulting image is high-resolution and can peek right through clouds. At a cost, though - raw SAR images don't immediately look recognizable, and so it requires some training to understand what you're looking at.</p>
<div class=&quot;vestpocket&quot; vest-pocket=&quot;&quot;></div>
<div id=&quot;attachment_21245&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FHarvey-Flood-Extent.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FHarvey-Flood-Extent.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960&quot;></progressive-image> 
  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>Orbital Insight</small> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=&quot;&quot;> 
  <div class=&quot;caption-container&quot; ng-class=&quot;caption_state&quot;> 
   <fbs-accordion current=&quot;0&quot;> 
    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>Flood extent in Houston, according to Orbital Insight's models.</p> 
   </fbs-accordion> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
</div>
<p>&quot;The biggest challenge is that you have to have people who interpret SAR images to train the deep learning algorithm,&quot; said Crawford.</p>
<p>To that end, the company has partnered with its image providers to obtain images from coordinated SAR imaging and drone flights with regular cameras. Because the images are taken of the same areas at nearly the same time, it becomes easier to train both people and machines how SAR images correspond to the real world.</p>
<p>A lot of how the company uses its technology to interpret SAR images is still in the R&amp;amp;D phase, but it claims that there's a lot of potential applications for the use of SAR images to complement the imaging work that it already does.</p>
<p>&quot;With SAR imagery, we’ll be able to count cars in parking lots at night, giving us a more complete picture of overall traffic,&quot; the company <a href=&quot;https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/its-always-sunny-at-orbital-insight-our-work-with-sar-imagery-9907c850fe45&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;>wrote in a blog post</a>. &quot;We’ll be able to monitor agriculture during monsoon season, a key part of the growing cycle. Disaster relief efforts will also benefit from SAR imagery, which will enable us to assess conditions on the ground more quickly, even if the storm clouds have not yet cleared.&quot;</p>
<div id=&quot;attachment_21260&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
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  <small class=&quot;article-photo-credit&quot;>Forbes</small> 
 </div> 
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    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>Next Billion-Dollar Startups</p> 
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  </div> 
 </div> 
</div>"><div id="attachment_21238" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FDuring-Harvey-SAR.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FDuring-Harvey-SAR.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">Orbital Insight</small> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=""> 
  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
   <fbs-accordion current="0"> 
    <p class="wp-caption-text">SAR image of Lake Houston during Tropical Storm Harvey</p> 
   </fbs-accordion> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
</div>
<p class="speakable-paragraph">A few weeks ago, Orbital Insight, one of the startups on the <em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/next-billion-dollar-startups/#40e1c6e24441" target="_self">Next Billion Dollar Startups</a> list, applied its know-how to determine how much flooding Houston endured during Hurricane Harvey.</p>
<p>The company, which was founded in 2013 by James Crawford, applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to satellite images. This enables it to track a number of different things its customers are interested in, from environmental changes to oil &amp; gas production. The company even employs some good old-fashioned&nbsp;car counting from orbit to predict quarterly revenues for retail chains.</p>
<p>When the company applied those methods to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey, it found an astonishing result - a total flood extent <a href="https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/understanding-the-extent-of-flooding-in-houston-from-hurricane-harvey-a1c84e37b66a" target="_blank">three times greater</a> than other estimates have shown. Insodoing, they helped refine a model for flood extent that they've been building for their customers, which includes insurance companies, government agencies, and NGOs.</p>
<p> 
 </p>
<p>Why are Orbital Insight's customers interested in flood data? Because flood insurance is big business - premiums come in at about $3 billion per year - but flood models are in dire need of improvement. FEMA's flood insurance program is about $25 billion in debt. One reason why that is is that floods are simply difficult to forecast. For example, FEMA flood mapping <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/09/18/fema-flood-maps-missed-claims-harvey-houston/#3cca88589938" target="_self">missed 75% of the actual floods</a> that occurred in Houston between 1999 and 2009. And one reason why floods are hard to forecast? Clouds.</p>
