Forest fires, melting glaciers, refugee movements and migrating birds — satellite observation provides a wealth of useful information for businesses and governments. It enables us to learn about natural disasters, monitor fields, deforestation, and water levels.
Data received from space is needed for mapping of urban development and infrastructure planning. Satellite observation allows to control efficiency of plants and ports operation, to assess transport accessibility of areas. Satellite images are used by intelligence services of different countries, and journalists need them to follow the movement of refugees.
Today, space agencies launch satellites with special equipment. The cameras of those satellites allow for taking images with a resolution of less than 30 centimeters. More so, the pictures can be taken on a daily basis allowing for accessing almost live satellite view. Therefore, it’s possible to access not only historical but the most recent satellite images for change detection and analysis.
Why We Need Real-Time Satellite Imagery
The main parameter that comes to mind when speaking of satellite imagery is the spatial resolution — how detailed are the objects in the picture. However, the defining value of using satellites is the consistency they are able to provide imagery with. The time interval between re-imaging the same location is called the temporal resolution. The shorter the time intervals, the higher the temporal resolution. The higher the temporal resolution, the greater the monitoring capability thanks to almost real time satellite imaging.
For instance, in agriculture, accurate monitoring requires daily acquisition of imagery or high temporal resolution. This helps ensure that proper cloud-free images are provided. If the imagery is of low temporal resolution, there is a greater risk of missing information because cloud cover can result in a ten-day gap in information. Alternatively, images of field vegetation heterogeneity can possess greater spatial resolution but be more apart in time they were taken.
Often, it is necessary to find the optimal ratio between spatial and temporal resolution in order to obtain the best results. For users who work with remote sensing data, understanding how different resolutions affect the information provided is essential when comparing a variety of offerings in the remote sensing market.
Agricultural Management With Satellite Imagery
In the past, farmers and their service companies could spend hours inspecting huge fields to find and identify crop problems. However, the access to high spatial resolution and most up to date satellite images make these long and costly trips redundant. Farmers use satellite imagery to create detailed maps that quickly and accurately show the problem areas of their field. By analyzing crop health information, farmers can identify areas of their fields where crops are stressed. In addition, digital technologies that use satellite data often include tools to help communicate with employees like scouts easily, directing attention to the areas that need to be treated.
With even more data from satellite imagery, the same tools can also offer automatic problem detection with the help of vegetation indices measurements. Algorithms that detect rapidly deteriorating crop health can be used to generate alerts about areas that may be affected by pests, nutrient deficiencies, or water stress before they become serious problems. You can’t fix what you can’t see, and by noticing problems before they become a serious threat, growers can save crops, time, and money.
Satellite images of fields can be used to create prescription maps for variable rate application of fertilizers and other inputs. Similarly, timely satellite data can be used to understand crop growth stages. The imagery used for these targeted treatments can also serve as a reference at the end of the season when farmers need to assess how their treatments have affected crop yields.
EOS SAT Space Constellation For Agriculture
As the effectiveness of satellite field monitoring is hard to deny, more and more satellites are launched specifically for this purpose. More so, the EOSDA company will send an entire agri-focused satellite constellation to orbit. The project is called EOS SAT and will eventually consist of 7 small satellites sensing light in 13 agri-related bands, operating at the LEO orbit with the goal to contribute to sustainable agriculture, forestry, and other industries.
As the company already has its software products developed specifically for these industries, own constellation will allow it to acquire full control over the swarm assembly, satellite images of Earth collection, and analytics delivery. The first satellite of the constellation will be launched by the end of 2022, and all seven are planned to join by 2025.
Apart from increasing the effectiveness of delivering useful data for farmers, agri insurers, input supplies, agri-banks, etc, the constellation will enable the company to offer custom solutions, including field boundary detection, crop classification, and yield prediction.
Ultimately, EOS SAT will take precision and reliability of the company’s analytics to a new level, contributing to smarter resources management and sustainable production while still ensuring food demand satisfaction.
This article was provided by Tatiana Vasiltsova
