Imago: Data service for imagery
Making satellite imagery useful, usable, and used — across social science, health, and policy.
Imago: Data Service for Imagery is a national data service funded through Smart Data Research UK, the UK's flagship programme for smart data research. We exist to unlock the potential of satellite imagery for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who need to understand the world from above - but don't come from an earth observation background.
We bridge the gap between cutting-edge remote sensing technology and the social scientists, public health researchers, and policy analysts who need it most.
What we do
Satellite imagery captures what ground-level data cannot - the texture of cities, the spread of informal settlements, the pace of environmental change, the aftermath of disaster. Imago transforms this raw observational power into data that is ready to use, and findings that are ready to act on.
Our data portfolio includes:
- High-resolution urban and rural imagery: Fine-grained visual data across diverse landscapes, processed and curated for social science and policy applications
- Thematic remote sensing layers: Night time lights, radar, air and light pollution, land surface temperature - standardised and documented for non-specialist users
- Derived indicators for society and environment: Intuitive, spatially consistent metrics for sustainability, prosperity, deprivation, and wellbeing - tracked across space and over time.
Our team
Imago brings together an international, interdisciplinary team spanning the United Kingdom and the United States, including researchers at the University of Liverpool, Newcastle University, University of Manchester, and Harvard University. The team combines research expertise, research software engineering, and professional data services.
Imago is directed by Professor Dani Arribas-Bel (University of Liverpool).
Who is Imago for?
Whether you are a social scientist curious about place-based inequality, a public health researcher tracking environmental exposures, or a policymaker designing climate-resilient infrastructure, Imago provides the data infrastructure, documentation, and support to make satellite imagery work for you.