Sentinel-1 Crop Growth Monitor

Information on crop growth is an important metric allowing analysis of agricultural productivity, prediction of yield and prescription of appropriate interventions. This project will develop a service based on crop growth indices derived from time series of satellite radar data, emerging technology that was initially developed by RSAC in the MASCOTS project. The approach exploits data already being obtained and pre-processed by RSAC to produce our Land Cover® plus Crop Map product. The indices represent an improvement on some traditional optical indices, providing better correlation to growth stages and, because radar is unaffected by the weather, more frequent and reliable updates throughout the growing season that are also cheaper. To maximise market impact, we will secure a commercial arrangement with at least one suitable agri-industry market owner. Successful launch of the service would produce a greater return for RSAC on its investment in radar data pre-processing and result in significant growth of our small company, as it continues to evolve from a previously research project based company into a genuine provider of services. Innovate UK funding will de-risk Year 1 operations.