Implementation of a tool to estimate biomass from satelite images.

Description of the internship:

Côte d’Ivoire is facing a major deforestation challenge. The lack of data and the high cost of collecting it are obstacles to action to protect the forests.


WatchMyTree is developing an AI model using geospatial open data to estimate biomass, carbon stock and other indicators to assess the environmental performance of the forest. The project aims to automate manual measurements in the field and make open data more reliable. This leads to more efficient and accurate assessment for agroforestry, carbon credit generation, raw material traceability and reforestation projects. As an innovative local project, WatchMyTree is still looking for funding to continue the research and development of the AI model and carry out field measurements in the forest. It also needs partners in the field of agroforestry and reforestation, both local and international.

The objective of the internship is to help the company data354 to develop a tool to estimate the biomass from satelite images.

  • Link teledetection and biomass
  • Identify the potential data sources (Optical, Radar, Lidar…)
  • Implement robust solutions based on AI
  • Integrate the final solution in an application
  • Deploy the application on open source platforms (HuggingFace…)
  • Write articles to present the results

Your missions:
You will work with a team of talentuous engineers within diverse and agile groups within the organisation. Some of your tasks will be:

  • Develop a deep understanding of the diferent types of teledetection
  • Implement automatised pipelines to input the satelite data
  • Implement solutions to treat satelite images
  • Implement performing machine learning models to solve the teledetection problems (estimation of the biomass, cartography of the land, monitoring of forests…)
  • Develop user friendly solutions

Qualities and skills needed:

  • Master student with a good knowledge in Data Science
  • Adaptability and autonomy
  • Computer vision knowledge
  • Good knowledge of maths and Python
  • Knowledge of Deep Learning, and PyTorch/ TensorFlow
  • Good capacity to solve technical issues.
  • Motivation to work on GeoAI
  • Team spirit
  • Enjoy working as part of a team, keen to to improve their skills in a wide range software architectures, learning from others and sharing knowledge;
  • Proficiency in French. A suficient level in English would be a bonus.

Duration of the internship: 6 months

Place: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Housing: included

Possiblity to have meals included: Lunches are provided by the company, and 150 000 CFA francs are given for other expenses.

Sections: Data Science, MA, Informatics, SIE, GC, Communication systems, Physics, Energy

Description of the partner:

data354 is a pure player of services around data (architecture, strategy, engineering, data science…).  We support public and private authorities thoughout their projects, from ideas to data, decision and creaiton of added value, by giving them data management, and predictive analysis systems.  Capitalizing on our resource center in Abidjan, we support customers of all sizes in making the most of their data:
● Data Strategy : Strategy, governance, data & IA, audits, evaluation of maturity…
● Data for Institutions : Open-data, public policies, regulations
● Data Management : Infrastructures, Big Data & real time, data catalog…
● Data Intelligence : Business Intelligence, AI, Robotic Process Automation.

Name: data 354 (www.data354.com)

Contact person: KOUASSI Akoto Linda

Contact email: [email protected] (please copy Nathalie Unternährer: [email protected])