EO4SeedMon project was funded by ESA under the Value Added Element programme. It aimed at leveraging new space technologies to address the specific requirements of the seed production sector. A key element to producing world-class seeds is tailored agricultural practices with continuous monitoring of the plants during the growing season. Satellite data can provide information about soil conditions and plant stress. This information is then exploited to optimise field management and, ultimately, plant growth. Specific satellite-derived information products and operational services were thus developed and demonstrated in this project.

1. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 1

2. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 2
Overview
1. In a nutshell…
 GIM
 ESA’s aim
2. Target demand area
 Specific characteristics of selected sector
 Precision Farming
3. Innovative character
4. Project achievements
 Facts and figures
 Developed products and services
5. Follow-up activities

3. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 3
In a nutshell…
 GIM: Solid partners, flexible solutions!
 Independent SME created in 1994 with a staff
of 45 people and supporting its public and private
clients in becoming “GEO-efficient”
 Experts in EO, GIS, Geo-ICT and location intelligence
+ training centre and data & SW distribution
 ESA’s aim: support the EU value-adding industry
 Explore new developments made possible by the
availability of new EO sensors in order to grow the
demand for EO-based services from private sector

4. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 4
Target demand area
 Field crops seed
production industry
 New market segment
not yet using EO
to support its operations
 Specific characteristics:
 Industrial agriculture with high expertise and unique production
organisation  constant investments in new technologies
 Stable and recurrent needs  sustainability
 Labour intensive high added value crops  affordability
 Concentrations of production fields in specific regions around
the world  access to EO data
 Row crops with specific layout  challenging requirements

5. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 5
Precision farming
 "Ecologically intensive agriculture"
 New technologies to put the farmers on the road to success!
 But on a sustainable way!
 Satellite technologies:
 Satellite Navigation
 Earth Observation
 Process optimisation
to come to a better yield
 Save time, money
and the environment!

6. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 6
Precision farming
 In practice…
 Collect additional information using space assets, to
consider within parcel heterogeneity and for
 Direct use on the machine: position/guidance or zoning/VRA
 Decision support:
better production planning,
targeted field scouting,
mitigation actions,
field interventions,
adjust doses, timing,
soil sampling, etc

7. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 7
Innovative character
 New space technologies
 What do they offer?
 Rapid revisit: specific orbit, constellation, agility and live weather
 High spatial resolution: 8/2 m, 5 m, 2/0.5 m
 Increased spectral resolution: Red-edge, 8 bands
 Operational services
 NRT data access and processing
 Adapted image processing methodologies and automation
 Enhanced dedicated services: go beyond the map!

8. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 8
Achievements
 Facts and figures
 Partnership with a world leader: SESVanderHave
 100+ parcels (3-5 ha) monitored
 2 growing seasons (2010 and 2011)
thanks to contract extension
 27 very high resolution images collected
 Weekly frequency during the peak of the season
 Data access 3-4 h after acquisition
 NRT processing and information available the next morning for
the field technicians to take actions and optimise their activities

9. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 9
Achievements
 Developed products and services
 Based on an in-depth requirements analysis
 Based on advanced processing chains: pre-processing
steps, spectral mixture analysis, automation, specific
infrastructure and interfaces, etc
 Calibrated/validated: numerous
field campaigns and in situ
measurements
 Demonstrated added value and
benefits: early warning, complete
overview and targeted field scouting, etc

10. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 10
Achievements
 Operational services thanks to ESA support!
 Based on winter images:
 Soil nature and heterogeneity to optimise the production
plan with the contracted farmers
 Based on summer images:
Crop monitoring and specific recommendations +
indications on detected issues
including exact location, extent,
severity

11. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 11
Follow-up activities
 2012 season
 Complete service provision fully paid by SESVanderHave
 2013-2014: further R&D and re-analysis
 Developement of a set of specific indicators (geostatistics)
 Regression analysis: EO-derived metrics vs yield and seed
quality to prove predictive value
 Linked activities
 Other operational services development for tropical plantations
sustainable management, irrigation management in orchards,
etc  capitalising on experience gained during EO4SeedMon

12. Space Apps for Be - 19/06/2014 12
Questions?
 Contact details
 vincent.tigny@gim.be
+32 16 40 30 39