EarthEmbeddingExplorer: A Web Application for Cross-Modal Retrieval of Global Satellite Images

TL;DR

EarthEmbeddingExplorer is an interactive web app that enables cross-modal retrieval of satellite images, making advanced Earth embedding models accessible and practical for researchers and users.

Contribution

It introduces a cloud-native web application that democratizes access to Earth embeddings and facilitates practical discovery workflows.

Findings

Supports natural language, visual, and geolocation queries

Demonstrates effective retrieval of satellite images

Bridges research models with real-world applications

Abstract

While the Earth observation community has witnessed a surge in high-impact foundation models and global Earth embedding datasets, a significant barrier remains in translating these academic assets into freely accessible tools. This tutorial introduces EarthEmbeddingExplorer, an interactive web application designed to bridge this gap, transforming static research artifacts into dynamic, practical workflows for discovery. We will provide a comprehensive hands-on guide to the system, detailing its cloud-native software architecture, demonstrating cross-modal queries (natural language, visual, and geolocation), and showcasing how to derive scientific insights from retrieval results. By democratizing access to precomputed Earth embeddings, this tutorial empowers researchers to seamlessly transition from state-of-the-art models and data archives to real-world application and analysis. The web application is available at https://modelscope.ai/studios/Major-TOM/EarthEmbeddingExplorer.