## 5 Discussion and Conclusions
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} Typical Use Cases \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} Small satellites in low orbits allow mobile means of transportation such as trucks, airplanes, and ships to continuously stay in contact throughout their journeys, by providing updates on location, as well as external conditions. One of the most used satellite systems for shipment tracking is “AIS” (automatic identification system). This automatic tracking system uses transceivers on ships for vessel traffic services. Its main goal was initially to avoid accident collisions and aid ship navigation. However very rapidly the potential for using the AIS satellites for fleet and cargo tracking seemed apparent. Furthermore satellite imaging can provide almost real time information about events happening in the field, especially in areas that are geographically remote such as open air mines [30; 31; 32]. As already mentioned in the introduction, video monitoring data from several different Earth observation satellites, is used to show and analyse smelter activity levels and to detect periods of shutdown or inactivity [8]. Also drones can complement these real time observations and insights with additional aerial imaging. \\ \hline Robustness & Usually the robustness of the satellite is no issue. However, the data connection to the satellite may be subject to limitations. \\ \hline Range & \begin{tabular}{c} Obviously, communication with a satellite can cover long distances. The resolution can be relatively high. However, clouds and other weather conditions, volcanic eruptions or other incidents may have an impact on imagery, spectrography or other procedures and the respective quality of the data. \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Energy Requirements & \begin{tabular}{c} The satellites can be powered by built-in photovoltaic modules. \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Data Related Capabilities & \
\begin{tabular}{c} In terms of imagery, there is a classification of five types of resolution: spatial (image size representing a size of surface), spectral (wavelength interval and number of intervals), temporal (time of image collection periods for a surface location), radiometric (levels of brightness and bit-depths of sensors) and geometric (capability to effectively image a portion of surface in a pixel). Because of relatively high resolutions, satellites can generate huge volumes of data. Depending on the technology and the altitude of the satellites, resolutions can vary. It can take an effort to process and create useful data from the raw data. Privacy regulations may also need to be considered. As mentioned, the quality of the data may be impacted by weather conditions, volcanic eruptions, or other incidents. By combining satellite imagery with vector or raster data from geographic information systems, the imagery can be spatially rectified to gain compatibility with further data sources. \\ \hline Other Aspects &
\begin{tabular}{c} Smaller low-orbit satellites can be more cost-effective and are transforming the field of supply chain visibility and transparency. Recent advances in satellite imaging, data processing, and machine learning are opening new doors to monitor activities within supply chains in almost real time as well as rendering the cost of accessing geospatial data more affordable. \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Characteristics of Satellite Technologies. unique combinations to capture and communicate supply chain data in a more accurate, granular, relevant, timely, and trusted manner than was possible with their separate usage. Conceptualization, methodology, investigation and writing--original draft preparation: V.K., A.v.B.B. ; writing: review and editing: E.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. The employee and the projects the authors were involved with received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements No.