<p>"If there's a flood, chances are there were clouds," said Crawford. "If there are clouds, you can't get images."</p>
<p>That means that it's hard to tell from satellites how high flood waters during a storm. That's where Synthetic Aperture Radar (or SAR) data comes in. SAR images come from a satellite electronically simulating a large radar antenna using its own flight path. The resulting image is high-resolution and can peek right through clouds. At a cost, though - raw SAR images don't immediately look recognizable, and so it requires some training to understand what you're looking at.</p>
<div class="vestpocket" vest-pocket=""></div>
<div id="attachment_21245" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FHarvey-Flood-Extent.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Falexknapp%2Ffiles%2F2017%2F09%2FHarvey-Flood-Extent.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960"></progressive-image> 
  <small class="article-photo-credit">Orbital Insight</small> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=""> 
  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
   <fbs-accordion current="0"> 
    <p class="wp-caption-text">Flood extent in Houston, according to Orbital Insight's models.</p> 
   </fbs-accordion> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
</div>
<p>"The biggest challenge is that you have to have people who interpret SAR images to train the deep learning algorithm," said Crawford.</p>
<p>To that end, the company has partnered with its image providers to obtain images from coordinated SAR imaging and drone flights with regular cameras. Because the images are taken of the same areas at nearly the same time, it becomes easier to train both people and machines how SAR images correspond to the real world.</p>
<p>A lot of how the company uses its technology to interpret SAR images is still in the R&amp;D phase, but it claims that there's a lot of potential applications for the use of SAR images to complement the imaging work that it already does.</p>
<p>"With SAR imagery, we’ll be able to count cars in parking lots at night, giving us a more complete picture of overall traffic," the company <a href="https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/its-always-sunny-at-orbital-insight-our-work-with-sar-imagery-9907c850fe45" target="_blank">wrote in a blog post</a>. "We’ll be able to monitor agriculture during monsoon season, a key part of the growing cycle. Disaster relief efforts will also benefit from SAR imagery, which will enable us to assess conditions on the ground more quickly, even if the storm clouds have not yet cleared."</p>
<div id="attachment_21260" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
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  <small class="article-photo-credit">Forbes</small> 
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	</app-root><script id="ng-templates-state" type="application/json">{&q;environmentName&q;:&q;prod&q;,&q;is_mobile&q;:false,&q;/forbesapi/content/uri.json?shortcodes=true&a;slides=true&a;type=ng&a;tickers=true&a;bvallpages=true&a;autovpslider=true&a;stream=true&a;compressimages=true&a;mobile=false&a;prgsmobileads=false&a;relativeVideo=true&a;videoplayertype=brightcove_perform_with_keyvalues&a;swimlane=&a;uri=http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/09/26/how-orbital-insight-measured-hurricane-harveys-flooding-through-the-clouds/&q;:{&q;content&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;content_59c9b4e764aaf90dc3a69c74&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/1401-21235&q;,&q;source&q;:&q;blogs&q;,&q;author&q;:&q;Alex Knapp&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;How Orbital Insight Measured Hurricane Harvey&s;s Flooding Through The Clouds&q;,&q;date&q;:1506436980000,&q;body&q;:&q;&l;p&g;[caption id=\&q;attachment_21238\&q; photocredit=\&q;Orbital Insight\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-21238\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/During-Harvey-SAR.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;744\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; SAR image of Lake Houston during Tropical Storm Harvey[/caption]\r\n\r\nA few weeks ago, Orbital Insight, one of the startups on the &l;em&g;Forbes&l;/em&g;&a;nbsp;&l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/next-billion-dollar-startups/#40e1c6e24441\&q;&g;Next Billion Dollar Startups&l;/a&g; list, applied its know-how to determine how much flooding Houston endured during Hurricane Harvey.\r\n\r\nThe company, which was founded in 2013 by James Crawford, applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to satellite images. This enables it to track a number of different things its customers are interested in, from environmental changes to oil &a;amp; gas production. The company even employs some good old-fashioned&a;nbsp;car counting from orbit to predict quarterly revenues for retail chains.