Dave Marvin

Bringing you a whole new perspective of our Earth on September 14th 2020 High resolution views of forest structure and #wildfire hazard via the @forestobs @SaloSciences and @planetlabs built this platform to provide free data to scientists and the public

@hthieblot @clairevo It’s one of the best SF playgrounds —up there with Koret’s— especially if you live in adjacent neighborhoods, and hard to find a better view

@clairevo That playground is actually pretty good. But I wouldn’t take the kids in that area most times

yeah, except

@mouthofmorrison 20 mins in and mind already being bent in multiple directions. Quantum mechanical fluctuations stretching beyond the horizon of the exponentially expanding universe???

@dmarvs There are so many new instruments that are revealing the standard model of cosmology might be wrong, really cool era to live through in that field

I can’t stand to listen to any more interviews with founders of Earth observation companies, so I’ve turned to the far more personally relevant podcast category of physicists discussing cosmology

@mouthofmorrison Saw a talk on little red dots the other week and it made me want to entirely change careers

@dmarvs Cool Worlds is the best combination of conversational style with genuine depth. This is my favorite episode: youtu.be/FkC-kVC2IRA?si…

@aravindEO Would be a great deep dive

Planet announced a big contract with the German government this week - unlike most sovereign EO deals, they are not going to sell any satellites, rather just exclusive capacity from existing ones. some thoughts: 1. Solidifying European presence: Winning possibly the largest commercial EO contract from a European government, Planet has solidified its market in Europe. Despite concerns about being a US company, the firm has a large team in Berlin (and past government contracts), which likely played a major role. The deal also underscores Planet’s pivot toward government markets - a segment that already represents nearly 3/4th of its revenues. 2. Lack of very high-resolution imagery capacity in Europe: Despite an expanding pool of EO companies (and EO instrument suppliers), Airbus remains the only company capable of providing VHR 30 cm imagery - required for strategic use - albeit with only 2 satellites in the constellation. There might be alternatives such as EUSI (Maxar's reseller in Europe), but Planet's growing very high-res Pelican fleet - planned to reach 32 birds - means they provide scalability and reliability for Germany that none can match. 3. Potential impacts on the new ERS programme: Europe’s upcoming major EO initiative (ERS) aims to develop high-resolution, high-revisit satellites for intelligence purposes. While nothing is final before the ESA Ministerial in November, this contract allows Germany to demonstrate that commercial capacity can be a viable alternative potentially shaping how ERS balances publicly owned infrastructure with private-sector partnerships, and how member states align on capability contributions. TL;DR: Big win for Planet in Europe with a unique capability that could that could shape how Europe thinks about its future EO architecture. PS. I’ve been wanting to write a deep-dive on the rise of national EO constellations — and how they’re reshaping the EO ecosystem in Europe and beyond. Sound interesting? businesswire.com/news/home/2025…

You can now access precise forest carbon data in just a few clicks on SkyFi – with clear, transparent pricing. @Planet's Forest Carbon Measurements provide reliable global data on how much carbon trees store. It uses satellite imagery, radar, and LiDAR sensors, which measure tree height and forest thickness around the world. Advanced computer models trained on real forest measurements accurately estimate carbon storage without needing ground visits. Planet verified these results against respected datasets from NASA, ESA, and the United Nations. This validation shows clearly where the data performs best, highlighting accuracy and areas needing caution. Businesses, researchers, and governments can use this data to monitor forest health, meet environmental rules, manage land sustainably, or track forest changes anywhere globally. Start analyzing forest carbon today – order your data easily through SkyFi’s user-friendly platform app.skyfi.com/analytics/fore…

🌲 New: Planet’s Forest Carbon Analytics are now on SkyFi.🚀 Link in 🧵 and this is another step increasing our relationship with @planet 🌎 This tool measures forest health and carbon storage worldwide. It’s precise, simple, and efficient. Planet’s expertise in satellite imagery makes this a powerful addition to our @SkyfiApp toolkit. Users can now track forest changes and carbon levels with greater accuracy, supporting conservation and climate efforts.

@mouthofmorrison Its gonna take AGI to even figure out how to get access to the archives

“soon enough” lol who am I kidding this is gonna take forever for the dumbest possible reasons

this is the most insane arc. SF parks and rec is doing the opposite of their logo

The Hughes Fire rapidly surpassed 10,000 acres north of Santa Clarita in LA County this week. It is currently 56% contained, according to Cal Fire, and the Santa Ana winds are expected to ease today. Tanager-1 captured the extent of its burn scar in infrared data, with SkySat and PlanetScope supplying additional details.

There are now an *extraordinary* number of firefighting resources pre-positioned across SoCal in advance of this extreme fire weather event, including a veritable army of personnel, vehicles, and aircraft. But this will still be a very dangerous period, once again. #CAwx #CAfire

Here we go again. Another round of very strong & locally damaging offshore winds is imminent across SoCal. Due to now record-dry vegetation, this will result in another "extremely critical" wildfire risk period, esp. across parts of LA & Ventura counties Mon-Tue. #CAwx #CAfire

This remarkable remote camera footage from the peak of the #EatonFire as it roared through Altadena amid winds gusting 70-90 mph illustrates just what this was: a true firestorm, a literal blizzard of embers. The reality on the ground really *was* that extreme. #CAfire #CAwx

Another tough reality: in urban firestorm of this magnitude, municipal water systems simply aren't designed to keep up. It *is* possible to build redundant emergency firefighting water system (SF has one, a legacy of 1906 quake & fire), but few places do. sfpuc.gov/about-us/our-s…

Regarding not having enough water to fight the SoCal fires; here is some water usage numbers from someone who knows a lot more about urban firefighting than I do.

@mouthofmorrison Bob Loblaw Space Law

This is my favorite take from yesterday’s viral tweet

@KumarAGarg Yes FireSat will absolutely fill critical need for early detection—particularly in remote areas beyond CA. Next we need ways to rapidly arrive at and extinguish/contain ignitions within minutes, otherwise catastrophic wind-driven wildfires and urban conflagrations will continue

On wildfire, one still-early project I am excited about is FireSat. Given the potential of Starship to bring down launch costs, and continued advancements in AI, if successful, we would be able to detect wildfire start globally within minutes.

I spent two hours yesterday in conversation with Anderson Cooper's team; portions of this conversation will appear in this hour-long CNN special on the Los Angeles wildfire disasters running on Sunday evening. #PalisadesFire #EatonFire #LAfires #CAfire cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/01/10/and…

@calebrob6 @mouthofmorrison @earth_chris Not even stretched !? The hell

@calebrob6 @mouthofmorrison @earth_chris That’s an automatic follow 🙇

Pro tip: never share satellite imagery without attribution in general but REALLY try to avoid sharing Maxar money shot SWIR data without attribution