Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 34% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 79% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 18% of the time, stays with people.
Apply remote sensing principles and methods to analyze data and solve problems in areas such as natural resource management, urban planning, or homeland security. May develop new sensor systems, analytical techniques, or new applications for existing systems.
$122,570 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on13 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet20 h
- Stays with people7 h
Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 13 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 20 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 7 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Integrate other geospatial data sources into projects (about 2 h); Organize and maintain geospatial data and associated documentation (about 2 h); Analyze data acquired from aircraft, satellites, or ground-based platforms, using statistical analysis software, image analysis software, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 82%
- 9%
- 9%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 4%. Today's estimate: 34%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 141st largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 24 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.034% to 0.018% (released February and March 2025); 0.029% to 0.02% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.11% to 0.13% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.034% | 338 of 708 | 1 of 24 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.018% | 432 of 703 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.029% | 314 of 655 | 1 of 24 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.018% | 404 of 672 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.02% | 399 of 677 | 1 of 24 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.11% | 153 of 434 | 1 of 24 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.13% | 141 of 447 | 1 of 24 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 5% of this job's working time as physical work. For 2% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 2% in any setting. 0.07 of 3, the 552nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 95%
- No robot shown 2%
- In any setting 2%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 24 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrate other geospatial data sources into projects.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 h1.3 h to 1.7 work days | 77%Half by now | |
| Manage or analyze data obtained from remote sensing systems to obtain meaningful results.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Analyze data acquired from aircraft, satellites, or ground-based platforms, using statistical analysis software, image analysis software, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS).Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 7.5 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 64%Half by now | |
| Direct all activity associated with implementation, operation, or enhancement of remote sensing hardware or software.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 1 work day2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Process aerial or satellite imagery to create products such as land cover maps.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 44%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Design or implement strategies for collection, analysis, or display of geographic data.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop or build databases for remote sensing or related geospatial project information.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 18%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Use remote sensing data for forest or carbon tracking activities to assess the impact of environmental change.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 18%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Apply remote sensing data or techniques, such as surface water modeling or dust cloud detection, to address environmental issues.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 18%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Conduct research into the application or enhancement of remote sensing technology.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 work days1 work day to 3.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Develop new analytical techniques or sensor systems.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.2 work months | 1%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Organize and maintain geospatial data and associated documentation.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | 86%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Remote Sensing Technicians61% now, 66% by 2028
- Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians20% now, 26% by 2028
- Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians68% now, 99% by 2028
- Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians34% now, 41% by 2028
- Geodetic Surveyors67% now, 70% by 2028
- Surveying and Mapping Technicians63% now, 70% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 34% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 79% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (65% to 82% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Integrate other geospatial data sources into projects (77% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Organize and maintain geospatial data and associated documentation (86% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Analyze data acquired from aircraft, satellites, or ground-based platforms, using statistical analysis software, image analysis software, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (64% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Direct all activity associated with implementation, operation, or enhancement of remote sensing hardware or software; Collect supporting data, such as climatic or field survey data, to corroborate remote sensing data analyses; and Participate in fieldwork. Together such tasks are about 18% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks, the 141st largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 24 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 4%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 5% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 2% of the working time, 2% in any setting. Its index is 0.07 of 3. One example: DJI Dock 2 + Matrice 3D for "participate in fieldwork". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 24 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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