IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - December 2020 - 20

CONCLUSIONS
Direct users constitute the first link between the SDI and
the wider community of beneficiaries of satellite-imagebased products and services. Therefore, by estimating the
value that these users draw directly from the satellite images, this research fills part of the gap that exists between
users' needs for justification materials and investors' exigencies for the availability of this technology in the market.
The novelty of our work results from applying the widely
used contingent-valuation method within the framework
of a SDI to value specific geospatial data and their benefits.
The results obtained could be used to inform the design
of a future pricing model for satellite imagery aimed at
sustaining the financing of these services. In addition, our
findings may also stimulate public awareness about future
decision making related to the EO field and, more particularly, satellite images.
Although the development of the HR and VHR satellite
markets was initiated with various satellites, including the
French SPOT 6/7 and Pleiades, competition with other spatial and aerial data sources (e.g., high-altitude pseudosatellites and unmanned aerial vehicles) or in situ data (e.g.,
networks of terrestrial sensors, the Internet of Things, and
crowdsourcing) could also be present. With some restrictions still existing in the commercial use of HR and VHR
satellite images, the access conditions already mentioned
affect global satellite-imagery prices through the redistribution of costs across the value chain. The new space actors
with small, low-cost satellites, coming from IT sectors or
newly active nations, such as China or South Korea, will
have a large presence with their new commercial offerings
[18]; with all of the recent satellites launched, the future
seems promising. In addition, satellite constellations such
as Planet and Terra Bella, among others, offer several interesting features. With higher revisit rates, less expensive
services, and an ability to make more timely decisions, the
new space actors are promoting information freshness, applications, and data-analytics tools through their development of new platforms. These constellations, through their
new business models, will provide benefits to many fields
through appropriated data analytics, establishing more efficient connection nodes, and networking systems across the
globe [41], [42], [48]. Although they have the opportunity
to claim a place among competing players already present
in the market, the new space actors are opening the way
to revisit the traditional business models of SDIs. Their influence on the satellite-imagery market call into question
the financial capabilities deployed and reorients them toward new solutions for financing space technology and,
more particularly, the satellite-imagery domain. For this,
valuation approaches should evolve to be more extensive,
comprehensive, user oriented, and closely tied to explicit
targets. Therefore, in the absence of standardized practices for measuring the contribution of geospatial information to society [30], this study sets a cornerstone for
future valuation works.
20

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to the referees and the editors for their useful
comments and suggestions. This work was supported by public funds received in the framework of an ANR-10-EQPX-20
project of the " Investissements d'Avenir " program, managed
by the French National Research Agency; it was also funded
by the French National Centre for Space Studies/Terre Solide,
Océan, Surfaces Continentales et Atmosphère program, the
Conseil National de la Recherche Scientifique-Liban, and Occitanie Pyrénées en Intelligence Géomatique.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Chady Jabbour (chadyjabbour@gmail.com) has been with
Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement-Montpellier; the
University of Montpellier, France; Conseil National de la
Recherche Scientifique; Institut national de la recherche
agronomique; and Montpellier SupAgro and has served on
the faculty of the Economic Science and Business Administration department, France/Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Anis Hoayek (anisshoayek@hotmail.com) is with the
Alexander Grothendieck Institute, University of Montpellier, France.
Pierre Maurel (pierre.maurel@irstea.fr) has been with Territoires et environnement par la télédétection et l'information
spatiale, Irstea, AgroParisTech, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement,
Conseil National de la Recherche Scientifique, and the University of Montpellier, France.
Hélène Rey-Valette (helene.rey-valette@umontpellier
.fr) has been with Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement-
Montpellier; the University of Montpellier, France; Conseil
National de la Recherche Scientifique; and Institut national
de la recherche agronomique.
Jean-Michel Salles (jean-michel.salles@supagro.fr) has been
with Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement-Montpellier;
the University of Montpellier, France; Conseil National de
la Recherche Scientifique; Institut national de la recherche
agronomique; and Montpellier SupAgro.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Arrow et al., " Report of the NOAA panel on contingent valuation, " Fed. Regist., vol. 58, no. 10, pp. 4601-4614, 1993.
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