What Earth Big Data does

Earth Big Data is a privately held LLC founded in 2015 by Dr. Josef Kellndorfer, headquartered in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, with an additional office in Trostberg, Germany. The company develops SEPPO (Software for Earth Big Data Processing, Prediction, and Organization), a cloud-native platform built on AWS that streamlines the management, deployment, and scaling of Earth observation data analysis workflows. SEPPO provides a Linux-style command interface that lets earth-science users operate cloud infrastructure without becoming cloud experts, and is delivered in a modular architecture: a CORE backbone for cloud resource management, user administration, autoscaling, job queuing, and GitOps; a GEOSPATIAL module integrating PostGIS, ASF DAAC SAR inventory, DEM sources, GDAL, and RioXarray; SARGAMMA and SARISCE modules wrapping GAMMA Remote Sensing and NASA JPL ISCE for SAR data processing; and a VISUALIZATION module for cloud-optimized animation and STAC-based data preparation. The platform is validated at petabyte scale (e.g., 2,000 EC2 instances, 30 TB/hour throughput, ~7 million cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs from 1 PB of Sentinel-1 input, 50–75% Spot Market savings) and powers a free public visualization property called SARflix.

Earth Big Data sells to government agencies and research institutions that need on-demand compute for large-scale geospatial and SAR processing but lack cloud expertise. Named customers include NOAA/NESDIS/STAR (operational SAR flood and ocean wind monitoring, legacy code migration), the University of Massachusetts Amherst Microwave Remote Sensing Lab (NISAR mission preparation, airborne SAR processing), Michigan Tech Research Institute (cloud migration of Jupyter-based science), Woodwell Climate Research Center (climate research), and the European Space Agency (CCI BIOMASS project processing 305,000+ Sentinel-1 products). The company goes to market through a consultative enterprise sales motion: prospective customers request demos via the website, purchase annual software subscriptions, and receive a bundled week of training plus ongoing consulting. Revenue is generated from recurring SEPPO software licenses (with separate GAMMA license purchase required for SAR processing), bundled professional services and training, and follow-on cloud and big-data consulting. The company is founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investors or external funding rounds.

Name

Earth Big Data

Legal name

Earth Big Data LLC

Website

https://earthbigdata.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Earth Big Data develops SEPPO, a cloud-native AWS-based software platform that helps government agencies and research institutions manage, deploy, and scale Earth observation and SAR data processing workflows, sold via annual subscriptions with bundled training.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Geospatial Analytics Software

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Analytics (Satellite/UAV/LiDAR, Image Processing) (EUAHAKAD), Climate & Emissions Data Management (Data Lake, Integration, APIs) (EUABAEAC), Data & Analytics Platforms (Data Warehousing, Lakes, Streaming) (HDABAAAF)

Keywords

• Cloud geospatial processing
• Earth observation analytics
• SAR data processing
• Remote sensing software
• Satellite data platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Woods Hole

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SEPPO Software Licenses: SEPPO is offered as modular software with a CORE module as backbone plus add-on modules for Geospatial (GEOSPATIAL), SAR processing (SARGAMMA, SARISCE), and Visualization. Software includes source code delivery for open-source components, with commercial software (GAMMA) requiring separate license purchase. Professional services and consulting available as add-on.
2. Professional Services and Training: Bundled training included with initial software investment covering AWS setup, environment creation, database setup, user profiles, security, machine images, scaling, recipe workflows, and API overview. Post-training services include release updates, Q&A, and ongoing consulting/advisory services.
3. Cloud and Big Data Consulting Services: Consulting services for organizations developing cloud migration strategies, identifying bottlenecks, cost savings opportunities, and developing strategies for analyzing big data in the cloud.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Earth Big Data develops and sells SEPPO (Software for Earth Big Data Processing, Prediction, and Organization), a cloud-native software platform built on AWS that enables organizations to manage, deploy, and scale earth science data analysis workflows. The platform combines open-source libraries with proprietary wrappers for commercial SAR processing software (GAMMA, ISCE), providing a familiar Linux-style interface for petabyte-scale geospatial and remote sensing processing. The company also offers bundled training, consulting, and implementation services.

