Shelley Cazares
Applied research scientist serving as a Machine Learning Technical Consultant in Google Public Sector (Cloud)
Authored Publications
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The Emerging Paradigm of Geospatial Foundation Models: From Pre-Training to Agentic Reasoning
Sprinter (2025), pp. 1-17
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The analysis of satellite and aerial imagery has entered a new era with the advent of foundation models. This paper describes the concept of Geospatial Foundation Models (GeoFMs), which are artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) models pre-trained on massive geospatial datasets through varied methodologies. We first articulate the core paradigm shift that GeoFMs enable: a separation of duties, where large-scale model providers perform the computationally intensive pre-training, allowing domain experts to rapidly fine-tune or prompt these models for specific, mission-critical tasks. This approach democratizes access to state-of-the-art AI/ML. We then explore the novel capabilities unlocked by different types of GeoFMs, distinguishing between the fine-tunable vision models produced by self-supervised techniques like Masked Auto-Encoding, and the vision-language models produced by contrastive learning which enable zero-shot tasks like open-vocabulary image analysis. Next, we discuss the practical considerations for operationalizing GeoFMs, from performance-cost analysis to the broader MLOps ecosystem. To that end, we introduce a taxonomy of model adaptation strategies and propose a framework for domain experts to select the most cost-effective adaptation approach for their particular mission set. Finally, we present a forward-looking vision of Agentic Geospatial Reasoning, where Large Language Models act as intelligent orchestrators, leveraging GeoFMs as tools to answer high-level user queries in natural language and automate complex analytical workflows, moving the field from perception to cognition.
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Earth AI: Unlocking Geospatial Insights with Foundation Models and Cross-Modal Reasoning
Aaron Bell
Aviad Barzilai
Roy Lee
Gia Jung
Charles Elliott
Adam Boulanger
Amr Helmy
Jacob Bien
Ruth Alcantara
Nadav Sherman
Hassler Thurston
Yotam Gigi
Bolous Jaber
Vered Silverman
Luke Barrington
Tim Thelin
Elad Aharoni
Kartik Hegde
Yuval Carny
Shravya Shetty
Yehonathan Refael
Stone Jiang
David Schottlander
Juliet Rothenberg
Luc Houriez
Yochai Blau
Joydeep Paul
Yang Chen
Yael Maguire
Aviv Slobodkin
Shlomi Pasternak
Alex Ottenwess
Jamie McPike
Per Bjornsson
Natalie Williams
Reuven Sayag
Thomas Turnbull
Ali Ahmadalipour
David Andre
Amit Aides
Ean Phing VanLee
Niv Efron
Monica Bharel
arXiv (preprint 2025), arXiv, arXiv:2510.18318
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2510.18318
(2025)
Preview abstract
Geospatial data offers immense potential for understanding our planet. However, the sheer volume and diversity of this data along with its varied resolutions, timescales, and sparsity pose significant challenges for thorough analysis and interpretation. The emergence of Foundation Models (FMs) and Large Language Models (LLMs) offers an unprecedented opportunity to tackle some of this complexity, unlocking novel and profound insights into our planet.
This paper introduces a comprehensive approach to developing Earth AI solutions, built upon foundation models across three key domains—Planet-scale Imagery, Population, and Environment—and an intelligent Gemini-powered reasoning engine. We present rigorous benchmarks showcasing the power and novel capabilities of our foundation models and validate that they provide complementary value to improve geospatial inference. We show that the synergy between these models unlocks superior predictive capabilities. To handle complex, multi-step queries, we developed a Gemini-powered agent that jointly reasons over our multiple foundation models along with large geospatial data sources and tools to unlock novel geospatial insights. On a new benchmark of real-world crisis scenarios, our agent demonstrates the ability to deliver critical and timely insights, effectively bridging the gap between raw geospatial data and actionable understanding.
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Earth AI: Unlocking Geospatial Insights with Foundation Models and Cross-Modal Reasoning
Aaron Bell
Amit Aides
Amr Helmy
Aviad Barzilai
Aviv Slobodkin
Bolous Jaber
David Schottlander
Joydeep Paul
Nadav Sherman
Natalie Williams
Per Bjornsson
Roy Lee
Ruth Alcantara
Thomas Turnbull
Vered Silverman
Yotam Gigi
Adam Boulanger
Alex Ottenwess
Ali Ahmadalipour
Behzad Vahedi
Charles Elliott
David Andre
Elad Aharoni
Gia Jung
Hassler Thurston
Jacob Bien
Jamie McPike
Jess Sapick
Juliet Rothenberg
Kartik Hegde
Luc Houriez
Monica Bharel
Ean Phing VanLee
Reuven Sayag
Shlomi Pasternak
Stone Jiang
Yang Chen
Yehonathan Refael
Yochai Blau
Yuval Carny
Yael Maguire
James Manyika
Tim Thelin
Luke Barrington
Niv Efron
Shravya Shetty
asXiv (2025)
Preview abstract
Geospatial data offers immense potential for understanding our planet. However, the sheer volume and diversity of this data along with its varied resolutions, timescales, and sparsity pose significant challenges for thorough analysis and interpretation. This paper introduces Earth AI, a family of geospatial AI models and agentic reasoning that enables significant advances in our ability to unlock novel and profound insights into our planet. This approach is built upon foundation models across three key domains—Planet-scale Imagery, Population, and Environment—and an intelligent Gemini-powered reasoning engine. We present rigorous benchmarks showcasing the power and novel capabilities of our foundation models and validate that when used together, they provide complementary value for geospatial inference and their synergies unlock superior predictive capabilities. To handle complex, multi-step queries, we developed a Gemini-powered agent that jointly reasons over our multiple foundation models along with large geospatial data sources and tools. On a new benchmark of real-world crisis scenarios, our agent demonstrates the ability to deliver critical and timely insights, effectively bridging the gap between raw geospatial data and actionable understanding.
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