Element 84

It's no secret that we're big fans of the #FOSS4G mission, and we're excited to sponsor FOSS4G North America in 2025! November will be here before we know it!

"Together, these articles reveal how and why chunking became central to data design and suggest paths forward: redefining cloud-native storage semantics or applying smarter compression and data representations to mitigate chunk constraints." Julia Signell and Jarrett Keifer's recent 2 part blog series, Chunks and Chunkability, was featured in the latest edition of the Big Geodata Newsletter! Check out the first post in the blog series here: https://lnkd.in/dsgb3agi And read the rest of the newsletter linked below! ⬇️ 🗞️

"We need better documentation to help data producers make better decisions." In our latest blog, Jarrett Keifer and Julia Signell share an overview of compression: what is it, and what concerns exist around compression in the industry? Also in the blog we: 📏 Examine key metrics for evaluating compression effectiveness ⚖️ Compare types of compression processors often applicable to raster data 🎯 Look at how to evaluate the effectiveness of a compression pipeline 🆕 Introduce a new tool called Zarrzipan we’ve built to help benchmark and compare various compression schemes. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/ej-n5dmM

📚 What we're reading: Introducing Natural Language Geocoding v0.1.0: An LLM-Enabled Geocoding Database, by Jason Gilman at Element 84. LLMs provide solutions that can tackle complex geospatial problems, including systems that can process data and generate maps, time series analyses, and aggregate results in response to user queries. One goal is for users to be able to describe spatial areas using plain language the same way they would describe it to another person. Hence: Natural Language Geocoding - an open source Python library and geocoding database that converts natural language descriptions of areas on Earth into precise geometry. Read the full piece about the latest version of Natural Language Geocoding ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ehfMbgFj

We're excited to introduce our LLM-Enabled Geocoding Database, Natural Language Geocoding v0.1.0!!!! If you're a regular E84 blog reader (or a big Jason Gilman fan like we are), you might remember our 2024 blog first discussing natural language geocoding. Since we released the initial ideas surrounding this idea we've put a lot of thought into evolving the project. In this blog we cover updates including: 🚀 Why We Moved Beyond Nominatim 📇 The New Geocoding Index 🧠 Intelligent Place Resolution 🧩 Composed Places and Custom Locations + More!! https://lnkd.in/ehfMbgFj

We can't think of a better way to ease into the week after the Summer ESIP meeting than with this morning's latest Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) newsletter! 📬 The newsletter spotlights Jason Gilman's discussion about Reliability in AI from a recent ESIP Disaster Lifecycle Cluster, and you can check out the full recording here: https://lnkd.in/eGbXFiPP Also, find the newsletter in its entirety: https://lnkd.in/eUh8TeM3

We're wrapping up our week in Seattle for the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Summer meeting with a digital scrapbook and lots on our minds! 🧠📈🌎🤯  This week the focus was on: 📦 The importance of cutting back storage and egress costs - especially with no "one-size-fits-all" solution 📁 The continued push coming from within the community to work directly WITH files 🤖 Potential futures for AI including how to maximize UX potential and use the best training and analysis models  ☁️ And, of course, all things cloud native! (We were big fans of the Plenary talk given by Jed Sundwall) Meanwhile, our E84 team gave a handful of impactful talks focused on everything from current and emerging geospatial search tech, to natural language geocoding, to open source storytelling, to designing AI interfaces for climate data! Send us a message if you want to chat more about anything you heard from us at the Meeting, or if you're just interested in learning more!

We had a blast kicking off the 2025 Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Summer Meeting today, and we're so excited to support this event as Sustainability Sponsors.

I’m in Seattle for Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) 2025 Summer Meeting this week. I'll be delivering a talk this afternoon on spatial search patterns–past, present, and future. I'm always impressed with the collective brainpower in the room at this meeting. I'm excited to see all of the work happening across NASA, NOAA, USGS, and the many other universities and organizations presenting this week.

Excited to be presenting this week at the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) July Meeting! I’ll be sharing insights from our work at Element 84 on designing natural language tools that support scientists’ workflows, with a focus on usability, clarity, and real-world impact. We’re exploring the intersection of AI, natural language, and intuitive interfaces to make climate and Earth science data more accessible and actionable. If you're working on similar challenges or just curious, let’s connect!