\r\n\r\nWhen the company applied those methods to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey, it found an astonishing result - a total flood extent &l;a href=\&q;https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/understanding-the-extent-of-flooding-in-houston-from-hurricane-harvey-a1c84e37b66a\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;three times greater&l;/a&g; than other estimates have shown. Insodoing, they helped refine a model for flood extent that they&s;ve been building for their customers, which includes insurance companies, government agencies, and NGOs.\r\n\r\nWhy are Orbital Insight&s;s customers interested in flood data? Because flood insurance is big business - premiums come in at about $3 billion per year - but flood models are in dire need of improvement. FEMA&s;s flood insurance program is about $25 billion in debt. One reason why that is is that floods are simply difficult to forecast. For example, FEMA flood mapping &l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/09/18/fema-flood-maps-missed-claims-harvey-houston/#3cca88589938\&q;&g;missed 75% of the actual floods&l;/a&g; that occurred in Houston between 1999 and 2009. And one reason why floods are hard to forecast? Clouds.\r\n\r\n\&q;If there&s;s a flood, chances are there were clouds,\&q; said Crawford. \&q;If there are clouds, you can&s;t get images.\&q;\r\n\r\nThat means that it&s;s hard to tell from satellites how high flood waters during a storm. That&s;s where Synthetic Aperture Radar (or SAR) data comes in. SAR images come from a satellite electronically simulating a large radar antenna using its own flight path. The resulting image is high-resolution and can peek right through clouds. At a cost, though - raw SAR images don&s;t immediately look recognizable, and so it requires some training to understand what you&s;re looking at.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_21245\&q; photocredit=\&q;Orbital Insight\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-21245\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/Harvey-Flood-Extent.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;951\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; Flood extent in Houston, according to Orbital Insight&s;s models.[/caption]\r\n\r\n&l;!--donotpaginate--&g;\r\n\&q;The biggest challenge is that you have to have people who interpret SAR images to train the deep learning algorithm,\&q; said Crawford.\r\n\r\nTo that end, the company has partnered with its image providers to obtain images from coordinated SAR imaging and drone flights with regular cameras. Because the images are taken of the same areas at nearly the same time, it becomes easier to train both people and machines how SAR images correspond to the real world.\r\n\r\nA lot of how the company uses its technology to interpret SAR images is still in the R&a;amp;D phase, but it claims that there&s;s a lot of potential applications for the use of SAR images to complement the imaging work that it already does.\r\n\r\n\&q;With SAR imagery, we&a;rsquo;ll be able to count cars in parking lots at night, giving us a more complete picture of overall traffic,\&q; the company &l;a href=\&q;https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/its-always-sunny-at-orbital-insight-our-work-with-sar-imagery-9907c850fe45\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;wrote in a blog post&l;/a&g;. \&q;We&a;rsquo;ll be able to monitor agriculture during monsoon season, a key part of the growing cycle. Disaster relief efforts will also benefit from SAR imagery, which will enable us to assess conditions on the ground more quickly, even if the storm clouds have not yet cleared.\&q;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_21260\&q; photocredit=\&q;Forbes\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;807\&q;]&l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/next-billion-dollar-startups/#62d1bbcc4441\&q;&g;&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-21260\&q; src=\&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/forbes-banner-image.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;450\&q; data-width=\&q;807\&q;&g;&l;/a&g; Next Billion-Dollar Startups[/caption]&l;/p&g;&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;By using machine learning coupled with short aperture radar images, Orbital Insight is able to use satellite images to create better flood models.&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/During-Harvey-SAR.jpg&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;storyType&q;:&q;post&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/09/26/how-orbital-insight-measured-hurricane-harveys-flooding-through-the-clouds/&q;,&q;comments&q;:[],&q;visible&q;:true,&q;authors&q;:[{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/22023&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Alex Knapp&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=400&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=136&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=62&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=40&a;d=mm&a;r=g&q;}],&q;url&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Forbes Staff&q;,&q;profileUrl&q;:&q;/sites/alexknapp/&q;,&q;twitterName&q;:&q;thealexknapp&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;facebookName&q;:&q;thealexknapp&q;,&q;linkedIn&q;:&q;http://www.linkedin.com/in/thealexknapp/en&q;,&q;email&q;:&q;aknapp@forbes.com&q;,&q;blog&q;:false,&q;timestamp&q;:1517854332873,&q;shortBio&q;:&q;I write about the future of science, technology, and culture.