The Future of Satellites in Precision Agriculture

By AgriBusiness Global

Precision agriculture has found its way into the mainstream, writes Dan Jacobs at AgriBusiness Global. The extent of its ability to influence crop inputs remains to be seen. It’s clear, however, the explosion of drones and other smart technology in the agriculture space will continue to influence the industry, and manufacturers and distributors must adjust their businesses to accommodate the revolution the technology will bring.

In the buzz about drones and other technologies it’s easy to forget that one of the “older” technologies is still quite viable. Satellite technology has been around for decades and continues to serve the ag industry well. AgriBusiness Global™ interviewed Alexander Sakal, CSO of EOS Crop Monitoring, to get his thoughts on the current and future state of satellite technology and how it might impact the crop input industry.

How has satellite imagery/data changed over the past few years?

Alexander Sakal: Satellite data and imagery is not something technologically new. In fact, the first images from space were taken in 1946, even before the first satellites were launched. Data usage for both military and civilian purposes was getting bigger, more advanced as satellites began to capture it with various sensors that detect radiation, light emission, radio waves, and so on. This allowed for the monitoring of inaccessible areas of the planet, but the problem was that this information was usually either classified or unavailable for regular users. Technically, the way satellites operate today is not much different from, say, 30 years ago. However, the way we reach satellite data, process, and benefit from it is absolutely different. The agricultural sector is a great illustration of the advantages satellite monitoring provides for business.

Continue reading at AgriBusiness Global.