Sentinels Synergy for Agriculture (SENSAGRI) aimed at providing Copernicus, the European Union Earth Observation programme, with prototypes for new core services targeted to the agricultural sector.
Copernicus is an ambitious programme that is producing a wealth of information from a constellation of different satellites, the Sentinels, on a free and open data policy basis. While some useful services for the agricultural sector are already implemented, there is an enormous potential for new applications and services. Two of the Copernicus satellite missions, namely Sentinel-1 (S1) and Sentinel-2 (S2), are especially suited for agriculture applications. Both satellites obtain images at high spatial resolution (up to 10 m) with high frequency (each five days or less) and are therefore capable of providing highly dynamic field-level information at a pan-European scale.
In response of the Horizon 2020 work programme topic EO-3-2016 (Evolution of Copernicus Services), SENSAGRI aimed to exploit the unprecedented capacity of S1 and S2 to develop an innovative portfolio of prototypes for agricultural monitoring services. SENSAGRI has exploited the synergy of optical (S1) and radar (S2) measurements to develop three prototype services capable of near real time operations: (1) Surface Soil Moisture (SSM), (2) green and brown leaf area index (LAI) and (3) crop type mapping. In addition, SENSAGRI proposes four advanced proof-of-concept services: (i) yield/biomass, (ii) tillage change, (iii) irrigation and (iv) advanced crop maps.
The developed algorithms have been validated in four European agricultural test areas in Spain, France, Italy and Poland, which are representative of the European crop diversity. To ensure that the prototypes are developed fulfilling the Copernicus Land strategic goals, a periodic communication with the Copernicus Entrusted Entities was maintained during the project life. A continuous relationship with other similar projects was also maintained, to maximize synergies and complementarities.
The main SENSAGRI project achieved objectives are to:
1. Combine the Copernicus S1 radar with S2 optical and in-situ data in order to develop new applications for the European agricultural sector
2. Develop prototype services of SSM, green and brown LAI and seasonal crop type mapping and use those for proof-of-concept services of advanced agricultural monitoring products
3. Validate delivered services and establish service demonstration cases to show the large application potential of the new upstream data products
4. Disseminate prototype and proof-of-concept services and interact services with the agricultural sector and the Copernicus Entrusted Entities.
