Change Detection

French local authorities must keep their land-cover (OCS) databases and their PCRS, the very-high-resolution aerial base map used to locate underground networks, up to date. Knowing where things changed usually depends on field and administrative reports that can be incomplete or wrong, and aerial surveys are costly.

Kermap's Change Detection service automatically detects visible changes such as building sites, new developments and new infrastructure. It runs on the cloud-free monthly time series that Kermap's Nimbo platform produces from Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery, and uses AI super-resolution to reach an equivalent of 2.5 m per pixel from the 10 m source imagery. Kermap states detection from 5 m², at any scale from a single municipality to a whole region, with production up to monthly and quarterly or annual delivery. Each change comes as a ready-to-use GIS layer giving its location, area and change trajectory, so authorities can check field reports, prioritise map updates and target aerial acquisition flights.

In a 2024 Copernicus Challenge pilot supported by CNES, GIP ATGeRi used it on Mont-de-Marsan and identified 47 additional zones to update, a 45% increase in the area to update. Kermap states an average precision of 85%. A 2022 pilot for the Région Hauts-de-France found just over 13,000 changes across the region with 87% average precision, and led to a 2024–2026 monitoring contract. Kermap reports 35,000 km² analysed in 2025. A pilot on one intercommunal area (EPCI) costs €6,000 excl. VAT, half of which is deducted if a full service follows; full service starts at €6,000 excl. VAT.