Why Sentinel-2 + drone data is a game changer for environmental monitoring
At GeoNadir, we've always believed in the power of drone data to help people better understand and protect our planet. But drone data is just one layer geospatial data, and we have a planet to protect! For global coverage, we need satellites to support the work of drones.
We're excited to announce that Sentinel-2 satellite data is now available directly within your GeoNadir projects!
So what does that mean for you, and why is it such a big deal?
Let’s break it down.
What is Sentinel-2 and why should you care?
Sentinel-2 is a constellation of three Earth observation satellites launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). They orbit the Earth every few days, capturing high-quality images of land and coastal areas across the globe.
Each image includes 13 bands, ranging from the visible light that we can see with our eyes (like red, green, and blue) to other bands we can’t, such as near-infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR).
These are incredibly useful for tracking vegetation health, land use, water quality, fire scars, and more.
What makes Sentinel-2 really special is that:
It covers large areas frequently (every 5 days!)
The data is free and open (thank you ESA!)
It’s consistent, global, and backed by years of historical imagery
Why use drone data when we have satellites?
If Sentinel-2 is so powerful, why bother with drone data?
Because drones give us a level of detail that satellites just can’t match. Drone imagery is incredibly high spatial resolution, often capturing centimetre-level detail. That’s perfect for:
Identifying individual plants, erosion gullies, or rubbish piles
Flying on demand when you need timely data
Creating detailed 3D models and maps
The catch? Drones only cover small areas at a time. And you need to be there to fly them (well, mostly anyway). And clouds are often an issue with satellite data too.
Why Sentinel-2 + drone data is the perfect match
Instead of thinking about drone data versus satellite data, the real power comes from using them together:
🛰️ See the big picture, then zoom in
Use Sentinel-2 to track changes over time and across wide regions. When you spot something interesting - a change in vegetation, land clearing, or a water quality shift - fly a drone to investigate in detail.
🧠 Add context to your drone maps
Drones give you ultra-local insight, but sometimes you need to understand what’s happening around your site. Sentinel-2 shows you the bigger environmental patterns your drone might miss.
✅ Validate, compare, and combine
You can use drone data to check what Sentinel-2 is showing, or even train AI models to classify land types. Then apply those models to the broader satellite imagery for broad-scale analysis.
🌱 Monitor over time without always flying
Satellite data gives you a cost-effective way to monitor your site when you’re not flying. You can spot issues early, monitor rehabilitation progress, or see seasonal cycles.
Now available in GeoNadir
We’ve made it easy for you. You can now:
Overlay it with your drone data for side-by-side comparison
Switch between dates to explore time series and environmental change
Whether you're working in conservation, environmental protection, agriculture, mining, or community science, this new capability helps you get more from every dataset.
Ready to Try It?
Just log into your GeoNadir workspace and open any project. You’ll see a new option to add Sentinel-2 imagery to your map under 'add data'.
Choose your date, explore your region, and layer it with your drone data.
This is just the beginning of our journey to becoming a full-spectrum Earth observation data analytics platform, where drone and satellite data work together to unlock richer environmental insights.
We can't wait to see what you discover.
