GrainsWest Winter 2017

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By Kristina Polziehn HEADOF THE CLASS
Sixthsense
Winter 2017 37
Puttingremote-sensingdata towork for farmers
Nuffield Canada’s main
mission is to foster agricultural leader-
ship and personal development through
international travel and study. Each year,
Nuffield Canada awards three or four
scholarships to Canadian individuals
with a passion for agriculture, for the sole
purpose of travel and study.
As a recipient of a 2017 Nuffield Canada
Scholarship, funded through the Alberta
Wheat Commission (AWC), I feel fortu-
nate and ecstatic to be among the win-
ners. It is humbling to have the Nuffield
Canada community and AWC recognize
and support my passion for agriculture
and desire for learning.
There are several avenues to conduct
applied research in Canada, most through
traditional research programs. However,
independent agronomists like myself are
sometimes inspired by questions that
cannot always be answered through these
conventional avenues.
The Nuffield Canada Scholarship is
a unique learning opportunity to travel
abroad while studying and networking
with individuals who share a similar pas-
sion for agriculture. Scholarship recipients
are given a chance to transfer knowledge
and foster new ideas that benefit Canadi-
an farmers. Through collaborations and
study abroad, we can work to advance
research and innovation in our own Cana-
dian agriculture industry.
Many of us in agriculture learn by
doing. Therefore, when we can share with
others our experiences of success and
failure with new agricultural practices
or technologies—no matter which part
of the world we call home—everyone in
agriculture benefits. Access to a lifelong
global learning network like the Nuffield
community is an experience unlike any
applied research program in Canada.
When I began my crop consulting
business, Axiom Agronomy Ltd., two years
ago, I was excited to incorporate remote
sensing into my business plan. Remote
sensing is the science and art of acquir-
ing information about our environment
or the surface of the Earth using sensors
on airborne or space-borne platforms. I
became interested in the technology and
the science behind it, as it proved to be a
field that would have important agronom-
ic applications.
Recently, most of the excitement sur-
rounding remote sensing in agriculture
has been directed at the acquisition of
data through drones and the selection
of sensors that can be placed onboard.
Unfortunately, processing and interpret-
ing the information collected by these
sensors has not been met with the same
enthusiasm.
Over the last two years, I have worked
closely with AgPixel, LLC, a company
in Johnston, Iowa, that specializes in
processing and analyzing aerial imagery.
I quickly gained an immense apprecia-
tion for the complexity of processing and
analyzing remotely sensed data. During
that time, I also learned how progressive
the United States has become regarding
the use of remote sensing in agriculture,
especially compared with Canada. This
begged an important question: What is
the rest of the world doing?
For the duration of my Nuffield Canada
Scholarship, I will study applications of
remote sensing in agriculture, with a
focus on crop production in areas with
intensive agriculture similar to Canada,
such as Australia, South America and Eu-
rope. I will focus on all three features of
remote-sensing science—the acquisition,
processing and interpretation of remotely
sensed data.
One main objective will be to identi-
fy key advantages and disadvantages of
acquiring remotely sensed data through
manned and unmanned aircraft and
satellites. Additionally, I will aim to
identify sensors and their data-processing
requirements in order to provide valuable
information to farmers.
Information is power. Having the right
tools for collecting data, along with the
right processing techniques, can provide
useful and relevant information. Equally
important will be determining how to in-
terpret the data and put it to work for farm-
ers. A key objective, and possibly the most
important part of the project, will be to
identify practical applications for remote-
ly sensed data and learn how it has been
used in other parts of the globe—either on
farms or as part of research programs that
provide direct benefits to farmers.
It seems fitting that while remote
sensing technologies allow us to view and
process our world in many new ways, our
industry has a supportive partner like
Nuffield Canada that provides new ways
to study agriculture.
Kristina Polziehn holds a in plant
science from the University of Alberta and
is a professional agrologist and Certified
Crop Adviser.