Patent ID: 8379913

Claim:
A method of correlating features in satellite imagery with economic data, the method comprising: under control of an automated imaging system comprising computer hardware: receiving input control parameters comprising: a textual description of an area of interest, and a time range; analyzing the received input control parameters to obtain location information of the area of interest; retrieving a geographical location corresponding to the obtained location information; determining one or more polygons of interest corresponding to the geographical location, wherein a polygon of interest comprises coordinates delineating a boundary containing at least a portion of the area of interest; obtaining, from at least one of an image archive or an image collection subsystem, satellite imagery of the area of interest, the satellite imagery comprising a plurality of images, such that: a surface area of each of the one or more polygons of interest is covered by the satellite imagery, and an acquisition time of the satellite imagery is within the time range; automatically processing the satellite imagery, wherein automatically processing the satellite imagery comprises at least one of: combining multiple images from the satellite imagery to form a single image, selecting a preferred image from the satellite imagery, or modifying the satellite imagery to visually enhance portions of the satellite imagery; obtaining image analysis information related to the processed satellite imagery, wherein the image analysis information comprises at least one of: a quantity of an object of interest in the processed satellite imagery, a boundary of an object of interest in the processed satellite imagery, a location of an object of interest in the processed satellite imagery, a size of an object of interest in the processed satellite imagery, or an indication of an occurrence of an event in the processed satellite imagery; and automatically determining a correlation between the image analysis information and the economic data.