ETH Zurich opens Swiss GeoLab for Earth observation in Root, Lucerne

ETH Zurich opened the ETH Swiss GeoLab on 16 October 2026 at the D4 Business Village in Root, near Lucerne, about a year after announcing the plan. The centre is supported by the Jörg G. Bucherer Foundation and the Canton of Lucerne. It concentrates on early detection of natural hazards and on agriculture and forestry, using satellite data.

An AI-based geoinformation platform is planned to combine satellite and drone imagery, monitoring-station data and other spatial information to train AI models for Switzerland. About 100 petabytes of public NASA Earth observation and climate data have been moved to the CSCS Alps supercomputer in Lugano for this work.

A first pilot, run with the SLF snow and avalanche institute and the federal environment office, tests satellite and radar detection of rockfalls and landslides. In September, drone-mounted radar systems were flown over a Lötschental glacier with Gravimon and Gamma Remote Sensing. The core team should reach about ten people by end-2027.

Why it matters: The centre combines satellite, drone-borne radar and ground sensor data with AI for hazard monitoring in mountainous terrain, where satellites are limited. Its methods and open models could be relevant to landslide and crop monitoring elsewhere, though no African partners are named.