Minds Behind Maps

Andrew Peterson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Array Labs, with a simple mission: Mapping the whole world in 3D, at 20cm in near real time.We peel the layers as to what it takes to get there: the engineering that’s required, how to build a constellation to do that, how you fund such a project.Sponsor: OpenCageUse OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their APIGeomobAbout AndrewLinkedInArray LabsShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.My 20min video explaining radar satellite imagesFind USGS 1m LiDAR data across the USY CombinatorMy episode with Ashlee VanceMy episode with Brian McClendonAlbedoBook & Podcast recommendationSpin Selling by Neil Rackham (Affiliate Link)AcquiredTimestamps(00:00) - Intro(01:08) - Sponsor: OpenCage(02:34) - "Being a Recovering Engineer"(03:15) - Mapping the world in 3D(09:59) - "Near Real Time"(15:46) - Applications will only use what's available, by definition(18:15) - Why use radar for 3D images?(22:23) - The coolest Space Shuttle mission, period(27:19) - Tradeoff between resolution & coverage(36:26) - Building cheap radar satellites(39:46) - Array Labs's image resolution(45:10) - A GPU Analogy(50:34) - A story of image processing & computers(56:07) - Array Labs today(57:57) - Let's talk $$$(01:06:38) - Low barrier to entry: Comparing XRay & MRI(01:12:09) - Why stop at 10 satellites?(01:15:50) - Focus(01:19:53) - Max & Andrew's 1st chat during covid(01:23:22) - Subscription model for satellite images?(01:32:50) - Convincing the rest of the world your idea is worth something(01:43:58) - Engineer to Founder(01:47:30) - Book & Podcast recommendation(01:51:06) - Array Labs's next 4 years?(01:53:45) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Jamie McMichael-Phillips is the Director of the Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to map all of the world's oceans, by 2030. For context, in 2024, we’re at 26.1%. This is conversation is about why, how we get to 100% and why it’s important in the first place.Sponsor: SatCampSatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder ColoradoAboutBio on Seabed 2030 websiteLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.Seabed 2030 Project (You can check out their interactive map here)GEBCO Grid2024 Seabed 2030 ProgressPoint NemoBook & Podcast Recommendations:The Deepest Map by Laura Trethewey (Amazon Affiliate)Seabed 2030 PodcastTimestamps(00:00) - Intro(01:04) - Sponsor: SatCamp(02:55) - Jamie Describes Himself(03:53) - State of Ocean mapping in 2024(06:19) - Difficulties with mapping the ocean(08:22) - Why map the seabed?(10:24) - What does mapping the seabed actually mean?(15:01) - Comparing Land & Sea mapping(18:55) - Seabed 2030 is a policy project(20:42) - Incentives to map the oceans(24:05) - If we've only mapped ~25%, what does the 75% other look like?(27:49) - What are the coarse measurements for the ocean right now?(29:31) - How we actually map the seabed(33:14) - Patches of unmapped areas of the ocean(35:38) - Getting there by 2030(38:21) - How much has already been mapped?(43:00) - Maps as Human Knowledge(45:27) - Jamie's most anticipated, yet unmapped, area(48:03) - Public Engagement(53:01) - Book/podcast Recommendations(55:04) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Check out Jed’s Techs on Text podcastJed has also been on Minds Behind Maps before. We talked open data, AI, and the role of books for people building things

Jean-Martin Bauer has been working at the World Food Program for over 20years, and the author of the “The New Breadline”. Most recently he was the Country Director for Haiti, in charge of helping make sure the country doesn’t run out of food.Sponsor: SatCampSatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder ColoradoAbout Jean-MartinLinkedInJean-Martin’s book: The New Breadline (Affiliate Link)ShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.WFP working with Mbala Pinda producersMasters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain (Affiliate Link)Jordan Habinger episode about Haiti’s ongoing situationBook & Podcast recommendationThe one-straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka (Affiliate Link)Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Affiliate Link)FiveThirtyEight podcastsTimestamps(00:00) - Intro(01:15) - Sponsor: SatCamp(03:42) - Haiti's past 2 years(05:57) - Day to day in a humanitarian crisis(08:17) - Jean-Martin's ties to Haiti(18:27) - Stats versus Stories: The picture of a starving girl sparking uprise(21:30) - The Origins of Hunger(27:31) - Impact of Covid on Food Security in the US(35:05) - Europe's current food supplies after WWII(40:11) - Why write a book?(42:56) - Who is your book for?