&q;,&q;webSite&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp&q;,&q;blogName&q;:&q;Robot Overlords&q;,&q;topics&q;:[&q;tech&q;,&q;intelligent-tech&q;,&q;lifestyle&q;,&q;business&q;,&q;innovation-and-science&q;,&q;social-media&q;,&q;careers&q;,&q;media--entertainment&q;,&q;data-driven&q;,&q;small-business-roundtable&q;,&q;entrepreneurs&q;,&q;arts--entertainment&q;,&q;games&q;,&q;green-tech&q;,&q;travel&q;,&q;financing&q;,&q;powering-productivity&q;,&q;science&q;,&q;logistics-transportation&q;,&q;forbeslife&q;,&q;gear&q;,&q;leadership&q;,&q;forbeslife-tech&q;,&q;under-30&q;],&q;recentFlag&q;:false,&q;description&q;:&q;I&s;m an Associate Editor covering science, cutting edge tech and the video game industry.&q;,&q;recentActivityCount&q;:0,&q;latestActivityDate&q;:1446477000000,&q;dailyActivityCount&q;:0,&q;primaryBlogNaturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-1401&q;,&q;shortUri&q;:&q;http://onforb.es/12liWcF&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;technology&q;,&q;displaySection&q;:&q;alexknappblog&q;,&q;contributorSince&q;:1300304314000,&q;slug&q;:&q;alexknapp&q;,&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;embargo&q;:false,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;googlePlus&q;:&q;alexknapp&q;,&q;enableContribContact&q;:true,&q;sigfile&q;:&q;&l;em&g;Follow me on &l;a href=\&q;https://twitter.com/#!/thealexknapp\&q;&g;Twitter&l;/a&g; or &l;a href=\&q;http://www.facebook.com/AlexKnappWriter\&q;&g;Facebook&l;/a&g;. Re&l;/em&g;&l;em&g;ad my Forbes blog &l;a href=\&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp\&q;&g;here&l;/a&g;.&l;/em&g;&q;,&q;enableTwitterFeed&q;:false,&q;disableCanonical&q;:false,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;forbesTwitterProfile&q;:{&q;screenName&q;:&q;TheAlexKnapp&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Alex Knapp&q;,&q;profileImageUrl&q;:&q;http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/785656835902611456/vVV1z2d-.jpg&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;I&s;ve got a job as Associate Editor at Forbes for science and games. My tweets represent my own opinions. \&q;Eppur si muove.\&q;\n\nEmail me: aknapp at forbes dot com&q;,&q;createdDate&q;:1305208589000,&q;location&q;:&q;Earth&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;https://t.co/ZobVwuMRpA&q;,&q;expandedUrl&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp&q;,&q;displayUrl&q;:&q;forbes.com/sites/alexknapp&q;,&q;verified&q;:true},&q;inactive&q;:false,&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/technology/&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Tech&q;},&q;allowEmail&q;:false,&q;avatar_map&q;:{}},{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-1401&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Robot Overlords&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;},{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;},{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;},{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;}],&q;url&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/&q;,&q;profileUrl&q;:&q;http://blogs.forbes.com/alexknapp/profile/&q;,&q;twitterName&q;:&q;thealexknapp&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;blog&q;:true,&q;timestamp&q;:1487966282586,&q;topics&q;:[&q;tech&q;,&q;innovation-and-science&q;,&q;intelligent-tech&q;,&q;lifestyle&q;,&q;social-media&q;,&q;business&q;,&q;games&q;,&q;careers&q;,&q;media--entertainment&q;,&q;data-driven&q;,&q;small-business-roundtable&q;,&q;entrepreneurs&q;,&q;arts--entertainment&q;,&q;autos&q;,&q;green-tech&q;,&q;travel&q;,&q;sportsmoney&q;,&q;financing&q;,&q;powering-productivity&q;,&q;science&q;,&q;logistics-transportation&q;,&q;forbeslife&q;,&q;gear&q;,&q;leadership&q;,&q;forbeslife-tech&q;,&q;under-30&q;],&q;recentFlag&q;:false,&q;recentActivityCount&q;:0,&q;latestActivityDate&q;:1446477000000,&q;dailyActivityCount&q;:0,&q;primaryBlogNaturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-1401&q;,&q;primaryContributor&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/22023&q;,&q;primaryContributorData&q;:{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/22023&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Alex Knapp&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=136&a;#038;d=mm&a;#038;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=40&a;#038;d=mm&a;#038;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=400&a;#038;d=mm&a;#038;r=g&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbd82c22b6527a00838abe8402056b60?s=62&a;#038;d=mm&a;#038;r=g&q;}],&q;blog&q;:false,&q;shortBio&q;:&q;I write about the future of science, technology, and culture.