Product overview

Earth Big Data offers SEPPO (Software for Earth Big Data Processing, Prediction, and Organization), a cloud-based software platform for earth science data analysis built on AWS. The platform follows a modular architecture where the CORE module serves as the backbone for cloud infrastructure management and big data processing, with optional add-on modules: GEOSPATIAL adds geospatial processing tools including DEM handling, tiling, and time series analysis; VISUALIZATION provides cloud-optimized data enhancement and animation tools; SARGAMMA integrates GAMMA Remote Sensing software for SAR processing; and SARISCE supports NISAR mission processing via ISCE software. The company also offers SARflix, a time-series animation service for SAR imagery, along with consulting, training, and implementation services. Earth Big Data is fully cloud-based and committed to open-source solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Scaled to 2,000 AWS EC2 instances achieving 30 TB/hour throughput for biomass mapping processing
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability3 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• GAMMA Remote SensingcoreTechnology or IntegrationSEPPO SARGAMMA module provides full integration with GAMMA Remote Sensing processing software for SAR data processing (geocoding, radiometric terrain correction, speckle filtering) for all major spaceborne and airborne SAR sensors. The GammaTools.py library enables cloud scaling of GAMMA processing routines. GAMMA software license required separately for cloud processing with full options including interferometric processing. Support provided by both GAMMA Remote Sensing and Earth Big Data teams.
• ISCE / NASA JPLcoreTechnology or IntegrationSEPPO SARISCE module integrates ISCE software to support NISAR satellite mission processing. The seppo_isce_proc.py processor wraps ISCE software routines into a scalable cloud deployment approach for NISAR data processing.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationEarth Big Data's SEPPO software is built entirely on AWS components and API tools as its cloud framework. The software leverages AWS EC2, S3, Spot Market, Lambda, EventBridge, API Gateway, and other AWS services for cloud infrastructure. AWS DAAC (ASF) stores Sentinel-1 data on S3 buckets enabling 'process next to data' deployments in us-west-2 region.
• Alaska Satellite Facility DAAC (ASF DAAC)coreTechnology or IntegrationASF DAAC provides SAR data inventory management integrated with SEPPO software. Sentinel-1 data stored on AWS S3 buckets co-located with EC2 instances in us-west-2 region, enabling efficient 'process next to data' access at 20-30 MB/s per instance with no data transfer costs.
• European Space Agency (ESA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerESA funded the CCI BIOMASS project where Earth Big Data's software was used to scale radiometric terrain correction of millions of Sentinel-1 data using GAMMA Remote Sensing and Copernicus 30m DEM. This partnership demonstrates large-scale ESA project execution capabilities.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Google Earth Engine: Google Earth Engine is a free, cloud-based platform for petabyte-scale geospatial analysis (including SAR) aimed at researchers, NGOs, and government scientists. It is the most direct competing cloud platform to SEPPO for Earth observation data processing at scale.
• Microsoft Planetary Computer: Microsoft's Planetary Computer provides a cloud-hosted catalog of Earth observation data with APIs, Jupyter Hub, and scalable analytics infrastructure for environmental and climate use cases. It competes directly with Earth Big Data for cloud-native geospatial processing workloads in academic and government accounts.
• Sinergise (Sentinel Hub): Sinergise operates Sentinel Hub, a cloud platform offering processing of Sentinel, Landsat, and other EO data with APIs and Bring Your Own Data workflows. It is a direct competitor in cloud-based EO processing services for enterprise and government customers.
• Descartes Labs: Descartes Labs provides a cloud-based geospatial analytics platform that ingests satellite imagery and applies ML/analytics at scale for agriculture, energy, and government. It is comparable to Earth Big Data as a cloud-native EO analytics platform targeting commercial and public-sector customers.

Broad incumbents

• Esri (ArcGIS Online / ArcGIS Enterprise on AWS): Esri is the dominant incumbent in GIS software, with ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise providing cloud geospatial processing, imagery management, and analysis tools. While broader and not SAR-specialized, it overlaps with Earth Big Data in serving government agencies and research institutions for geospatial analysis at scale.
• Planet Labs: Planet Labs operates a large constellation of Earth imaging satellites and offers Planet Insights, a cloud platform for analytics on its imagery. It is comparable as a vertically integrated EO platform with cloud processing capabilities for government and commercial customers.
• Maxar Technologies: Maxar is a major satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence provider offering cloud-based access to high-resolution imagery and derived analytics products. Comparable to Earth Big Data as a large incumbent serving defense, intelligence, and government EO needs with cloud delivery.

Emerging players

• Blackshark.ai: Blackshark.ai uses AI to derive 3D geospatial intelligence and digital twins from satellite and aerial imagery at planetary scale. It is comparable as an emerging cloud-native geospatial analytics platform focused on deriving insights from EO data at scale.
• Synthetaic: Synthetaic provides an AI platform (RAIC) that performs self-supervised analysis on satellite and aerial imagery without labeled training data. Comparable to Earth Big Data as a cloud-based platform turning raw EO data into structured insights for commercial and government users.

Others

• AWS (Open Data / AWS Ground Station / geospatial services): AWS provides the underlying cloud infrastructure and open EO datasets (Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1, Landsat) on which SEPPO runs. As both infrastructure provider and a provider of hosted EO datasets and ground-station services, AWS is adjacent to Earth Big Data — enabling rather than directly competing with the SEPPO platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/earth-big-data-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Earth Big Data