Ag21: William E. Stoney: Land Observation Satellites

Proceedings of the Workshop on Remote Sensing for Agriculture in the 21st Century October 23-25th, 1996 William E. Stoney Mitretek	\| Ag 21 Agenda \|
Land Observation Satellites The Next Ten Years

Outline

Satellites and agriculture
Potential PF scale satellites
The critical issues

Satellite roles for agriculture

Short and long term weather forecasts
Global, regional and local crop information

Predict crop production

Measure coverage and effect of weather events

Monitor compliance with government regulations
Research

Precision farming
Identify, measure and locate atypical (stressed etc.) areas at field level

Satellite Parameters

Optical sensors

Spatial resolution
Spectral bands
Repeat coverage

Radar

Frequency
Polarization
Repeat coverage

Basic "Agsat" characteristics

NOAA satellites, several foreign and EOS AM and PM

One to two day nadir repeat, 1 km to 250 meter resolution

Landsat like satellites

2 to 3 week nadir repeat; 5 to 30 meter resolution

Hi-resolution satellites

1 to 3 day pointing, 4 to 12 months nadir, repeat; 1 to 3 meter res.

Radar satellites

Multi-day(?), weekly to monthly repeat; 10 to 100 meter resolution

All multispectral or multiparameter sensors can, with some degree of fidelity, identify, measure the area of, and evaluate the condition of, all flora.

Critical satellite/sensor issues

Coverage, frequency and timeliness
Color bands
Spatial resolution
Sensor calibration
Atmospheric correction

Concluding remarks on the critical satellite/sensor issues

Coverage frequency and timeliness

Cloud cover effects are significant (if not deadly)

Determines the # of satellites (with and without pointing)

Is SAR the best (only) answer?

Color bands

Need to define the minimum number and band locations required
Will hyperspectral significantly increase value for PF?

Resolution

Need to define minimum needed (big satellite and ground cost driver)
Do PAN sharpening bands help?

Sensor calibration

What are the calibration requirements for PF functions?

Are current Spot and IRS calibrations usable?
Is multi-year or multi-satellite calibration important?

Atmospheric correction

Is atmospheric correction required for PF functions?
What is the relative importance of sensor calibration and atmospheric correction for PF functions?

What about the alternatives

Aircraft, UAV?

Proceedings of the Workshop on Remote Sensing for Agriculture in the 21st Century

William E. Stoney

Land Observation Satellites

The Next Ten Years