&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;I&s;ve been working as the Social Media Editor and a staff writer at Forbes since October 2011. Prior to that, I worked as a freelance writer and contributor here. On this blog, I focus on futurism, cutting edge technology, and breaking research. Follow me on Twitter - @thealexknapp. You can email me at aknapp@forbes.com&q;,&q;allowEmail&q;:false},&q;shortUri&q;:&q;http://onforb.es/12liWcF&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;technology&q;,&q;displaySection&q;:&q;alexknappblog&q;,&q;contributorSince&q;:1300289915000,&q;slug&q;:&q;alexknapp&q;,&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;embargo&q;:false,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;googlePlus&q;:&q;http://plus.google.com/alexknapp&q;,&q;facebookPage&q;:&q;http://www.facebook.com/alexknappwriter&q;,&q;enableContribContact&q;:false,&q;enableTwitterFeed&q;:true,&q;disableCanonical&q;:false,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;forbesTwitterProfile&q;:{&q;screenName&q;:&q;TheAlexKnapp&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Alex Knapp&q;,&q;profileImageUrl&q;:&q;http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/785656835902611456/vVV1z2d-.jpg&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;I&s;ve got a job as Associate Editor at Forbes for science and games. My tweets represent my own opinions. \&q;Eppur si muove.\&q;\n\nEmail me: aknapp at forbes dot com&q;,&q;createdDate&q;:1305208589000,&q;location&q;:&q;Earth&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;https://t.co/ZobVwuMRpA&q;,&q;expandedUrl&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp&q;,&q;displayUrl&q;:&q;forbes.com/sites/alexknapp&q;,&q;verified&q;:true},&q;inactive&q;:false,&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Tech&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/technology/&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Tech&q;},&q;allowEmail&q;:false,&q;avatar_map&q;:{}}],&q;channelSection&q;:[{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;},{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_104&q;},{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_149&q;},{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_16&q;},{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_4&q;}],&q;slug&q;:&q;Robot Overlords&q;,&q;blogType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;specialSlot&q;:&q;billion-startups&q;,&q;sitePage&q;:&q;forbes.com/technology/blogs/alexknapp/index.html&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;technology&q;,&q;vestPocketList&q;:[{&q;type&q;:&q;slide&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jggj/1-detroit/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/026M72T8ElbzS/&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;The 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndSlideId/blog/slide/986-6336&q;,&q;count&q;:32856,&q;reason&q;:&q;MP-G&q;},{&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/02/17/box-office-black-panther-superhero-fatigues-to-record-crushing-76m-friday/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/scottmendelson/files/2018/02/MV5BNDg3MTY3ODMzMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODgwMDk1NDM@._V1_SX1777_CR001777937_AL_-1-1200x633.jpg&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Box Office: &s;Black Panther&s; Superhero Fatigues To Record $76M Friday&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/2595-47832&q;,&q;count&q;:466095,&q;reason&q;:&q;PV-D&q;}],&q;generatedId&q;:&q;ehde45fefgi&q;,&q;manualDescription&q;:&q;By using machine learning coupled with short aperture radar images, Orbital Insight is able to use satellite images to create better flood models.&q;,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_3&q;,&q;vestPocketPosition&q;:6,&q;siteSlug&q;:&q;alexknapp&q;,&q;preview&q;:false,&q;showComments&q;:true,&q;timestamp&q;:1506627684631,&q;statsEntities&q;:[{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Disaster_Accident&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Weather&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Environment&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Meteorology&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Physical geography&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Geography&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Synthetic-aperture radar&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Flood&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Hurricane Harvey&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Tropical cyclone&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Satellite imagery&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;HTML element&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;IT Services &a; 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class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-21238\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/During-Harvey-SAR.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;744\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;Orbital Insight&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;SAR image of Lake Houston during Tropical Storm Harvey&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g;\n&l;p&g;A few weeks ago, Orbital Insight, one of the startups on the &l;em&g;Forbes&l;/em&g;&a;nbsp;&l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/next-billion-dollar-startups/#40e1c6e24441\&q; target=\&q;_self\&q;&g;Next Billion Dollar Startups&l;/a&g; list, applied its know-how to determine how much flooding Houston endured during Hurricane Harvey.