Geospatial World September 2013 by Geospatial World

The BIG STORY: Agriculture

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The Geo-Green Revolution | P. 28

LatAm Calling | P. 64

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Inside...

September 2013 • Vol 4 • Issue 2 Corner Office

The Big Story: Agriculture

18 B ert Turner, Senior Vice President,

28 The Geo Green Revolution

Sales, DigitalGlobe

Mark Noort & Anand Kashyap

Articles

Special Focous: Latin America

38 G-tech key for a Common Agriculture

64 LatAm calling, Renata Dias Rodrigues

Policy, Philippe Loudjani

42 RS technology for crop insurance,

07 Editorial

Dr Joachim Herbold

48 UAS to monitor crop health status,

08 News

Tamme Van Der Wal

50 Brazil: GIS for sustainable agriculture,

16 Product Watch

Mateus Batistella

Case Studies

72 OGC Column

52 Smart ICT for weather information 54 Geospatial tools for rainfed agriculture 56 Profiling agricultural activities

74 Events

through GIS 58 GIS field survey for agri planning 60 Monitoring agricultural lands via remote sensing 62 Optimising sugarcane crops with precision agriculture

Cover Story 22 Trimble: Transforming the world, Bhanu Rekha

Interview 46 Dr Hanns-Christoph Eiden, President, BLE, Germany

Advisory Board

Disclaimer Geospatial World does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in the publication. All views expressed in this issue are those of the contributors. Geospatial World is not responsible for any loss to anyone due to the information provided.

Owner, Publisher & Printer Sanjay Kumar Printed at M. P. Printers B - 220, Phase-II, Noida - 201 301, Gautam Budh Nagar (UP) India Publication Address A - 92, Sector - 52, Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida, India The edition contains 76 pages including cover

Aida Opoku Mensah Special Advisor, Post 2015 Development Agenda, UN Economic Commisssion for Africa

Derek Clarke Chief Director-Survey and Mapping & National Geospatial Information, Rural Development & Land Reform, South Africa

CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan

Bryn Fosburgh Barbara Ryan Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations

Sector Vice-President, Executive Committee Member, Trimble Navigation

Dorine Burmanje Chair-Executive Board, Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster), The Netherlands

Dawn J. Wright Chief Scientist, Esri

Dr. Hiroshi Murakami Greg Bentley CEO, Bentley Systems

Director-General of Planning Department, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan

Prof. Ian Dowman

Chair, Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria

Lisa Campbell

Mark Reichardt

Vice President, Engineering & Infrastructure, Autodesk

President and CEO, Open Geospatial Consortium

Juergen Dold

Kamal K Singh

President Hexagon Geosystems

Chairman and CEO, Rolta Group

Mohd Al Rajhi Matthew O’Connell CEO, Adhoc Holdings

Ramon Pastor Vice-President and General Manager, Large Format Printing Business, Hewlett-Packard

Geospatial World | September 2013

Stephen Lawler Chief Technology Officer, Bing Maps, Microsoft

Publisher Sanjay Kumar

Publications Team Managing Editor Prof. Arup Dasgupta Editor — Building & Energy Geoff Zeiss Editor — Agriculture Mark Noort

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Vanessa Lawrence Dr Swarna Subba Rao Surveyor General of India

Director General and Chief Executive, Ordnance Survey, UK

Editor — Latin America (Honorary) Tania Maria Sausen Editor — Geospatial World Weekly Dr. Hrishikesh Samant Executive Editor Bhanu Rekha Deputy Executive Editor Anusuya Datta Product Manager Harsha Vardhan Madiraju Sub-Editor Ridhima Kumar Graphic Designer Debjyoti Mukherjee Circulation Manager Amit Shahi

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ndia is going through an economic crisis; the Rupee is falling, the stock markets are down and gold prices are going through the roof. In the backdrop of all this, the Indian government decided to bring in a Food Security Bill to ensure minimum nutrition to the underprivileged and the poor. India Inc’s fear that scarce funds will be diverted from industry to agriculture is adding to the turmoil. However, food is something that is the very basis of our existence and the very underpinning of civilisation. While tremendous developments have happened in different sectors; those early agricultural crops have remained the same over the centuries. What has changed are the technique of agriculture and food processing and preservation. Today, we can observe another major change, this time in the use of geospatial technology to bring efficiency and higher yields. This has become an imperative as the world population grows, nutrition requirements increase, while land — the essential base for agriculture — remains limited, and in fact, under pressure from conflicting demands from different sectors like infrastructure, urbanisation, commercial crops and forestry, to name a few. Land must be sustainably used; yields must be improved; wastage must be reduced; distribution should become efficient and ubiquitous. In this situation, geospatial technologies can play a vital role in inventory of resources, planning, monitoring and efficient implementa-

tion of activities. These applications have moved beyond Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment, which used remote sensing data to assess crop acreage and production estimation. Today, remote sensing, GIS and GPS is being used in precision agriculture to optimise application of inputs to maximise yield. According to Trimble, these solutions aim to provide the farmer with the best possible outcome for himself, his family, his investors, and indirectly for the customers and the environment. The idea is to provide analysis, optimise practices, increase productivity and make the best use of available resources. The ‘industry’ of agriculture also requires insurance against unexpected damage due to extreme weather events. Climate change poses many problems and geo-technologies offers solutions. In this issue we have endeavoured to cover all these aspects with stories of geospatial application as well as a review of the role of geospatial technologies and their use by various institutions. Agriculture is now as complex as any other manufacturing industry, perhaps more so, because, if agriculture fails everything else will. Napoleon said “an army marches on its stomach”; a statement which can be extended to any human activity, I may add. It is, therefore, but natural that geospatial systems, like many other technologies, should play an important role in agriculture.

Geospatial World | September 2013

Americas news Business Trimble adds DigitalGlobe imagery to mobile apps Trimble has entered into an agreement with DigitalGlobe to license its satellite imagery for offline use in Trimble Outdoor mobile apps. This will allow outdoor enthusiasts to view and store imagery on their smartphones and tablets. In addition, DigitalGlobe imagery will be available for highresolution, large-format custom prints at MyTopo.com, a Trimble company. DigitalGlobe will provide imagery down to a 30-cm resolution for the continental US and 50-cm resolution globally, effective immediately.

GPS companies sued for $1.9 bn by Harbinger Harbinger Capital has sued agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co and Global Positioning System companies for damages of $1.9 billion as it looks to recoup its investment in the bankrupt wireless company LightSquared. The lawsuit’s defendants, which include GPS companies Garmin International and Trimble Navigation, had opposed LightSquared’s plans to build a wireless network because of concerns that this would interfere with GPS systems, which are used in everything from farming to airline navigation. Harbinger, which has spent billions of dollars on LightSquared, said in a complaint that it never would have made the investments if the GPS industry had disclosed potential interference problems between the LightSquared spectrum and GPS equipment between 2002 and 2009. 8

Geospatial World | September 2013

Intermap bags airborne mapping contract

Apple looks for ‘ground truth experts’ to improve its maps

Intermap Technologies has won a $3.5 million airborne mapping contract for hi-res 3D digital models of the earth’s surface aggregated with customerspecific data. for 3D digital model of earth’s surface The Denverbased company said it was using its proprietary Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) mapping technology on the new project to collect orthorectified radar imagery and hi-resolution elevation data to update the unnamed customer’s existing geospatial map database. Final deliveries of the project’s dataset — used for improved disaster planning, resource management, security interests, and infrastructure planning — are slated to be completed by the first quarter 2014.

