APEx accelerates reuse of EO solutions
Two years of progress towards scalable EO services
After two years of development, ESA’s Application Propagation Environment (APEx) is making it easier for the Earth Observation (EO) community to discover, reuse and scale EO algorithms, workflows and datasets. By providing a central access point to EO solutions developed in ESA-funded projects, APEx helps users save time, reduce development effort, and build on proven results.
Today, APEx provides access to a growing catalogue of 45 algorithms from 11 providers across 6 platforms, making it easier to find and reuse existing methods. Through the APEx Algorithm Catalogue, users can quickly identify relevant solutions and integrate them into new applications with less effort and risk.
APEx Algorithm Catalogue
From algorithms to operational EO services
APEx offers flexible ways to execute algorithms, allowing users to work in a way that best matches their expertise. Algorithms can be run directly on EO platforms through web-based tools such as the openEO Web Editor or platform-specific applications like GEP Apps. For more advanced use cases, APEx also supports execution through Jupyter Notebooks, enabling reproducible and fully customisable analyses.
Ongoing integration with the APEx Geospatial Explorer will further simplify this by allowing users to run and visualise workflows directly in an interactive environment.
APEx also streamlines access to project data. Through the APEx Data Catalogue, supported by the ESA Project Results Repository (PRR), users can discover and access datasets linked to EO projects, ensuring that both algorithms and their underlying data are readily available for reuse and analysis in one place.
APEX Data Catalogue
APEx Project Environments
To support end-to-end use, APEx provides ready-to-use project environments that enable teams to quickly set up portals, catalogues and visualisation tools. With 32 environments already deployed, projects can focus on delivering results and engaging their users faster instead of managing infrastructure. Examples of these environments can be explored in the APEx Solutions Gallery.
Looking ahead
The next phase of APEx focuses on making EO standards and services even easier to adopt, particularly by lowering the learning curve for new users. A key priority is the introduction of AI-assisted development tools, including coding agents that help generate, adapt, and debug workflows based on user intent.
In parallel, APEx will provide additional support to EO platforms through enhanced benchmarking and validation capabilities. These tools will help platform providers analyse the performance of onboarded services, gain deeper insights into their operation and further optimise their platforms.
APEx will also progressively onboard its services to the ESA Network of Resources (NoR). Through this established ecosystem, ESA projects will be able to request APEx support services more easily, lowering the barrier to adoption and making it simpler to benefit from APEx capabilities in both ongoing and future EO projects.
Ready to take your EO solution to the next level?
Looking to turn your algorithm or EO use case into a scalable EO service? APEx provides ready-to-use environments, tools and support services to help accelerate your development and deployment.
Discover how APEx project environments and support services can accelerate your next EO project!