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;The company, which was founded in 2013 by James Crawford, applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to satellite images. This enables it to track a number of different things its customers are interested in, from environmental changes to oil &a;amp; gas production. The company even employs some good old-fashioned&a;nbsp;car counting from orbit to predict quarterly revenues for retail chains.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;When the company applied those methods to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey, it found an astonishing result - a total flood extent &l;a href=\&q;https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/understanding-the-extent-of-flooding-in-houston-from-hurricane-harvey-a1c84e37b66a\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;three times greater&l;/a&g; than other estimates have shown. Insodoing, they helped refine a model for flood extent that they&s;ve been building for their customers, which includes insurance companies, government agencies, and NGOs.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g; \n &l;fbs-ad position=\&q;inread\&q; progressive=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/fbs-ad&g;&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;Why are Orbital Insight&s;s customers interested in flood data? Because flood insurance is big business - premiums come in at about $3 billion per year - but flood models are in dire need of improvement. FEMA&s;s flood insurance program is about $25 billion in debt. One reason why that is is that floods are simply difficult to forecast. For example, FEMA flood mapping &l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/09/18/fema-flood-maps-missed-claims-harvey-houston/#3cca88589938\&q; target=\&q;_self\&q;&g;missed 75% of the actual floods&l;/a&g; that occurred in Houston between 1999 and 2009. And one reason why floods are hard to forecast? Clouds.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;&a;quot;If there&s;s a flood, chances are there were clouds,&a;quot; said Crawford. &a;quot;If there are clouds, you can&s;t get images.&a;quot;&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;That means that it&s;s hard to tell from satellites how high flood waters during a storm. That&s;s where Synthetic Aperture Radar (or SAR) data comes in. SAR images come from a satellite electronically simulating a large radar antenna using its own flight path. The resulting image is high-resolution and can peek right through clouds. At a cost, though - raw SAR images don&s;t immediately look recognizable, and so it requires some training to understand what you&s;re looking at.&l;/p&g;\n&l;div class=\&q;vestpocket\&q; vest-pocket=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/div&g;\n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_21245\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-21245\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/Harvey-Flood-Extent.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;951\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;Orbital Insight&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;Flood extent in Houston, according to Orbital Insight&s;s models.&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g;\n&l;p&g;&a;quot;The biggest challenge is that you have to have people who interpret SAR images to train the deep learning algorithm,&a;quot; said Crawford.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;To that end, the company has partnered with its image providers to obtain images from coordinated SAR imaging and drone flights with regular cameras. Because the images are taken of the same areas at nearly the same time, it becomes easier to train both people and machines how SAR images correspond to the real world.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;A lot of how the company uses its technology to interpret SAR images is still in the R&a;amp;D phase, but it claims that there&s;s a lot of potential applications for the use of SAR images to complement the imaging work that it already does.&l;/p&g;\n&l;p&g;&a;quot;With SAR imagery, we’ll be able to count cars in parking lots at night, giving us a more complete picture of overall traffic,&a;quot; the company &l;a href=\&q;https://medium.com/from-the-macroscope/its-always-sunny-at-orbital-insight-our-work-with-sar-imagery-9907c850fe45\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;wrote in a blog post&l;/a&g;. &a;quot;We’ll be able to monitor agriculture during monsoon season, a key part of the growing cycle. Disaster relief efforts will also benefit from SAR imagery, which will enable us to assess conditions on the ground more quickly, even if the storm clouds have not yet cleared.&a;quot;&l;/p&g;\n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_21260\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;a href=\&q;https://www.forbes.com/next-billion-dollar-startups/#62d1bbcc4441\&q; target=\&q;_self\&q;&g;&l;img class=\&q;size-full wp-image-21260\&q; src=\&q;//blogs-images.forbes.com/alexknapp/files/2017/09/forbes-banner-image.jpg?width=960\&q; alt=\&q;\&q; data-height=\&q;450\&q; data-width=\&q;807\&q; /&g;&l;/a&g; \n  &l;small class=\&q;article-photo-credit\&q;&g;Forbes&l;/small&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;Next Billion-Dollar Startups&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; 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