Innovative technologies evolve and entail changes in many areas of human activity. In this piece, you can learn about how satellite and IoT technologies influence farming and their role in developing this industry.
The Role of Satellite data
The use of satellite data improves many aspects of agriculture. This beneficial option gives farmers a chance to get information about possible issues and ensure the safety of the farm. An accurate weather forecast for several weeks in advance also helps create an optimal fieldwork plan. And in this matter, satellite data is irreplaceable.
Furthermore, satellite technologies enable farmers to control the situation on each separate segment of the field. Specialized software and applications use satellite data to calculate and visualize the NDVI index, displaying the density of green cover in your fields.
The given index helps to detect fieldwork that should be carried out soon and analyze the effects of previous actions. Satellite data-based agricultural technologies also enable farmers to create irrigation and fertilization systems and schedules.
The use of satellite data and the agricultural technologies based on it are constantly evolving. It means that farmers can increase their yield and profits accordingly while spending fewer resources. The risks associated with crop loss are also mitigated by technology, as you have the tools to control, predict, and respond to potential issues in time.
How is the Internet of Things Used in Agriculture?
The IoT has already changed a lot of the things we use on a day-to-day basis. However, its development did not stop creating a smart refrigerator that can offer your favorite soda. The business has definitely gone beyond upgrading kitchen utensils. So today, the IoT concept is being implemented in the healthcare system, transport, production, and city monitoring systems.
The topic of smart farming is becoming more and more popular. In a broad sense, it can be called the introduction of technology into agriculture to make life easier for farmers.
This improvement aims to enable farmers to receive information about potential threats and take the necessary measures before harm is done to crops or animals on the farm. Through The Internet of Things, various devices monitor fields and provide farmers with data on soil moisture levels and other essential parameters.
Innovative farming technologies can be used by private farmers and by governments interested in this area. For example, the US government has set aside a 7000-acre site of Beltsville Area Research Facility to test various technologies related to the IoT in the agricultural branch. This initiative is intended to help make data collection much easier in the future.
Three significant ways working with satellite data
Due to satellite technologies, farmers can quickly get information about the state of their crops. One of the main advantages of this technology is the fact that you have the opportunity to get up-to-date images for a small price, and in some cases, even for free. However, what are the existing ways of working with satellite data? There are three of them: monitoring, mapping, and measuring.
To classify and identify objects, we need to find patterns for mapping. Crop classification has long been the leading mapping application in the agricultural sphere. However, it was not the farmers who needed it because they always knew what they had on their land, but scientists and administrations.
The satellite can also be used as a measuring tool. Scientists’ complex models created for surface property determination have been translated into lsuhc indicators, now known as the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index.
Monitoring is the third way to work with satellite data and involves comparing values over time. This comparison is necessary to distinguish the changes taking place on Earth if we look at its surface as at the dynamic system. In agriculture, the activity of this system is expressed in sowing, harvesting, watering, and other procedures. In the long term, this technique can be used to observe land-use changes that are of great interest in global warming.
The use of the IoT applications
People employed in agriculture, like in any other business, need a complete list of data. These data include maintenance schedules for agricultural equipment, weather data, stock levels, and yield data.
Farmers use cloud computing to store and share data. If you store data on a remote server, having access to the Internet, you can synchronize all your devices and get a complete picture of all the events in the fields.
Crop monitoring is developing and transforming agribusiness. On the EOS Crop Monitoring platform, farmers have access to data that allows them to recognize and react to potential threats to crops in time, plan fieldwork, and analyze productivity based on historical data. However, none of this would have been possible without remote sensing data. It is the most efficient and reliable source of health information on agricultural land and crops.
As for the cattle monitoring via sensors, IoT enables farmers to obtain animal health data and analyze performance remotely. Using the sensors, you know the body temperature and get information about each animal’s nutrition and activity level. The livestock breeders receive data on the health of the herd as a whole. Furthermore, it’s a great option to track the location of every cattle unit.