The Maps Team at Apple is looking for a small army of Maps Ground Truth Local Experts to help beef up its data quality for its iOS Maps app. The launch of Apple’s Maps in September of 2012 was met with heavy criticism over the quality and accuracy of the geographic data. Currently listed are 39 jobs calling for Ground Truth Local Experts and Maps Ground Truth Regional Managers on Apple’s site. Ground Truth Experts are being sought for many major cities around the world with locations such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tel Aviv, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Dublin. The job requirements call for successful applicants to have resided in the city of interest for at least five years, have some experience evaluating map quality, and strong English language skills.

$3.5 mn

Google Maps is the world’s most used smartphone app Google Maps is the mostused smartphone app in the world, according to newly released data recorded over the second quarter of 2013. The data, collected and correlated by digital media agency GlobalWebIndex, shows the most popular apps by usage among the world’s 969.49 million smartphone Courtesy: Mashable users over the second quarter of 2013. According to the findings, Google Maps was at the very head of the top 10 most actively used smartphone apps with 54% of smartphone users having accessed it during the survey period. Coming in second was the Facebook app, which 44% of smartphone users accessed; 35% went on YouTube via the app; and, in fourth position was the Google+ mobile app, used by 30%.

Miscellaneous

Students fake GPS signals to ‘hijack’ $80-million yacht

‘Far Out’ knows where you’ll be on a precise date in future

A team of GPS experts at the University of Texas used a laptop, a small antenna and an electronic GPS ‘spoofer’ built for $3,000 to take control of the sophisticated navigation system aboard an $80 million, 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea. By feeding counterfeit radio signals to the yacht, GPS expert Todd Humphreys The 213-foot White Rose whose GPS navigational and his team at the University of Texas were able to drive the system was spoofed ship far off course, steer it left and right, potentially take it into treacherous waters, even put it on a collision course with another ship. All the time, the ship’s GPS system reported the vessel was calmly moving in a straight line, along its intended course. The experiment highlighted how vulnerable the world’s GPS system is to hackers.

A screenshot from the Far Out mapping software

Researchers from Microsoft and Google have developed new tracking software that can predict future location of a person. The programme called ‘Far Out’ tracks people using a GPS device and learns their routine. It then makes predictions about where that person will be in future years. It is capable of reacting to changes in jobs, relationships and moving house. Far Out software uses an algorithm to predict where a person will be in the future, based on where they have been in the past. It does this by accurately ‘learning’ a person’s routine. .

Report calls for sustained Landsat programme Despite being essential to the US national security, the future of Landsat satellites is in jeopardy, warns a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that prepared the report warned that while the US pioneered frequent-repeat global imaging, “other nations are now

developing systems whose capability rivals or exceeds US systems.” The committee’s primary recommendation is that the federal government establishes a sustained and enhanced land imaging programme with an overarching national strategy and longterm commitment, including clearly defined programme requirements, management responsibilities, and continued funding.

Skybox Imaging to launch 24 satellites by 2018 Skybox Imaging plans to launch 24 satellites into orbit by 2018. Most of these satellites will focus on earth observation. With $91 million in venture-capital funding, Skybox Imaging is focusing on low-cost satellites. The company says their satellites cost under $50 million a piece. Skybox focuses on the use of less expensive cameras and using its software to stitch together strings of lower resolution images intone visu-

alisation. At roughly the dimensions of a mini-fridge, Skybox’s 200-pound satellites are also far smaller than conventional models.

Brazil Mobile mapping to create road map In view of the upcoming major sporting events in Brazil, TomTom has deployed its advanced Mobile Mapping (MoMa) technology in the country. The phased MoMa programme aims to provide road users with the most accurate maps of over 85,000 kilometres of the country’s road network by early 2014. It is the first time the advanced Mobile Mapping vehicle units have been used in Brazil and as a result, combined with input from road-users via TomTom’s MapShare programme, the company is able to provide the assurance of a more secure, precise trip for drivers across the country. Geospatial World | September 2013

Courtesy: University of Texas

Americas news

Europe news France Astrium, Thales Alenia bag UAE spy satellite contract After a decade-long negotiation, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces finally contracted with Astrium Satellites and Thales Alenia Space of France to provide the two-satellite Falcon Eye high-resolution optical reconnaissance system. The contract is valued at €800 million, (approximately $1.1 billion). The contract includes the construction of two satellites weighing less than 1,500 kg each; their separate launches in late 2017 and contract from UAE early 2018 armed forces likely aboard European Vega rockets; two ground facilities for satellite control and image reception; and training of UAE personnel in France.

$1.1 bn

Sentinel series of earth observation satellites, concluding that any harm to private-sector satellite operators will be outweighed by the expected growth in value-added services derived from the data. After a long process of evaluation that included input from the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC), the commission has agreed to align itself with a policy already adopted by the 20-nation European Space Agency (ESA).

UK UN-GGIM endorses future trends in geo-information

CryoSat maps largest-ever ﬂood beneath Antarctica ESA’s CryoSat satellite has found a vast crater in Antarctica’s icy surface. Scientists believe the crater was left behind when a lake lying under about 3 km of ice suddenly drained off. By combining new measurements acquired by CryoSat with older data from NASA’s ICESat satellite, the team has mapped the large crater left behind by a lake, and even determined the scale of the flood that formed it.

EC permits free access to earth observation data The European Commission has agreed to permit free access to data from its 10

Geospatial World | September 2013

The third session of the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) took place in Cambridge, UK. The session was convened back-to-back with the Cambridge Conference, and made considerable progress in fulfilling the GGIM’s mandate to enhance collaboration and support the use of geospatial information to promote sustainable development globally. The Co-Chair of the Committee, Vanessa Lawrence (United Kingdom), opened the session. It was attended by 238 participants, among them 173 representatives from

66 Member States and 1 Non-Member State. The Committee of Experts endorsed the first edition of the report “Future trends in geospatial information management: the five to ten year vision” and noted that this report was meant to be a ‘living document’ and will be revised from time to time to reflect changes in the technology and environment. The Committee also considered the trends in national institutional arrangements in geospatial information management; developing a global map for sustainable development; legal and policy frameworks, including critical issues related to authoritative data; establishing and implementing standards for the global geospatial information community. Recognising the growing demand for more precise positioning services and the economic importance of a global geodetic reference frame, the Committee welcomed the report prepared by the Geodetic Reference Framework for Sustainable Development Working Group of UNGGIM Asia-Pacific, in collaboration with the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).

One-reference geoinfo service for Europe Ordnance Survey, which reports to the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS), UK, has signed the consortium agreement and grant agreement to participate in the European

Location Framework (ELF) project. The EU-funded project will provide the platform for a global standard of geographic information to enhance business without barriers across Europe. The three-year project, consisting of three phases, is supported by a consortium of 30 partners across Europe, whose work is co-funded by the European Commission.

Courtesy: Rutherford Appleton Laborator

Europe news

Tool locates any spot on Earth using three-word code

Earth observation sensor to hunt for explosives Satellite technology intended for earth observation has been adapted to create an instrument that can recognise explosives remotely. Developed by a team of scientists in the UK, the system uses an infrared laser to detect volatile compounds in explosives

works, but it is likely that it triangulates signal strength to work out exactly where the 1.5 gigahertz signal that a GPS jammer emits is coming from.

