How space data are transforming the global food system
Growing food is becoming more difficult as our climate changes and population grows. Earth observation is enabling data-driven change in agriculture, helping farmers adapt to today's challenges.
Earth observation data from ESA missions help scientists build a detailed picture of the Earth's environment. Satellites collect data that contribute to long-term datasets on aspects, such as vegetation cover, soil properties and seasonal conditions.
ESA's Earth Explorer missions study the interactions between Earth's systems and elucidate how human activities impact them. One such mission - SMOS – studies changes in soil moisture and ocean salinity.
With SMOS data, scientists can create maps of soil moisture to show the risk and extent of agricultural drought. This helps farmers and agri-businesses adapt to such threats.
Another important ESA Earth Explorer mission that will support agriculture is the forthcoming Fluorescence EXplorer (FLEX) mission. Once in space, it will be the first satellite capable of measuring photosynthetic activity in plants.
Flying in tandem with the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission, FLEX will provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence. These maps will contain detailed information on plant health, helping farmers to better plan their crops and improve yields.
Although now inactive, Envisat, an ESA mission launched in 2002, also played a role in agriculture. By combining information collected by Envisat's instruments, remote sensing experts were able to produce land maps to monitor crops.
ESA is also working to acquire commercial data from Third Party Missions that can be useful for agriculture. For example, the ICEYE constellation of satellites collects information on crop damage caused by natural events, such as storms or floods.
Another example are the Pléiades Neo satellites, which provide images with a resolution of up to 30 centimetres all over the world, with a high revisit frequency. This makes it possible to monitor vegetation with remarkable precision.
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