Insights: How SAR satellite data is empowering the rise of smart cities

Smart cities are on the rise throughout the Middle East. A smart city is one that uses digital technology and data to enhance performance, wellbeing and sustainability across urban services and infrastructure. According to the latest rankings from IMD, an independent academic institution, both Abu Dhabi and Dubai are now in the top 20 smart cities globally.

The rise of smart cities in the Middle East brings with it a wealth of benefits to citizens, including smoother traffic flow, cleaner air, smart waste management, and enhanced public safety. These benefits are unlocked through the use of intelligent technologies including internet of things devices, AI-driven analytics, 5G, and cloud computing.

Smart cities are also increasingly being enabled through advanced satellite technology.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites use a form of radar technology to create detailed images of the Earth’s surface. Unlike optical imaging satellites that rely on visible light, SAR can penetrate clouds and operate effectively regardless of conditions, making it suitable for earth observation in all weather, day and night.

By bouncing signals off the Earth’s surface and analysing returning signals, SAR satellites detect changes in surface textures, movements, and altitudes.

This capability makes them particularly useful for applications such as monitoring environmental changes and assisting in disaster management. It also makes them a powerful tool for cities looking to operate smarter by contributing to efforts to improve the quality of urban life and improving the efficiency of delivering public services. Here are a few examples of how:

1. Smart utilities

Reliable power is essential to the daily lives of citizens and is also integral to operating smart city infrastructure. In smart cities, this power is increasingly based on renewable sources, as countries attempt to meet their net-zero targets. SAR imaging can support the deployment of renewable infrastructure by helping planners select sites for installations.

When it comes to solar projects, for example, SAR satellites can provide detailed land use maps, including measuring ground altitude to predict areas of minimal shading that are ideal for solar panel installations, or keeping sufficient distance from sand dunes. The satellites can also be used to ensure that panels remain correctly installed and unobstructed by new developments or vegetation growth.

2. Waste management

Approximately two-thirds of the population of the Middle East live in cities, and this is expected to increase, making the region among the most urbanised in the world. As this urbanisation unfolds, finding more effective ways to manage waste will be a key priority. Here, the use of interferometric SAR (InSAR) could prove a game-changer.

The main output from InSAR is digital elevation models (DEMs), which are height maps that show the three-dimensional layout of an area. This is another way to get the same kind of height information that ground-level height measurements provide. In terms of waste management, InSAR has been used to check how effectively satellite observations can track the amount of waste accumulated over a certain period.

The early detection of irregularities such as landfill expansion or contamination can support more efficient waste disposal systems. SAR imaging can also help enable the planning of waste collection routes and the management of waste disposal systems.

3. Water management

Given that the Middle East is characterised by arid and semi-arid climates and scarce water resources, the water management capabilities promised by smart cities are also welcome.

SAR satellites can track changes in surface water bodies, reservoirs, and even underground water levels by detecting subtle changes in land subsidence due to groundwater extraction. This helps in planning and optimising water distribution in smart cities, preventing over-extraction, and managing water resources more efficiently.

4. Public safety

SAR imaging is highly effective for monitoring areas affected by disasters. For example, as Dubai citizens experienced earlier this year, the Middle East is increasingly prone to large-scale flooding. SAR imaging helps emergency responders and governments assess the true impact of flooding within a matter of hours and make better-informed decisions.

The data provided by SAR satellites includes information on the depth and extent of flooding that can be compared with maps detailing where buildings are situated. This helps response teams understand the impact of a flood on local areas and be sure of sending help to where it is needed most.

SAR satellite data can be used after a flood to help authorities improve their disaster response and prevention efforts, particularly when it comes to protecting the areas, infrastructure, and buildings most at risk. Subsidence and landslides are another key risk for the Middle East, given the large-scale groundwater and oil extraction that takes place in the region.

SAR technology can detect structural changes in buildings, roads, and bridges, identifying potential safety risks.

5. Innovation ecosystems

Finally, as the Middle East pivots its economy away from fossil fuels, SAR satellites can help turn smart cities into innovation hubs for startups, researchers and tech companies. For example, SAR imagery provides a valuable resource for developing applications in urban planning, infrastructure monitoring, and environmental management. SAR data can also be used to build and test solutions in various domains such as smart infrastructure, climate resilience, or environmental monitoring.

SAR satellites offer a diverse array of capabilities that significantly contribute to the development of smart cities in the Middle East and beyond.

By providing real-time, high-resolution data on urban infrastructure, environmental changes, and emergency scenarios, SAR imaging enhances city management in areas ranging from utilities and energy to safety and innovation. This ability to monitor cities continuously, in all weather conditions, ensures that smart cities can function more efficiently, sustainably, and safely.

The writer is the VP for Missions in the Middle East and North Africa for ICEYE.