FINLAND HERE brings real-time trafﬁc to Esri and other dangerous materials. The new explosives detector was created by Damien Weidmann and his team at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The researchers believe that the flexibility and range of the Active Coherent Laser Spectrometer (ACLaS) makes it ideal for all kinds of hazardous or undercover gaseous-phase sampling, including detecting toxic leaks, chemical-warfare agents, illegal drugs manufacture or highly localised industrial air pollution.

Radar gun spots illegal GPS jammers in vehicles

HERE, a Nokia business, has announced that it is bringing its real- time traffic information to Esri. With HERE Traffic, Esri will enhance its Web and Cloud location platform with more precise location data for intelligent routing. Fleet operators will be able to better manage problems as they occur in real time, re-routing fleets when traffic unexpectedly hits, and providing alerts when pickup or delivery delays occur. With congestion in the top 100 highway bottlenecks getting worse real-time traffic information helps fleets avoid traffic hotspots so that they get can get to their destinations faster and more safely.

Norway

Courtesy: Chronos Technology

A new mapping service could spell the end of the modern-day postcode. The ‘what3words’ app has divided the globe into 57 trillion 3X3 metre squares and labelled each area with just a three-word address to help make finding locations more accurate and memorable. The w3w pin can be moved around the Google Map and it will show the code for the precise point where the pin has been placed. Alternatively, users can search the site for landmarks or addresses to find that location’s code. Or three random words can be entered, each separated by a full stop, to find surprise location. Once a location has been identified it can be shared by email, Facebook, Twitter or GPS systems. What3words is available on Web browsers as well as through Android and iOS apps.

ACLaS was adapted from satellite sensing technology

Norway says no to Apple’s 3D mapping of Oslo

The battle against truckers and motorists who jam GPS signals has moved up a gear. UK-based Chronos Technology has developed new handheld radar to identify which vehicles are illegally using the GPS signal jammers. This new device can identify where a jammer-using vehicle is in a multi-storey car park — and can pinpoint portable devices in drivers’ pockets when they have left their cars. Chronos has not revealed how the device

Norway is barring Apple from taking 3D images of Oslo buildings out of fear for national security. The country’s National Security Authority told the Cupertino company that it is not allowed to fly over Oslo to take 3D images, a feature now available in Apple’s Maps App. National Security Authority director Oyvind Mandt said he was concerned Apple would inadvertently reveal sensitive security features associated with critical buildings in the city. A 3D representation could also show different weaknesses in the country’s safety measures. Geospatial World | September 2013

Asia news Philippines

China’s new ‘10-dash line map’ irks Philippines

Massive regional literacy mapping to boost education

Sinomap, the Chinese China’s 10-dash line map state mapping authority, recently published a new ‘10-dash line’ map that shows the Philippines’ offshore territories within Chinese ‘national boundaries’. The Philippines, along with several other countries, have protested against this development. The map was published in January and it features a line with 10 dashes instead of nine to mark a huge strip of the South China Sea in encirclement as Chinese territory. Nine dashes in the new Chinese map are in the South China Sea and a 10th dash has been placed near Taiwan, to signify that territory’s status as a Chinese province. The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) handed over a confidential note to the Chinese Embassy in Manila in the month of June. The note said it “protests the reference to those dash lines as China’s national boundaries.”

The Department of Education, Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR), will conduct a massive regional literacy mapping to survey all indigenous peoples (IP) and non-IP learners, out-of-school youths and adults in all the Barangays of the region. A Memorandum issued by DepEd-CAR Regional Director Ellen B. Donato stated that the RLM was a locally initiated project that aimed to support the attainment of the universalisation of the basic education and the objectives of the education for all (EFA) and would involve participation of all Barangay officials to assist in the conduct of the mapping.

Indonesia GIS to assist economic growth in Indonesia Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Indonesia is currently looking for establishing a GIS capacity in its offices for collecting, managing, analysing and presenting geographic information in support of the Green Prosperity Project. This is part of the large cooperation where the MCC and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia have entered into an agreement of Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) assistance to help facilitate poverty reduction through economic growth in Indonesia. The MCC funding is in the range of $600 million. MCA-Indonesia intends to use a portion of the funds towards implementation of GIS. The larger 12

Geospatial World | September 2013

aim of the current project is to help in participatory village boundary setting and mapping, creation of subdistrict level land-use inventories and integration of land and other natural resource information, capacity building for spatial planning and resource management at the provincial and district government level enhancement of district spatial plans.

India GPS finds Indo-Nepal border is 117 km longer Precise measurement using GPS has revealed that the Indo-Nepal border is 117 km longer than previously believed. The latest survey has

estimated the Indo-Nepal border was closer to 1,868 km, 117 km more than the official length of 1,751 km. An official emphasised it was technology and not a change in the location of border pillars that stretched the Indo-Nepal borders. “When you use modern technology, precision certainly improves. There is no change in the borders,” Major General Ramesh Chandra Padhi, Additional Surveyor General of India said.

Singapore Tapping billion-dollar space industry with small satellites Singapore is planning to foray into the $300 billion-a-year space industry.

Asia news The push announced earlier this year, will initially focus on small satellites to meet growing demand for top-speed Internet connections as well as highresolution images commonly used in surveillance, forestry and energy exploration. Singapore Technologies Electronics, a unit of defence conglomerate Singapore Technologies Engineering, has already set up a unit to build and operate observation satellites with help from two local statefunded universities.

Government introduces geospatial scholarship The Singapore government has introduced the Singapore Geospatial Scholarship, the first of its kind in the island nation. The scholarship will be jointly conferred by several public agencies, and is expected to encourage geospatial professionals. The move aims to meet the increasing demand for geospatial professionals in the industry.

Malaysia Transforming knowledge into sustainable practice The 8th International Symposium on Digital Earth held recently in Sarawak, Malaysia saw participation from the members of International Society of Digital Earth and various institutions of higher learning in Asia. John Richards, President of International Society of Digital Earth, appealed for interaction between crowdsourcing and digital data for knowledge development. Since social media and the Internet provide immediate access of data and information, he stressed that the involvement of masses in the Digital Earth movement is very significant. Renowned speakers like Alessandro Annoni from Joint Research Centre, Italy; Barbara Ryan of Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Switzerland; Guo Huadong from Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; and many others were also present at four-day conference

cum exhibition. The conference was held for the first time in South East Asia.

UAE Bayanat to develop water quality monitoring tool The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, in collaboration with Bayanat, will develop high-tech water quality monitoring tools to support desalination plants and utilities in the Gulf. The Ocean Color Research Group at the Earth Observation and Hydro-Climatology Lab at Masdar Institute is leading this project with Bayanat.The project also covers water turbidity mapping, red-tide detection monitoring and forecasting, oil spills detection and monitoring, in-house atmospheric correction algorithm adapted to the regional climate, impact assessment of the discharge of desalination plants on the coastal ecosystem of the UAE.

Geospatial World | September 2013

Africa news Uganda GPS to monitor rail cargo movement Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the operator of the Kenya-Uganda railway, has launched a KSh 800 million (over $9.3 million) technology upgrade that includes a GPS-based software that centrally controls the movement of trains and cargo along the railway line. The automated train warrant software allows online visualisation from an operations control centre in Nairobi of the precise location of trains along the railway. “The introduction of satellite navigation technology to this core component of our operations means we will eliminate a lot of waiting time at stations by giving priority track ac-

cess to trains carrying cargo and also allow us to handle larger fleets,” said Darlan De David, RVR group CEO.