(45:22) - Finding local Solutions(53:39) - Creating a resilient food supply(55:33) - Technology is not the silver bullet(01:01:23) - Advice for Young Engineers & Data Scientists(01:05:28) - What's next for Jean-Martin(01:12:04) - Social Media Outreach(01:19:08) - Optimism(01:23:49) - Defining Acute Hunger(01:25:37) - Book & podcast Recommendation(01:31:07) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ashlee Vance is a Tech Journalist, the author of Elon Musk's 1st biography in 2015, the host of "Hello World" on Youtube and the author of "When the Heavens Went on Sale" as well as the accompanying documentary "Wild Wild Space" following 4 New Space companies. We nerd out on rocket companies, 1 rogue NASA administrator, and the time I got to meet Vladimir Putin years ago.Sponsor: OpenCageUse OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their APIGeomobAbout Ashlee:TwitterBloomberg ProfileShownotes(Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.)Ashlee's books:When the Heavens Went on Sale (Affiliate Link)Elon Musk biography (Affiliate Link)Wild Wild Space documentaryHello World with Ashlee Vance on YoutubeNPIC book by Jack O'ConorBook & Podcast Recommendation:Sonic Wind (Affiliate Link)Cocaine & RhinestonesTimestamps(00:00) - Intro(01:33) - Sponsor: OpenCage(02:59) - Ashlee Describes Himself(06:12) - Chasing weirdos around the world for a living(11:22) - The man shaking NASA in the 90s(16:18) - Following Chris Kemp & the beginnings of Astra(24:30) - Planet co-founders: Will & Robbie(28:58) - Needing to convince investors(31:34) - Will satellite imagery ever get mainstream?(34:50) - A tangent on the US Spy satellite program(36:47) - Starlink(38:28) - Privatization(48:43) - Space Industry outside of the US(55:23) - Russia's aerospace pride: The time I met Putin(59:18) - What's on Ashlee's radar(01:01:42) - People or Companies?(01:04:01) - Documentary Reception(01:05:08) - The business of documentaries(01:08:27) - YouTube(01:12:45) - Book/podcast recommendation(01:16:08) - No iPhone?(01:19:38) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Luke Fischer is the Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi, a company that we'll describe in a few ways in this episode, but boils down to an Earth Observation marketplace. We talk about Luke's 20 year time in the military before getting into startups, why Luke is bullish on their approach and many moreSponsor: SatCampSatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder ColoradoAboutTwitterLinkedInSkyFiShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy Gabe -unit economics- DominocieloBill PerkinsDie with ZeroSilicon Valley No RevenueBook & Podcast recommendationsFreedom’s Forge (Affiliate Link)BigDeal by Codie SanchezTimestamps(00:00) - Intro(00:50) - Sponsor: SatCamp(02:41) - Luke describes himself(04:21) - Getting into the satellite image industry(07:13) - Risks starting a company(10:16) - Don't start a marketplace(18:22) - Racing to get customers(23:08) - What is the Product in all of this?(25:00) - What is the product that SkyFi needs to build today?(28:17) - Who is this for?(33:08) - Biggest pain points(37:44) - The market's view of Earth Observation businesses(45:00) - Pivoting from the military(51:28) - Hiring(59:12) - Raising big, early(01:02:08) - Predicting the industry in 2.5 years(01:09:05) - Consumer market?(01:14:24) - Health & family(01:26:05) - Community while all Remote(01:30:25) - Book & Podcast Recommendation(01:33:09) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ben Strong is the Science & Machine Learning Lead at Earth Genome, an NGO working on the intersection of data, science & digital design. Most recently they've been working on Earth Index, an application built on top of Earth embeddings from foundation models. This conversation is the "so what" of Earth foundational modelSponsor: OpenCageUse OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their APIGeomobAboutLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.Ben’s blogpost on NDA sequencing for the EarthEarth GenomeEarth IndexBook & Podcast recommendationDemo Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Affiliate Link)Risky BusinessTimestamps(00:00) - Intro(00:46) - Sponsor: OpenCage(02:12) - Ben introduces himself(03:28) - "DNA sequencing" for Earth(13:37) - Not building another Foundation Model(18:06) - Earth embeddings: So what?(21:49) - What does locally finetuned mean?(25:48) - Invite only for now: Why?(29:31) - Journalistic applications(31:59) - Yet another tool for finding images?(35:09) - Deciding what to work on(38:35) - Designing for simplicity(44:14) - So, why hasn't Google made this?