The datasets are provided by a series of federal agencies

Sep 29, 2012 08:50 GMT  ·  By

Determining which locations are appropriate for a specific type of crop, or if they are at all appropriate for growing crops, is the key to improving production and making the most out of a field. A number of satellites are helping farmers in the United States improve crop yields to their maximum potential.

NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS) operate the Landsat Earth-observing satellites, which are very efficient at revealing soil use patterns over specific areas. Farmers use maps compiled from these data to assess growing conditions over their fields.

This can help them figure out whether certain plants are using more nitrogen from the soil, and enables them to adjust their fertilizer use accordingly. But this is just one example of what these satellites can do. Some use them to assess soil moisture, another important measurement in agriculture.

Remote sensing is slowly replacing the standard approach to calculating potential crop yields and yield variability, which consists of walking through the fields, performing a series of checks at random locations, and then statistically determining how much produce an area will be capable of producing.

Compared to other orbital assets, Landsat has the advantage of durability. This network of satellites has thus far provided the longest-running record of soils in the United States. The first spacecraft in the series, Landsat 1, launched in 1972.

At this point, NASA is getting ready to launch the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The spacecraft will be the eight in the series, and is scheduled to take off next year. Its two main sensors will ensure uninterrupted data flows.

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) are very capable instruments, which can reveal several key variables that influence the soils. The data they will produce will be made freely available to farmers.

“OLI will measure energy in nine visible, near infrared, and short wave infrared portions, or bands, of the electromagnetic spectrum, and TIRS will measure energy in two thermal infrared bands. And that's what makes them such powerful tools,” NASA says in a statement.

“Each step of the way, OLI will look at Earth with a 15-meter (49 foot) panchromatic and a 30-meter (98 foot) multispectral spatial resolution along a ground swath that is 185 kilometers (115 miles) wide,” researchers at the American space agency add.

“TIRS will measure two thermal infrared spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 100 meters (328 feet) and cover the same size swath as OLI,” they conclude.