FAO mapping techniques to fill gaps in forest data The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has introduced new mapping technologies in Uganda to help generate better forestry statistics and land cover maps. Forests and forest products are important to the livelihoods of many communities in Uganda. The new tools and information will help the government monitor national forest resources and make informed decisions regarding longterm forestry and investment policies, as well as avoid unintended forest conversion and degradation.

Malawi Airborne survey to explore mining potential The Malawi Ministry of Mining will conduct an airborne geophysical survey with the aim of highlighting the mineral potential that several areas in the country possess as a part of the Mining Growth and Governance Support Project. Minister of mining John Bande said, “In addition to the airborne geospatial exploration, geological mapping and geochemical exploration covering the whole country have been lined up. After all these activities, the whole country will be mapped and we will know the full mineral potential of the country.”

South Africa Value proposition of g-tech highlighted at Africa Geospatial Forum 2013 Geospatial professionals from across the African continent congregated at Cape Town for the two-day Africa Geospatial Forum 2013. Based on the theme, Transforming geospatial knowledge into action, the event saw experts discussing and deliberating upon the usage of geospatial technologies in various verticals across Africa. Addressing the gathering, Aida Opoku Mensah, Special Adviser, Post 2015 Development Agenda, UN From left: Juergen Dold, President, Hexagon Geosystems; Pali Cahola, Economic Commission for Africa, described Statistician General, Statistics South Africa; Dr Derek Clarke, Chief the mission and goals of the Agenda and Director, NGI DRDLR, South Africa at the inaugural of the Forum also highlighted the tremendous role that geospatial technologies are playing in ensuring the effective implementation of these goals. Jim Steiner, Vice President, Product Management, Oracle Server Technologies, pointed out that the difference between geospatial and information technologies is fast diminishing. He also explained how geospatial technologies can play a key role in the integration of various big data sources using geocoding, geographic hierarchies and geospatial analysis for query and aggregation. Giving the industry address, Juergen Dold, President, Hexagon Geosystems, said the world needed knowledge and not just data and hence there was a need to move from traditional GIS to dynamic GIS. 14

Geospatial World | September 2013

Australia/Oceania news Australia IGARSS focus on building sustainable earth through RS Scientists, engineers and educators from all over the world gathered at the 33rd International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) in Melbourne. Based on the theme, Building a sustainable Earth through remote sensing, the event drew more than 1,300 delegates from across 66 countries to identify research trends and share updates on applied programmes. Mike Goodchild, Professor of Geography at the University of California, talked about actively involving and trusting citizen-science. “Crowdsourcing can add significant value to remote sensing products,” he said. An

example of this is GeoWiki, a crowdsourced mapping tool for validating remote sensing data. The researchers behind the tool found non-experts were as good as experts when identifying human impact.

Personal banking back on the map in Australia A new mapping tool is set to revive and reshape personalised banking by giving financial institutions the foresight to accurately anticipate their customers’ needs. The new innovation, launched by leading digital mapping specialist MapData Services (MDS), allows banks to create a ‘mega’ customer profile which contains standard client data, as well as insight into the type of home best suited to them; the time

it takes them to commute to work or even how likely they are to be affected by flood or fire.

New Zealand Open mapping information for developers Mapping information showing the locations of publicly accessible land across the country has been released by the New Zealand Walking Access Commission to enable researchers, government agencies and app developers embark on their own mapping projects. The mapping information released includes locations of public reserves, conservation land, crown land, legal roads, marginal strips and esplanade strips.

Courtesy: NZWA

AfricaGIS 2013 / GSDI World Conference (GSDI14) 4-8 November 2013 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia AfricaGIS is the largest regularly occurring GIS conference in Africa with participants from the entirety of the continent. The GSDI World Conference has built a reputation for excellence in content and moves across the globe to offer geospatial specialists in all parts of the world opportunities to better exchange ideas and learn from global peers in building spatial data infrastructure. The joint AfricaGIS 2013 and GSDI World Conference (GSDI 14) theme is Spatial Enablement in Support of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction. More information at: http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14 Main sponsor

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Geospatial World | September 2013

Product Watch Trimble Tablet PC for surveying Trimble has unveiled its next generation Trimble Tablet PC for surveying. The Trimble Tablet is a lightweight, rugged and highly mobile field computer that can operate with Trimble’s suite of receivers and total stations to provide a complete surveying solution. With Trimble Access field software onboard, it streamlines the flow of information between the field and office while also allowing surveyors to run the applications they need to perform office work directly from the field. Key features • 7-inch capacitive touch dual technology display system delivers enhanced, sunlight readability • Windows 7 Operating system brings the office to the field • Built-in 5 MP camera for unprecedented image documentation • Integrated communication technology provides increased connectivity • Optimised for Trimble Access field software workflow support • Integrated GPS provides geo-tag photograph functionality

iOne n-Oblique sensor for 3D market

Visual Intelligence has released a new geoimaging solution for the rapidly growing oblique and 3D sensing market. The iOne n-Oblique is a multipurpose, high-performance sensor that allows companies of all sizes to take advantage of new business opportunities related to oblique and 3D imagery. Key features • Multipurpose reconfigurable to an iOne Stereo large area collection system with industry’s only engineering accuracy of .6 b/h • Can be flown with or without a gyro stabilising mount and is designed to integrate with Flight Management process • Enables fullyautomated workflow for virtual frame generation readily ingestible by photogrammetric suites such as Dat/EM • Captures 3D cities with 100% oblique coverage • Able to capture 2.0 inch resolution at nadir and 2.5 inch resolution on the oblique cameras at an altitude of 2,500 feet 16

Geospatial World | September 2013

Product Watch Phoenix AL-2 for cost-effective

micro-mapping

Phoenix Aerial Systems has demonstrated the world’s smallest and lightest UAV LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) platform. Weighing less than 10kg, the new LiDAR platform, called the Phoenix AL-2, combines the latest UAV, LiDAR and GNSS technology into a cost-effective, accurate and safe micro-mapping solution. Key features • It has Velodyne HDL-32E sensor, which features up to 32 lasers and generates 700,000 distance points per second • The HDL-32E rotates 360 degree up to 20 times per second and provides measurement and intensity information over a range of 1 metre to 100 metres • It delivers a real-time, high definition 3D point cloud for speedy mapping of difficult to reach areas without the expense of hiring a commercial plane

3D O’View for 3D GIS

platform

PilotGaea Technologies has released 3D O’View platform which provides quick landscape display with virtual reality scenes, shows virtual world in line with some analysis. Key features • Display Mega GeoData: The computer process of 3D O’View can reach TB level of images and elevation data or even more. Besides, it also can read huge 3D laser scanning digital archive of high-density point clouds • Realistic effect for Natural Landscapes: It uses a number of advanced virtual reality technologies in order to provide better visual experiences such as lighting changes, diverse clouds and fogs, reflection and refraction on water surface, etc • Display Underground GeoData: It can sneak into the subsurface to display GeoData such as water pipelines, power lines, gas pipelines etc.

VIC100 Series antenna for timing

and synchronisation The VIC100 Series antenna by Panasonic is an active L1 GPS antenna designed for timing and synchronisation. It offers immunity to noise and interference, and secure performance by attenuating noise and interference near the GPS L1 frequency through triple-filtering design.

