Satellites, big data and the reef: Space Boot Camp 2017

At the Mexican Space Agency's Space Boot Camp, Restore Coral shows how satellite observation and big data are used to watch what threatens coral.

Between the fifth and eighth of September, the 2017 edition of Space Boot Camp Zona Sur took place in Mérida, Yucatán. The theme of this edition was i-tourism: Earth observation for sustainable tourism. The event was organised by the Mexican Space Agency.

The Agency is a decentralised public body of the federal government. Its mission is to use space technology to meet the country's needs, generating high-value work.

On 5 September, Marcel Julien Medina-Mora, founding partner of Restore Coral, gave the talk Social Innovation and Emerging Technologies for Climate Change. He explained the use our organisation has made of technologies such as big data and virtual reality for the protection of the reef.

He spoke about virtual reality as a tool for social change. Through it we have tried to give people the chance to experience a dive when, whether for reasons of cost or time, they have never had the opportunity.

Marcel also explained the use of big data to map relevant actors. That has strengthened the organisation's ability to connect with key stakeholders, which in turn made it possible to take part in UN forums such as the Ocean Conference.

Since this edition focused on using Earth observation to support tourism, Marcel described the use of satellite monitoring tools to watch the threats facing coral — including observation in close to real time.