Government to open purchased satellite data for precision agriculture

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is investing 1.4 million euros in the purchase of satellite data that can help farmers to irrigate, fertilize and spray crops in a targeted manner. The raw data will be made available for everyone to analyze.

The measurement data comes from Earth observation satellites located in low orbits, or low earth orbits, from 500 to 900 kilometers around the Earth. With measurement systems, they can provide information about specific areas, such as soil quality, moisture content, temperature and the atmosphere. They do this, for example, with high-resolution cameras, multispectral scanners, microwave systems and image spectrometers.

The government will make the satellite data available for free and freely as raw data for the upcoming growing season via satellitedataportaal.nl. The analysis of the raw data is done by specialist companies that can provide farmers with advice on the development of crops, biomass and the nitrogen and starch content in crops. They can also provide targeted fertilization and irrigation advice. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, this allows farmers to save on fuel, seeds, fertilizer, crop protection products and water.

The government has been investing in precision agriculture experiments for some time, as part of the National Experimental Garden Precision Agriculture project. The ministry has set aside 2 million euros for this, of which 1.4 million euros is now used for the satellite data.