The VIC100 Series is housed in a waterproof enclosure designed for excellent performance under severe environmental conditions. Its shape prevents accumulation of snow and ice, eliminating problems with bird perching and enhanced immunity to lightning surge. Geospatial World | September 2013

Corner Office | Bert Turner

‘We want to be partners, not vendors to our customers’ Speaking for the first time after the DigitalGlobe-GeoEye merger, Bert Turner, Senior Vice President, Sales, DigitalGlobe, explains how the combined company has benefitted in terms of upgrading its processes, expertise and technology It has been almost seven months since the combination with GeoEye closed. How is the combined entity placed in terms of capabilities it has to serve the US market? We are incredibly pleased with our progress in the last seven months and are actually ahead of our planned schedule. The integration is complex and involves enormous amount of human capital and investment to make the combination successful. What is particularly exciting about the combination is the fact that many of our legacy capabilities are complementary rather than overlapping. We think about our business in three ways. One is data or imagery. Second is information — adding value to the core imagery layer. And the third is insight, where we take the data and information and add some form of human intelligence on top of it to conduct analysis and derive an answer. The capabilities of the combined company have significantly enhanced all the three areas of our business. DigitalGlobe has registered impressive growth in terms of Internet-based geospatial services. Could you elaborate? We deal with big data, which is often difficult to manage and make available to the end users. When we talk about Internet-based services, it is often centred on cloud platforms, which allows easier access of big data. We have partnerships with most of the major global location-based service providers, which enable us to deliver our imagery and capabilities to the end users and consumers in a scalable fashion. For the past seven months, DigitalGlobe has been pro-

Geospatial World | September 2013

Courtesy: Enough Project (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

actively interacting with a broad set of end users. We have started to better understand end-user workflows by discovering what users do a minute before and a minute after they analyse our imagery. We also understand workflows of various personas within our targeted industries. In the days of increasing accuracies, reducing turnaround times and increasing bandwidths, what can a user expect from DigitalGlobe? The integration of GeoEye has been intense over the last seven months. During this time, we have significantly upgraded our expertise, processes and technology. This investment will allow us to deliver incremental value to our customers. As stated in our annual report, we experienced incredible growth in 2012. In reference to our partnership with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) we are laser focused on fulfilling our commitments as part of EnhancedView. There is no doubt that we see opportunities to improve how we deliver on the contract as well as how we expand our relationship with the NGA. Going beyond the US markets, which are the regions where you see business potential?

Over the past few years, we have seen growth in the broader geospatial market. Countries and regions such as Russia, Latin America, Africa and India are where we are seeing the greatest potential. We are especially excited about India and believe the timing is right for exponential growth in this country.

DigitalGlobe satellite image of an outpost with fortification and towed artillery near Kharassana, South Kordofan, Sudan in 2011. The image was part of the Satellite Sentinel Project report â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Evidence of SAF Deployment in South Kordofanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, produced by the DigitalGlobe-Harvard Humanitarian Initiative collaboration

In many of these markets, DigitalGlobe is going through partners or distributors. What kind of business models will you follow in nurturing such markets? We are very comfortable with how we are going into these markets now and we are leveraging our global ecosystem, which involves partners and resellers. We are going to partner with companies that understand the vision of being an information company versus a data or imagery provider. Part of this approach, is to invest more aggressively with certain partners that can help propel us into being the indis-

The integration of GeoEye has been intense over the last six months. During this time, we have significantly upgraded our expertise, processes and technology. This investment will allow us to deliver incremental value to our customers Geospatial World | September 2013

Corner Office | Bert Turner

A DigitalGlobe imagery of Hurricane Sandy damage in Seaside Heights in 2012

pensible source of information about our changing planet. We are a company that believes in focus. This year we are focusing heavily on the integration and realisation of synergies. We also have a focus on select markets and applications that will allow us to execute on our vision of the indispensable source of information about our changing planet. As a leader in the commercial remote sensing industry, what kind of responsibilities is DigitalGlobe taking to nurture the industry? We take great pride in being a pioneer in this industry as well as a thought leader. Our purpose, vision and values are taken very seriously by our entire DigitalGlobe team and we will continue to fulfill our purpose to save lives, resources and time.

WorldView-3 will be a game changer with 31 cm resolution, shortwave infrared capabilities and the most spectral diversity available in the world. This will create new applications across industries, giving us new insights to complex problems

Geospatial World | September 2013

One of the surprise acquisitions in the recent past by DigitalGlobe is Tomnod. What was the rationale behind the Tomnod acquisition? Tomnod was an important acquisition for us. Tomnod facilitates the crowd to do rapid, large-scale analysis of satellite imagery, particularly in cases of natural and man-made disasters. As an example, using the Tomnod capabilities, DigitalGlobe was able to help quickly assess the detailed damage of the recent tornado in Oklahoma and turn that information into actionable insight. DigitalGlobe’s forthcoming launch is WorldView-3. What can we expect from this satellite in terms of the product? WorldView-3 will be a game changer in the industry with a panchromatic resolution of 31-cm, short-wave infrared capabilities. The unique capabilities of WorldView-3 will create new applications across a variety of industries, giving our customers new insight to complex problems.

Geospatial World | April 2013

Cover Story

TRIMBLE

Transforming the World

“...The biggest concern — doubts about whether the Defense Department would allow the industry regular access to the positioning system signals — vanished in early April, when the Clinton Administration committed the Government to free public access... How can one invest in this market? The possibilities are as simple as the Global Positioning System is complex. Only one publicly traded company focuses solely on producing the equipment: Trimble Navigation Ltd... From many angles, Trimble looks like a good investment. It is the industry’s worldwide leader, with 20 percent of the market. With sales in more than 60 countries, the company gets about half its revenues from overseas... Trimble also controls about 60 percent of the most profitable part of the market, surveying and mapping equipment.” Steven W. Berglund, President and Chief Executive Officer 22

Geospatial World | September 2013

– New York Times, April 28, 1996

Trimble Rockies campus in Westminster, Colorado, USA

he possibilities of investing in a trusted technology company are as simple today as they were in 1996 as Trimble continues to be the leader in not just GPS but in the entire positioning market, with sales in 141 countries and over 1,000 patents. With an advanced and broadest positioning solutions portfolio in the industry, Trimble has revolutionised multiple industries — construction and engineering, agriculture, surveying, fleet and field service management to name a few — by providing products and solutions that significantly decrease costs and enhance the quality, accuracy and efficiency of projects, leading the industry by its own example. The rise of a GPS company In 1978, when Charlie Trimble, and two of his associates from Hewlett-Packard, founded Trimble — the same year the US government launched the first NAVSTAR GPS satellite — little did he envision that the company would one day transform the way the world works! A practical visionary that he was, Charlie Trimble recognised early on the potential of space-based GPS technology in revolutionising a wide range of commercial

and business applications even as GPS was being developed exclusively for military purposes at that time. From that point, he set himself to fully develop the immature GPS technology purchased from Hewlett-Packard. In 1984, Trimble launched the first GPS-based geodecticsurvey product. The next two years were explosive growth years, with Trimble significantly increasing its product base and continuing to lead the development of military, commercial, and consumer applications using GPS. During this period Trimble received several patents for developments in GPS technology and soon there was a point when it held more patents that the US government. The company soon added the capabilities of differential GPS (DGPS) technologies, survey and mapping software to its product line through acquisitions. By 1992, Trimble had developed RTK technology to enable continual GPS updating while on the move. This enabled surveyors to perform topographic mapping, stakeout, GIS data acquisition, and as-built surveys in real-time. Earlier in 1990, in a $30-million offering, Trimble became the first GPS company to go public. The Operation Desert Geospatial World | September 2013

