In a two-day interactive training event hosted by the Welsh Government’s Climate Change and Rural Affairs department, representatives from various organisations from across Wales gathered for a training event led by PML Applications’ Centre for Geospatial Applications, exploring the capabilities of the newly operational Welsh Data Cube.

The Welsh Data Cube is a powerful platform which provides access to analysis-ready data from the Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 MSI satellites, as well as a host of derived products like land cover classification. It is a collection of Earth observation data organised in a way that allows efficient storage, access, and analysis, enabling users to easily extract and process the information they need.

Developed as an operational service by PML scientists, including Dan Clewley, following initial research from Aberystwyth University, the Welsh Data Cube offers a centralised repository of satellite imagery and derived data products, eliminating the need for users to download and process large volumes of raw data themselves.

Attendees from the DataMapWales team, Welsh Water, Natural Resources Wales, Brecon Beacons National Park, and South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre (SEWBRec) participated in the interactive sessions held at the Cathays Park government offices on May 21-22.
The first day focused on practical demonstrations, enabling participants to access, visualise, and analyse Earth observation data using Jupyter Notebooks. On the second day, attendees applied their learnings to develop custom notebooks tailored to their specific roles and challenges.

Head of the Centre for Geospatial Applications at PML Applications Ben Calton said:

“The training showcased a wide range of applications, including mapping habitat extent changes over time, assessing surface wetness in agricultural fields to quantify parasite risks for sheep, producing statistical reports on biomass change and its drivers, and identifying and quantifying coastal bait digging sites.

The Welsh Data Cube and its supporting tools empower organisations across Wales to leverage Earth observation data for informed decision-making and sustainable resource management. We were very proud to deliver the training and look forward to working further with the various stakeholder groups involved.”