Airbus Defense and Space Partners with Ecopia AI to Enhance Site Management

December 6, 2023 - Today, Ecopia AI (Ecopia) and Airbus Intelligence announce a partnership to develop a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date map of Airbus sites around the world.

Leveraging Airbus’ HD15 cm resolution satellite imagery, Ecopia’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems extracted detailed vector maps of 72 sites, including buildings, roads, pavement, and other critical features. This unprecedented level of detail in site mapping will enable Airbus to enhance global site management and standardize data digitization.

Airbus has a footprint of more than 300 sites worldwide, including manufacturing plants, offices, logistic hubs, training centers, and more. Facility Management and Real Estate (FMRE) is an Airbus trans-divisional and trans-national department in charge of land, building, and infrastructure administrations enabling the overall operation of these sites. In recent years, the digitization of data about Airbus sites and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) have emerged as indispensable tools for FMRE management and decision support. To inform these initiatives, FMRE collects and manages geospatial data to deliver value-enhancing services via digital web-based maps to diverse internal functions including security, logistics, sustainability, master planning, and more.

For several years, FMRE has been sourcing annual aerial ortho-imagery updates over the area surrounding Toulouse-Blagnac Airport for geospatial data creation to support site monitoring purposes. However, this approach is limited to a local scope and requires meticulous planning to accommodate airport constraints, making it unfeasible for all of Airbus’ global sites. Additionally, varying levels of geospatial maturity across Airbus’ core countries and divisions result in disjointed and incomplete internal data collection and creation, making it difficult to conduct consistent analytics across global sites.

Satellite imagery derived from Pléiades Neo, with its 15cm spatial resolution, offers a viable alternative for improving the monitoring of heterogeneous and geographically dispersed sites. Thanks to the agility and global availability of satellites orbiting the Earth, it’s possible to obtain high-resolution imagery of all Airbus sites while maintaining consistent quality standards within a relatively short timeframe. The global consistency, accuracy, and availability of Pléiades Neo satellite imagery enables FMRE to scale imagery capture for monitoring 72 of Airbus’ largest sites and their surrounding areas, providing the foundation for high-precision land use mapping by Ecopia.

To develop comprehensive land cover vector data about the 72 sites for deeper geospatial analysis, Airbus turned to Ecopia’s AI-based mapping systems. Ecopia’s partnership with Airbus Intelligence enabled the company to develop detailed land cover maps of airport features for a wide variety of use cases, including the rollout of a new airplane fleet. Vector layers extracted from Pléiades Neo imagery by Ecopia’s AI-powered systems can be seen in the below example from the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport.

This collaboration between Airbus and Ecopia has resulted in a standardized vector dataset to enrich FMRE’s geospatial database with more detailed land cover insights. The categorization of land use into 13 distinct layer classes offers substantial time and cost savings in the digitization process, delivering accurate and relevant geospatial data for global site monitoring and analytics.

FMRE combines this comprehensive land cover data with other sources of information, such as business data, headcount, upcoming projects, constraints, and more to provide site managers with a digital decision support tool. At a local scale, the data offers insights for individual site development and management strategies; at a global scale, the data can be used to cross-analyze sites with a standardized view of land cover. For example, the AI-powered land use extraction and categorization by Ecopia informs an Airbus sustainability project to calculate built surfaces vs. green areas in order to assess the degree of land artificialization across all sites. 

Ecopia has a proven track record of providing high-precision vector data to governments, private companies, and non-profits around the world. For example, Ecopia’s AI-based systems regularly produce detailed transportation data vector layers, including traffic medians, bike lanes, and other important pedestrian infrastructure that support community planning efforts. However, this project with Airbus represents unprecedented innovation in transportation mapping and demonstrates Ecopia’s ability to develop bespoke solutions for clients and partners based on their specific use cases. 

“Ecopia is proud to support Airbus Group Facility Management & Real Estate through our continued partnership with Airbus Intelligence,” said Abigail Coholic, Senior Director of Channel Partnerships at Ecopia. “This project is a great example of how Ecopia is constantly evolving our AI-based systems to digitize and classify new vector layers, and we are excited to provide this next-generation air travel intelligence to Airbus as they optimize their operations and further their sustainability goals.”

For more information on Ecopia, click here. To view our HD map samples, click here.

About Ecopia AI
Ecopia is on a mission to create a digital twin of the Earth. We leverage artificial intelligence to convert high-resolution imagery into high-definition (HD) vector maps. These maps form a digital representation of reality and are embedded into decision-making applications, offering unique insight at scale. Ecopia’s HD vector maps are leveraged for hundreds of commercial and government applications across over 100 countries around the world. 

About Airbus
Airbus pioneers sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world. The Company constantly innovates to provide efficient and technologically-advanced solutions in aerospace, defense, and connected services. In commercial aircraft, Airbus offers modern and fuel-efficient airliners and associated services. Airbus is also a European leader in defense and security and one of the world's leading space businesses. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions and services worldwide.

For inquiries related to Airbus Group Facility Management & Real Estate, please contact:
Lucie Maynaud
Global Real Estate GIS Data Coordinator
Airbus Facility Management & Real Estate (FMRE)
lucie.maynaud@airbus.com