Cover Story | Trimble

Building on the construction boom

n the construction segment, the mainstay of its business, Trimble’s solutions are used across the entire project lifecycle to improve productivity, reduce waste and re-work, and enable decision making through better situational awareness, data flow and project collaboration. Trimble’s suite of integrated products and technologies in this area includes software for optimised route selection and design, systems to automatically guide and control construction equipment, systems to monitor, track and manage assets, equipment and workers, and software to facilitate the sharing and communication of data in real time. Together, these solutions can transform how work is done within the civil engineering industry. “Trimble has complete software and hardware tools, which are sold as solutions or as a complete service that goes through the entire workflow. Our solutions also have a worldwide view, they can build a road, be it from Delhi to Chennai, Frankfurt to Munich, Washington DC to Pittsburgh or Paris to Nice,” emphasises Bryn Fosburgh, Vice President. Trimble’s portfolio of products for the commercial, industrial and residential building industry spans the entire Design-Build-Operate life cycle. The suite of technologies and solutions used in the building industry include software for 3D conceptual design and modelling, BIM software, advanced integrated site layout and measurement systems, applications for sub-contractors and traders such as MEP and HVAC, together with a suite of software applications for construction project management, project coordination/collaboration, project cost estimation and for capital programme and facility management. These improve productivity, data sharing and collaboration across teams and help keep projects within cost targets and time schedules. The demands of the AEC industry is encouraging the integration of BIM and geospatial. However, traditionally BIM has been model-centric and not GIS-centric. To cater to this need of integration, Trimble acquired SketchUp to merge the modelling aspects with GIS attributes. “One of the key ideas behind the SketchUp acquisition was to help the merger of geometric model with GIS. It gives a more real-time view of what the assets look like,” says Fosburgh.

Geospatial World | September 2013

Storm (August 1990-February 1991) brought the company into limelight as it received admirable reviews from the US military for the portable standard positioning service receivers it provided to the troops. This prompted several mainstream companies like Motorola and Honeywell to enter the GPS market. However, the direction, focus and business philosophy of the company started changing after Steve Berglund, previously of Spectra Precision Group, took over as President and CEO in 1999. Trimble, which defined itself as a GPS company thus far, started realising the definition was actually acting as a constraint. “Internally, the transformation has been to move away from defining ourselves in terms of the technology and re-defining ourselves in terms of our customer/market. We started focusing on horizontal construction, vertical buildings, agriculture, and transportation & logistics, pursued a much wider range of technologies to cater to these markets and over a period of time, we have become agnostic relative to the technology,” recollects Steve Berglund. Trimble, thy name is transformation With a mission to support the chosen markets, Trimble, since 1999, has started building its solutions portfolio, either by developing in-house or by acquiring the necessary technologies. The next big move came with the $280 million-acquisition of Berglund’s previous employer, Spectra Precision Group in 2000, adding laser and other optical devices complementary to Trimble’s GPS solutions for the construction, surveying and agricultural markets. This was soon followed by Tripod Data Systems (TDS), a developer of data collection software and hardware. Both these acquisitions were part of Trimble’s strategic mission to define and transform the way position-centric information is used. A series of joint ventures followed, first with Caterpillar to develop machine control products and then with Nikon to broaden its survey and construction portfolio and provide access to emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, Trimble continued to augment its business by acquiring companies that established entry points to emerging markets, filled product line gaps, or added new applications to its solutions portfolio. The acquisitions of Applanix, INPHO, Callidus, Definiens’ Earth Sciences Business, ThingMagic, OMNISTAR, Gatewing, SketchUp etc expanded Trimble’s core technology portfolio tremendously even as it simultaneously built its capacities to provide end-to-end solutions in the vertical markets. Considering the number of acquisitions Trimble has done (85 and counting) in just over a decade, one may fleetingly conclude that the company’s strategy is driven by inorganic growth. Berglund is quick to deny that as he insists that Trimble’s growth has been “definitely and overwhelmingly organic”.

Billion Dollar Pie

Total revenue in 2012: $2.040 billion Revenue break-up (in %)

Revenue by region (in %)

15 17

13 16 77

Product Subscription

Revenue by segment (in %)

Services

53 24

USA

Other regions

Engineering & Construction

Europe

Asia Pacific

Mobile Solutions

The acquisitions have generally been small in size with the intention of bringing technology or product into the company. “There have been only a couple of acquisitions that brought $50 million revenue, such as Tekla in 2011, and @Road in 2007. Over the last 14 years (1999 as a reference point), 80% growth has been organic and 20% through acquisitions,” Berglund says and adds that acquisitions have actually “supported” Trimble’s strategy. “We ask ourselves what technology would benefit the users, and if we do not have that, we invent it, buy it or co-develop it. But essentially, our goal is to provide customers with technology that adds value to their businesses,” he emphasises. “In that sense, there has been transformation within the company in terms of fundamental orientation and also in terms of our ambition to provide solutions for the entire work processes, potentially at the enterprise level,” he adds. Surprisingly, Trimble’s experience with about 85 acquisitions has been quite positive. “There have been no disasters, we did not have any intermittent write-offs. So, in general against the standards that exist, we have done very well,” assures Berglund. In categories such as the model-oriented world, the acquisitions Trimble made, including Tekla, Plancal, SketchUp and Vico Software, have come together very well and users have already started seeing the benefits. However, it might take another two years to fully realise the synergistic possibilities of these companies. In transportation and logistics as well, Trimble created a unique set of capabilities that no one else has with the technologies it has developed internally and the ones it acquired. This radical transformation is visible in Trimble’s financials as well. Since 1999, when Berglund took over the reins, Trimble’s revenues have grown from approximately $270 million to touch a whopping $2.04 billion in 2012. During this time, the company’s mix of businesses has progressively moved away from a ‘box product’ mentality towards a portfolio of products and solutions that contribute significantly to the ROI of specific vertical industry users by increasing productivity, lowering operational costs, improving quality, enhanc-

Field Solutions

Advanced Devices

Reaping with farm solutions

griculture, which started as an extension of mapping and GIS business 15 years ago, is a full-fledged franchise for Trimble today. What looked like a start-up within the company to map farm sites, the division added machine guidance, precise planting and precise fertilising capabilities, yield monitoring, water management, information management through the Connected Farm concept and integrating it with financial information from Farmworks. Its precision agriculture solutions can assist farmers through every step of their farming process — beginning with land preparation and throughout the planting, nutrient and pest management, and harvesting phases of a crop cycle. “We aim to provide the farmer with the best possible outcome for himself, his family, his investors, and indirectly for the customers and the environment. The idea is to provide analysis, optimise farming practices, increase productivity and make the best use of available resources,” says Mark Harrington, Vice President. However, the adoption of these technologies is saturating in traditional markets such as North America, Australia, Brazil and parts of Western Europe requiring reinvention of solutions, says Harrington. In non-traditional and new markets, Trimble is confident of its unique position in terms of its technology offerings and is figuring out ways to deploy the technologies in a manner that is better suited for the local conditions.

Geospatial World | September 2013

Cover Story | Trimble

Growing & How!

ing safety and compliance and reducing environmental impact.

