GrainsWest Fall 2019

Tech 2019 Grains West 26 ITH THE LAUNCHOF THE RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), a world of new and improved data will be available to the agricultural sector. The RCM includes three identical Earth observation satellites sent into orbit on June 12, 2019. “Canada launched its RADARSAT-1 mission in 1995,” said Heather McNairn, a federal research scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Ottawa Research and Development Centre. “It was used primarily for monitoring ice flow to aid ship navigation. RADARSAT-2 in 2007 expanded the scope to include land-based monitoring such as forestry, wetlands and flood activity.” Whereas the first two launches were large, single satellites, the RCM includes three smaller satellites. This approach is a response to the huge demand for marine and land data. “With three satellites we can gather more data and do it three times as frequently,” said McNairn. “This is important for tracking things that may change rapidly like soil moisture and flooding.” W TUNED TO THE RIGHT FREQUENCY The higher frequency of imaging offered by the RCM could be of significant benefit to farmers. “From an agronomy standpoint, if we can pinpoint soil moisture more precisely in the spring, we may be able to make better yield estimations, as yield is driven by moisture,” said JP Pettyjohn, crop technology instructor at Lakeland College in Vermilion. “Armed with estimates, we can set our fertilizer levels to maximize efficiency.” In addition to the greater image quantity, there is a quality aspect to the RCM that distinguishes it from many of its orbital peers. “Compared to the optical data provided by a lot of satellites, the biggest advantage of radar data coming from the RCM is that it’s not affected by weather conditions and can see through clouds,” said Aaron Berg, professor and Canada research chair, department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Guelph. “That’s critical in Canada, as we can now get regular, high-resolution updates on vegetation and crop health, crop phenology and seeding conditions.” AMAP FOR SUCCESS The maps generated from satellite data will eventually aid farmers with agricultural decision making as the information is fed into precision ag systems and employed by agronomists and researchers. The AAFC annual crop inventory maps, which classify crops grown in every field across Canada, are currently produced from RADARSAT-2 and other satellite data. These maps are publicly available for free through the Government of Canada open data portal. Now that the RCMhas been launched, the Agro-Climate, Geomatics and Earth Observation (ACGEO) division of AAFC plans to use its radar data to enhance the maps. “There are two important characteristics of RCM that will help the crop inventory maps,” said McNairn. “With three satellites, we expect to get more images during the growing season. Secondly, there is an advanced mode on RCM called compact polarimetry or CP. With this mode, more information about the target—which in this case is crops— can be gathered. It’s a bit like looking at a black and white picture versus that same picture in colour or infrared. With more data and this CP mode, we expect that the accuracy of the maps will increase, and that some crops that may have been more difficult to identify could be pinpointed more easily.” As well, while the government’s optical satellites now deliver weekly crop- condition maps, AAFC is developing methods to upgrade this information based on RCM’s cloud-free imagery and more frequent data collection. With the growing focus on precision agriculture, the RCM launch is a timely one, largely for its contribution to data layering. Much of precision agriculture is about using all areas of the field as efficiently as possible, which helps to maximize profits while minimizing environmental damage. “RCM data will shed light on which areas of the farm are performing well under certain inputs, and which spots FEATURE ORBITAL AGRONOMICS Satellites launch bold new era for farmers PHOTOS COURTESY OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD CANADA DATA CULTIVATION