Google has developed a way to better map disasters on Earth, predict them and be able to track the communities and ecosystems that will be affected. If you want to know what’s straining the environment in your neck of the woods, just ask.
Google Earth AI, a merger of the Google Earth and Gemini AI systems, was introduced in July. Part of that effort is an AI model called AlphaEarth Foundations, which turns terabytes of satellite data into useful data layers tracing the history of what’s happening on the planet’s surface.
The combined system allows users to analyze historical landscape data that can reveal large climate changes over the years. For example, users can observe rising water levels in flood-prone areas, track changes in surface temperatures across regions of the planet, or observe the effects of clean air policies by studying changes in air pollution.
Now, Google has revealed new features coming to its Earth AI platform. Users can now interact with the AI model by asking it questions like you would with a chatbot. One example Google gave was asking Earth AI to “find algae blooms” to help monitor water supplies. The system will search satellite images and its troves of collected data to give a list of results.
Courtesy of Google
To run these queries, Google uses a Gemini-based geospatial reasoning model to combine Earth AI models with other models tracking weather, demographics, images, and historical data to identify patterns in how disasters or other widespread events affect the world. The hope is that the model will be able to predict not only the direction a hurricane is heading, but also which communities are most likely to experience its effects.
The new chatbot features will only be available to users of Google Earth’s professional subscription plans, introduced by Google this month. The Professional tier, which gives users access to more advanced data layers such as surface temperature and elevation contours, starts at $75 per month. The Advanced Professional level costs $150. Some core features of Google Earth, such as the ability to see time-lapse video of certain parts of the globe, are available on all plans, including the free standard version of Google Earth.
This release marks Google’s latest effort to show its climate awareness bona fides. The company has already collaborated with satellite makers to better monitor disasters such as wildfires from low Earth orbit. The company also partnered with researchers to create a database tracking the activity of the world’s power plants. Perhaps Google’s efforts to curb environmental devastation will eventually offset the impacts of AI’s ever-increasing energy needs.