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

0.0

0.5

1.0

Revenue in billion $

1.5

2.0

2.5

Geospatial — the underpinning enabler The ability to collect position/location information has been at the core of Trimble’s capabilities for many years. Today, in terms of geospatial, Trimble provides the capability to collect data around the world in 3D mode, going beyond the traditional methods of using optical instruments, migrating to RTK to GNSS instruments etc. It also focuses on scanning, photogrammetry, data analysis etc. Again, Trimble keeps the users’ needs in the forefront while innovating. Citing an example, Chris Gibson, Vice President says, “Geospatial is migrating from data acquisition and data processing into modelling and analytics. Once data is collected and processed, for example, SketchUp can be used to generate 3D models for customers. We are also looking at other capabilities, analytics that can be layered over the data based on the customers’ needs.” Also, from a corporate perspective, Trimble sees geospatial more as a supporting technology used across the verticals. “Geospatial is not necessary an industry but an enabling capability applicable to most industries. Organisations use geospatial data to help improve their businesses and workflows. There are multiple industries where geospatial data is becoming more core to business enterprise

The Intel of surveying

rimble offers a slew of solutions for surveyors. So it’s not a surprise when lesser cousins often push their brands saying they have ‘Trimble Inside’!

There are many functions of Trimble solutions to streamline workflow, replacing less productive conventional methods of surveying, mapping, 2D or 3D modelling, measurement, reporting and analysis. Trimble’s suite of solutions include field-based data collection systems and field software, realtime communications systems and back-office software for data processing, modelling, reporting and analysis. Fieldbased technologies are used in handheld, land, mobile and airborne applications and incorporate technologies such as mobile application software, high precision GNSS, robotic

Geospatial World | September 2013

to make informed decisions,” reasons Gibson. In fact, geospatial is adding lot of value to Trimble’s core franchise verticals — construction and building, agriculture, transportation and logistics. “We are trying to provide solutions to help the verticals become more profitable and at the same time help them integrate into the industry workflow they are focussing on,” explains Gibson. Berglund adds: “We are focussing on the applications and not pursuing geospatial technology as an end in itself. In the last 5-6 years, we have used geospatial as a supporting tool for vertical market development but not as a market in itself.” Apart from the major franchise verticals which are the growth engines for the company, Trimble is also focusing on some of the emerging businesses like water utilities, electrical utilities, forestry, mining, rail, environmental and land administration. Gibson believes there are additional market opportunities in all these industries and sees Trimble expanding into these areas. Business strategy Trimble designs, develops and markets its own products. A true multinational, the Californiaheadquartered Trimble has a vast global operation, including major development, manufacturing or logistics centres in the United States, Sweden, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands,

measurement systems, inertial positioning, 3D laser scanning, digital imaging, optical or laser measurement, and UAVs. Office-based products include software for planning, data processing and editing, quality control, 3D modelling, data analysis, project reporting and data export. “We position Trimble as a company that can provide complete solutions to customers, tighter integration with other sensor technologies around total stations, scanning, photogrammetry using our software capabilities,” says Chris Gibson, Vice President.

China, and India. The company sells products through distribution partners, representatives, joint ventures, and other channels throughout the world, in more than 100 countries. These channels are supported by its own offices in 34 countries around the world. The channels are supplemented by relationships that create additional channel breadth including the JVs with Caterpillar, Nikon and Hilti, partnerships with companies like Bentley, direct strategic account relationships, as well as private branding arrangements with other companies. These arrangements have facilitated a much larger influence of the company than its revenues support. Acknowledging this Berglund says, “Trimble’s significant advantage in the market place is the quality of its distribution. Trimble distributors/ dealers, or third party channels, are the first to make the concept sale. When market conditions got difficult, like in 2009 and early 2010, these channels used creative mechanisms that got us through difficult days very successfully.” He goes on to add that the competency of its distribution channels will be the real determinant of Trimble’s success in the next 10 years, apart from its technology and products. Another key business strategy Trimble has adopted is its focus on underserved markets that offer a potential for revenue growth, profitability and market leadership. Trimble promises to continue focus on expansion initiatives in Africa, China, India, the Middle-East, Russia, South America and South East Asia. Also, Trimble maintains its competitive edge in technology and products through investing heavily into research and development. It aims to invest about 12% of its turnover into developing new product technology. Trimble has posted double-digit growth year after year, generating sustained results on both top and bottom lines. In fiscal 2012, the total revenue increased 24%, of which 15% was organic and 9% inorganic. Trimble attributes its sustained performance to the dynamic technology environment and its ability to integrate its technology capabilities to extend solutions that provide significant value to both traditional and emerging users. In effect, Trimble has grown by embracing the dual beliefs that technology has the potential to transform entire industries and that it can be central to the change. A thousand small steps At the core of Trimble’s philosophy are two aspects that appear to be inconsistent with each other. While on the one hand, the company has been thinking big and has been intellectually ambitious, on the other, the execution has been quite humble. “As a company, we have pursued an approach to think big, not necessarily talk much, and execute through a thousand small steps. It has been persistent, patient and has always been focussed on continued improvement. Big and small represent the core philosophy of the company,” says Berglund. The market definition Trimble is pursuing at this time offers it a significantly larger addressable market than it has historically engaged with. Going further, Trimble is eying several markets that it is confident would soon be in its existing market definition or adjacent to it. The continual focus on trends, and the ability to transform itself to adapt to the changing market dynamics much ahead of its competitors, has ensured that it remains a market leader, leading the change it wants to see in the industry.

Riding on smart transportation

o help the commercial vehicle industry achieve greater overall fleet performance and to smartly manage the logistics, Trimble provides innovative and integrated solutions, stitching together the different aspects of transportation and logistics workflow — enterprise, mobile and analytics. “The transportation and logistics industry is struggling to find the connection between these three aspects. We are fundamentally acquiring solutions to support each of these aspects and connecting all the pieces together to make a seamless solution for smart transportation and logistics management,” says Jim Veneziano, Vice President. On the enterprise side, Trimble’s transportation software platform serves as a hub from which the core operations like routing, mileage and mapping are managed, data is stored and analysed, and mission-critical business processes are automated. In addition, its service can be directly integrated into the customer’s IT infrastructure, giving them improved control of their information. On the mobile side, Trimble provides fleets with software and hardware solutions that help manage regulatory compliance, fuel costs, driver safety, and customer visibility. On the analytics side, Trimble’s software helps fleets make better, more predictive decisions, leading to overall profitability. “Each of these solutions give a return. When we can connect all the three, we get even higher value. Today very few enterprises (just about 30%) are actually connecting these sectors together, and so there is a huge opportunity,” says Veneziano.

