VISTA has reached Phase 3 of SPACE4Cities

We are very pleased that VISTA has been selected as one of the five winning solutions of the SPACE4Cities project and is now being implemented in practice.

What is SPACE4Cities?

SPACE4Cities is a project funded by the European Space Agency (EUSPA) that explores innovative ways to use European satellite data from Galileo and Copernicus for smart urban planning. In Phase 3 of the EU project, five of the remaining 15 solutions were selected as winners. These pilot projects are now being tested in real-world urban settings—one of them is VISTA.

What is VISTA?

VISTA is a collaborative solution developed by BitaGreen from Belgium, Climate Scale from Spain, and us, TreeSense. The solution combines satellite data with on-site sensors and intelligent data processing into a practical platform. This enables cities to better plan, monitor, and maintain their green spaces. Sensors installed locally on trees provide accurate data that, when combined with satellite imagery and computer simulations, create a comprehensive, citywide picture and enable concrete recommendations for action.

Phase 3: The Pilot Project in Guimarães

The pilot project is taking place in the Portuguese city of Guimarães. The goal is to gather near-real-time information about the health of trees, necessary maintenance measures, and the success of those measures.

TreeSense's Use of Sensors

The first sensors were installed last week. A total of 15 trees were equipped with sensors. Five of these trees each have a Pulse NB-IoT sensor in their crowns and an FDR sensor in the ground, while the remaining ten trees are equipped with only a Pulse NB-IoT sensor in their crowns.

The monitored trees were selected based on various criteria. In terms of age, the study includes young trees between zero and ten years old, middle-aged trees between eleven and twenty years old, and older trees between twenty and thirty years old. The selection of tree species includes three linden trees, ten English oaks, and two mountain maples. These trees are distributed across three different sites, with five trees at each site. Soil sensors were also installed at two of the three locations.

Outlook: Expansion in 2027

The plan for 2027 is to implement all five winning solutions as pilot projects in ten additional European cities. Interested cities can register through September 15.