Eyes on Earth: Data helps farming and industry

Earth observation data can drive $3.8 trn in economic benefits while supporting climate change initiatives

Tremendous strides are being made in Earth observation (EO) and agriculture technology (agritech) as the world braces for the impact of climate change.

Two recent reports by the World Economic Forum (WEF) offer a roadmap for the future. EO refers to the collection of environmental data using remote sensing technologies. This information can be about natural and artificial activities on Earth —physical, chemical, biological — and anthropogenic (human) systems that are part of the overall ecology.

“Data collected from space and other sensors can benefit a wide range of business interests, both by strengthening financial performance and by supporting compliance with environmental regulations,” says one WEF report. “EO can play a helpful role in supporting organisations to advance climate and nature goals through verifying carbon reduction, understanding organisations’ impact and dependencies on nature, and identifying strategies that contribute to a nature-positive and net-zero economy.”

Such information, when properly processed and applied, by industry has the potential to drive $3.8 trillion in economic benefits while supporting climate change initiatives, says the report. The greatest impact will be in sectors like agriculture, electricity and utilities, government, public and emergency services, insurance and financial services, mining, oil and gas, and supply chain and transport.

EO data can be classified into several categories. These include measuring the geometry of natural and manmade structures, studying radio and ultraviolet radiation, identifying species of vegetation, identifying chemicals in land, water and greenhouses, and delineating shoreline and land coverage.

The information can help in consumer insights, supply chain monitoring, early warning and vulnerability analysis. The shipping industry can use EO data – along with global navigation satellite systems – to dynamically plan and optimise sea routes. For example, the Finnish Meteorological Office uses data from the European Union’s Copernicus programme to help ships navigate icy seas. Satellites and aircraft-borne sensors can monitor greenhouses like carbon dioxide and methane. The precision of these platforms has been used to pinpoint emissions sources like oil and gas pipeline leaks, says the report. 

A satellite has been launched to exclusively study the impact of methane on Earth’s atmosphere. MethaneSat combines high spatial resolution imagery and a wide field of view to provide unprecedented precision in identifying and tracking methane emission sources. 

The second WEF report focuses on agritech. “A number of agritech solutions have been available for almost a decade now, and have gone through a cycle of research, development, adoption and scale-up. However, to date these agritech services are yet to achieve scale when compared to the market potential that emerging economies offer,” it says. Industry players are coming together under WEF’s AI for Agri Innovation platform to use agritech at scale.

The report cites two case studies in India: AgriStack, developed by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and ADeX, developed by the Telangana government in collaboration with the WEF and the Indian Institute of Science. AgriStack facilitates digital services the government and private sector provide to farmers by giving information such as geotagged farm location and data on crops sown. ADeX works alongside the Agriculture Data Management Framework, which lays out policy enabling the government to share data with the private sector once a farmer has given consent.

Multi-country collaboration is helping initiatives in precision agriculture and biotechnology for plant resilience. A WEF unit in Saudi Arabia is collaborating with its counterpart in India on agritech.

The WEF reports show how technologies using precision data for targeted initiatives are gaining momentum. Greater adoption of such technologies can accelerate sustainable practices in industry and agriculture.