CubeSats deliver new insights into agricultural water use at daily and 3 m resolutions

Abstract

Earth observation has traditionally required a compromise in data collection. That is, one could sense the Earth with high spatial resolution occasionally; or with lower spatial fidelity regularly. For many applications, both frequency and detail are required. Precision agriculture is one such example, with sub-10 m spatial, and daily or sub-daily retrieval representing a key goal. Towards this objective, we produced the first cloud-free 3 m daily evaporation product ever retrieved from space, leveraging recently launched nano-satellite constellations to showcase this emerging potential. Focusing on three agricultural fields located in Nebraska, USA, high-resolution crop water use estimates are delivered via CubeSat-based evaporation modeling. Results indicate good model agreement (r2 of 0.86–0.89; mean absolute error between 0.06 and 0.08 mm/h) when evaluated against corrected flux tower data. CubeSat technologies are revolutionizing Earth observation, delivering novel insights and new agricultural informatics that will enhance food and water security efforts, and enable rapid and informed in-field decision making.

Satellite Remote Sensing and the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network: Current Science and Future Steps

“…At the smallest spatial scales (centimeters to meters), suborbital sensors, including those mounted on unoccupied aerial systems, have been used to observe benthic habitat characteristics such as the diversity of corals and algae (including patches) present (Collin et al, 2018;Johnston, 2019;Bell et al, 2020b;Monteiro et al, 2021). While the nanosatellite constellations, for example, CubeSats, can provide high spatial (4 m) and high temporal resolution information to monitor terrestrial systems (e.g., Aragon et al, 2021), their spectral resolutions and radiometric qualities currently limit their application to marine ecosystems. However, at scales of tens of meters, Landsat has provided time series of multispectral data since the 1970s at 30 m resolution and 16-day repeat.…”

Observing Sucrose Accumulation With Sentinel-1 Backscatter

“…The new Planet data improves cross-sensor inconsistencies due to variations in orbital configurations, spectral responses, and radiometric quality. The CubeSat ENabled Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method (CESTEM) creates a robust NDVI signal that can be used to observe high-frequency vegetation dynamics (Houborg and McCabe, 2018;Aragon et al, 2021;Planet Labs Inc, 2020).…”

COP26 Visions for a Net Zero Future – Regional Profile for the Arabian Peninsula

“…Reintroduction of traditional and other drought-resistant crops and plants that can withstand high salt concentrations are also being explored 313,[321][322][323][324] . Sophisticated technologies are also being deployed to improve agriculture such as satellite sensing and thermal imaging to monitor and enhance water use 314,325 , liquid nano clay treatments 314 , and hydrophobic sand 326 to improve moisture retention in agricultural soils. Another area of innovation is agrivoltaics, combining partially transparent solar panels for energy generation with agricultural production to optimise land use and economic return, and at the same time provide resilience to climate effects by shielding crops form harsh sunlight and wind and improving water retention [327][328][329] .…”