Research Services

The Taylor Geospatial Institute supports researchers and students throughout the entire research cycle – from study design, data acquisition, and analysis to visualization and reporting. We thrive on helping our faculty and partners with their exciting research. To support our community, we are establishing cutting-edge research infrastructure and services in multi-scale imaging, big data analytics, and computing resources that will promote collaboration in the region across several domains.

Data for Geospatial Research

Data is fundamental to geospatial research. The Institute is committed to supporting researchers in their efforts to collect, access, and analyze the large amounts of data necessary for advancing geospatial science. This data adds a key layer of insight to many challenges researchers are facing across all disciplines. Staffed with a team of geospatial computing engineers and data scientists, the Institute can provide data collection and analytics services in almost all spectrum of data including drone and satellite based hyperpsectral, LiDAR, thermal, SAR, GPR, magnetometry, etc.

Geospatial data come in all types, formats, and sizes. It can be satellite photographs, hyperspectral imagery, Lidar cloud points, census data, tweets with location, cell phone mobility data, and more. We help researchers navigate these different data types, understand what already exists, and how to access it. The Institute provides custom data collection when existing data is lacking or there is no existing data for a research project.

Faculty, researchers, and students at TGI partner institutions can also apply to gain access to satellite imagery from Planet’s Earth-imaging satellites, which collect 350 million square kilometers of multiband imagery every day. If you are at a TGI partner institution and interested in utilizing Planet data, you can take the first step in the application process by filling out the access form.

Research Computing

The creation of a comprehensive geospatial computing infrastructure and extensive data library that can be an asset for researchers across disciplines will be a powerful resource establishing St. Louis as the nation’s top destination for geospatial research.

The Institute will provide the infrastructure and staff expertise to make the world’s geospatial data accessible to affiliated researchers and industry partners, which will serve as a basis for collaborations. Additionally, it will be a draw for recruiting researchers, students, and companies to the region. Over time, we aspire to create and make accessible to everyone the world’s leading geospatial data library.

Investment in research computing will enable us to develop the infrastructure and expertise for processing complex, multiscale, and multidimensional data. Access to cutting-edge technologies are limiting factors for many geospatial researchers and students. Especially when you’re talking about assets like a graphics processing unit cluster and large-scale network-attached storage systems for data. Building this resource at the Taylor Geospatial Institute will propel the research and training opportunities for both scientists and students.

By creating computing access for a broad range of geospatial researchers, the Institute will contribute a key resource to the region. This will serve as a connector for faculty and trainees from multiple institutions, and create a long-term platform for them to invest together in leadership-class computing.

Accessing the Services

Use the contact us form to start the request for geospatial data and research support.