(51:18) - Funding(59:54) - Book & podcast RecommendationsSupport the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Ib Green led the development of 3D visualisation tools like for example Uber’s deck.gl and is now working at Foursquare, after having started Unfolded, which Foursquare acquired. During this conversation we touch on how browser based visualisations are changingThis episode is supported by all the people on PatreonAccess Behind the Scenes and support the podcast by joining too!AboutLinkedInShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.Kepler.glDeck.glFoursquareKyle BarronPeak MathTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (00:41) - Support the podcast on Patreon (01:43) - Ib describes himself (02:33) - How lb got to where he is today (07:47) - Uber's need for visualization tools (15:11) - Why do companies build open source tools? (17:46) - Open source to open governance (23:41) - Starting a company (26:31) - How Unfolded generates revenue (28:28) - Nerding out on browser based visualization tech (35:11) - Client side rendering challenges (39:27) - Competing against the smartphone (41:38) - Looking ahead (47:43) - Book & Podcast recommendations (50:24) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy video on an introduction to satellite imagesWebsiteMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Bruno Sanchez is the Executive Director of the Clay Foundation, which just released their v1 of a “Foundational Model of Earth”. We talk about what that means, building open source & non profits and can’t help but draw parallels to the not-so-open anymore OpenAI. Previously Bruno was the Program Director of the Microsoft Planetary ComputerSponsor: OpenCageUse OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their APIGeomobShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.ClayGithub repoWebsiteMy previous interview with BrunoBook & Podcast recommendationA Thousand Brains by Jeff Hawkins (Affiliate Link)Bad Therapy by Abigael Shrier (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Intro(01:59) - Sponsor: OpenCage(03:39) - What is a Foundational Model?(08:45) - Foundational Task(11:00) - Embeddings, and why they matter(13:49) - Comparing to compression algorithms(16:57) - What do embeddings enable?(19:50) - Finding the Relationship between data(24:16) - Implementation of monitoring all the data - I believe this is where you're going with the question(25:44) - Implementation details(27:52) - Validating a foundational model(33:49) - Earth is a "limited problem"(42:47) - Funding as a non-profit(47:53) - Raising enough philanthropic funding(53:02) - A Litmus test for open projects(56:26) - Future predictions(58:01) - Transparency/privacy(01:00:53) - Commercial data(01:03:36) - Openstreetmap(01:05:49) - Updating foundational models(01:12:17) - Clay model v2?(01:13:43) - Dataset to embedding size comparison(01:14:41) - Model v2 - continued(01:16:45) - Difference working at a non-profit vs a corp(01:20:27) - Book & Podcast recommendation(01:24:01) - Support the podcast on Patreon!Support the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work

Dr Fred Calef III has the unofficial title of "Keeper of Maps" at NASA JPL, he's the Lead Mapping Specialist for most of JPL's Mars Rover missions, most recently that being Perseverance & Curiosity. But to land -and navigate- a rover, one needs maps, and Fred makes them.Sponsor: Nimbo by KermapTry out Kermap's monthly mosaic viewer Nimbo for yourselfSupport the podcast on PatreonAbout FredTwitterMastodonShownotesNote: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.VICAR Github repo (Video Image Communication & Retrieval)Mars 2020 Rover: Terrain Relative NavigationAiry-o crater7 Minutes to MarsMMGIS (Multi Planet Geospatial Information System)Github RepoMars Rover Location MapBook recommendationsThree Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Affiliate Link)The Martian by Andy Weird (Affiliate Link)Timestamps(00:00) - Introduction(00:48) - Sponsor: Nimbo by Kermap(02:23) - How would you describe yourself?(03:18) - Keeper of the Maps(05:04) - What it takes to map Mars(10:21) - Deciding where to put (0,0)(12:33) - Current accuracy of Mars mapping(14:01) - 150m / pixel: How do you find anything?(18:14) - Rover cameras on the ground(22:39) - Creating detailed maps for the Rover's automation(26:07) - How would we be navigating on Mars if we send people there?(31:20) - Comparing to the early days of car navigation(34:15) - Using a compass on Mars(36:13) - Mapping tools(48:54) - Has every image of Mars been seen by at least 1 person?(53:37) - Mars doesn't change that much(56:45) - More strange difference between Mars & Earth(01:00:53) - Mapping other celestial bodies(01:05:04) - Missions or mapping projects that Fred is looking forward to(01:06:10) - Book/podcast recommendation(01:10:06) - One last question: Mars time(01:13:19) - Support the podcast on PatreonSupport the podcast on PatreonMy TwitterPodcast TwitterRead Previous Issues of the NewsletterEdited by Peter XiongFind more of his work