Bhanu Rekha, Executive Editor, bhanu@geospatialmedia.net Geospatial World | September 2013

Big Story | Agriculture

The Geo-Green

revolution

From determining land-use and crop patterns to optimising resources, automated farming to use of UAVs, technological advances could change the face of agriculture, which is under tremendous pressure given the growing population, urbanisation and climate change

robotic device on the ground, UAVs in action, remotely controlled high-tech machines, and a room full of highly trained people to keep an eye on all the activities... It’s not a war-room scene or a post-disaster situation in any part of the world. This could very well be the future of agriculture. As the threats of climate change, erosion of land and water resources, and an emerging food crisis loom large, traditional practices of farming are fast changing as scientists are rigorously experimenting with new ideas to revolutionise mankind’s age-old vocation even in developing/underdeveloped nations in a view to feed the ever-increasing global population. If the idea of experimentation with traditional farming methods strives to improve socio-economic condition, it is also needed to meet the demand of 70% more food by 2050 (a FAO projection in 2005-06). World population is expected to grow by over a third, or 2.3 billion, between 2005 and 2050. Moreover,

Geospatial World | September 2013

a revised version of the FAO report in 2012 observed that the world has made significant progress in raising per capita food consumption, which increased from an average of 2,370 kcal per person per day to 2,770 kcal per person per day in the last three and a half decades. Simply put, this means more food intake per head. However, our already overburdened planet has apparently no more arable land or fresh water to spare. The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2013 warns that growth rate in agricultural production is likely to slow in the medium term with “limited slower area expansion and slower productivity growth”. In such a situation, even as scientists look to experimenting with farming in the sub-zero environs of Antarctica or exploring the depths of the oceans, boosting crop yields on existing farmlands by embracing modern technologies like GIS, remote sensing and GNSS to meet the rising demands is but a natural and simpler solution. The reason is not difficult to guess. Ac-

cording to a report by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, modern technology enabled farmers in North America to get the highest outputs in the world. There, a farm worker produces about $90,000 of crops and livestock per year, compared to the global average of about $2,000. A recent survey of soybean growers conducted by US-based PrecisionAg Institute in cooperation with the American Soybean Association (ASA) reported an average savings of about 15% with precision farming on crop inputs such as seed, fertiliser and chemicals. It is not without a reason that Raymond O’Connor, President, Topcon Positioning Systems, counts agriculture as the one of two largest manufacturing industries in the world, representing between $8 to 10 trillion a year, but as the least automated and having the biggest potential for embracing geospatial technologies. In 2000, the agriculture industry’s use of precision measurement equipment was probably less than $100 million; in 2012, it was more than $1 billion. Trimble, the no. 1 player in this area, has carved out a separate vertical for agriculture as its agri business crossed a hundred million dollars from less than $10-million in 1999. Realising the utility and potential of spatial information, John Deere, the US-based agriculture machinery giant, has set up a complete geospatial division as also an automated crop reporting service. Driving factors of agriculture The food crises of 2008, 2010, and 2012 as well as the continuous volatility in commodity prices underscore the vulnerability of the global food system. Now, more than ever, the world needs to increase investment in agriculture, which is two to four times more effective in raising incomes among the very poor compared to other sectors, according to the World Bank. The FAO estimates that private sector investment in agriculture alone must rise nearly 50% (from $142 billion a year to $209 billion a year) to meet the current requirements. Like in other businesses, population growth and urbanisation are the primary driving factors for agriculture too. Add climate change and degrading soil quality, and we have a lethal cocktail in hand. »Population growth: According to a FAO projection, feeding the global population of 9.1 billion in 2050 would require raising food production by around 70% between 2005-07 and 2050. Annual cereal production, for instance, would have to grow by almost 1 billion tonne while meat production has to rise by over 200 million tonne to a total of 470 million tonne in 2050. This leads to the need for improved resource management, which

would increase crop yields, preventing land degradation and providing sustainable livelihoods for millions of rural poor. »Urbanisation: The world population is expected to be 69% urban by 2050, according to a UN estimate. Negative impacts of urbanisation on food and nutrition security without planning for both urban and rural food and agriculture systems include reduced land for agriculture, changing of food consumption habits with increased demand for processed foods, high literacy rate and subsequent lack of farm labour. Urbanisation is also leading to problems of agricultural land management. In 1960, when the world population numbered only 3 billion, approximately 0.5 hectare of cropland was available per capita, the minimum area considered essential for the production of a diverse, healthy, nutritious diet of plant and animal products. With more than 7 billion population to feed, the per capita available cropland today has come down to 0.23 hectare. »Food losses: Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year, or approximately 1.3 billion tonne, gets lost or wasted, amounting to roughly $680 billion in industrialised countries and $310 billion in developing nations, says a FAO report. In medium- and high-income countries, food is wasted and lost mainly at later stages in the supply chain, which is the result of lack of coordination between actors in the supply chain. »Climatic conditions: Agriculture and climate change are interrelated. Increases in temperature and CO2 can be beneficial for some crops in some places. To realise these benefits, nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability, and other conditions must also be met. Changes in the frequency and severity of droughts and floods too pose great challenges. »Climate change: Optimisation of resources is essential to pursue sustainable production in agriculture and livestock to preserve the environment and, consequently, forests and biodiversity. “High-yield agriculture with optimisation processes will help slow the pace of global warming by cutting the amount of biomass burned when forests or grasslands are cleared for farming,” says Claudio Simão, President, Hexagon, South America & Asia Pacific. Technological intervention in crop cycle The Farmer’s Almanac has been replaced with geospatial analysis and predictive modelling and got a new name, Precision Agriculture. It is a farming concept that utilises the

Geospatial World | September 2013

Big Story | Agriculture

Thought for Food

2013-2022

“Expansion of agricultural production is likely to slow in the medium term with limited slower area expansion and slower productivity growth” — OECD-FAO

Average annual growth rate in agriculture (%) whole gamut of geospatial technologies and information to determine field variability for ensuring optimal use of inputs and maximising outputs from a farm. Modern technologies like UAVs (embedded with innovative sensors), GIS, GNSS, remote sensing and associated technologies enable farmers to visualise their land, crops and management practices in unprecedented ways while empowering community planners, economists and agronomists to research and devise practices towards sustainable food production. These tools are increasing productivity and return on investment and also driving the demand for tailored applications. » Farm site evaluation: To evaluate the farm in its whole, it is necessary to draw a map indicating the farm’s topography, boundaries as well as soil and water resources. Site evaluation is important to ensure minimum cost and correct drainage and for this agricultural bodies use soil and terrain data, climate data for the given land type and climate zone, land type inventory and description of soil, depth and the presence or absence of structures that effect the infiltration of water. A typical example here is the Web Soil Survey, launched by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in August 2005. » Laser levelling: The field is levelled with a certain degree of slope using a guided laser beam. Unevenness of the soil surface has a significant impact on the germination, stand and yield of crops. On laser-levelled land, farmers save up to 30% of water, reduce weed problems, improve uniformity of crop maturity, reduce the irrigation time and effort required to manage crop, improve crop establishment and improve yield. The laser levelling technology is promoted in developing regions through a number of ADB-funded projects. Although the adoption of such smart technologies is still in its infancy amongst small private farms in Asia, they have seen a great demand among the growing number of custom applicators and contractors that serve these small farms, with the result that these technologies are finding their way into some of the smallest farms in the world, says Martinez. 30

Geospatial World | September 2013

» Precision seeding: It involves placing of the exact number of seeds at precise depth and spacing. Some of the advantages of precision seeding include reduced seed costs, greater crop uniformity leading to uniform and high-quality produce, fewer harvests, and 20-50% increased yield. » Crop monitoring: Geospatial technology facilitates realtime crop vegetation index monitoring via spectral analysis of high resolution satellite images for different fields and crops. The difference in vegetation index informs about single crop development disproportions that speak for the necessity of additional agriculture works on particular field zones. While satellite imagery has for years been used by various national governments for monitoring crops, the growing demand for such services has seen the proliferation of private service providers like Astrium-Geo, Cropio, eLeaf, GMV, Precision Agriculture, Skybox Imaging and Vega. » Precision harvesting: GNSS-based harvesting technology can be used on vehicle guidance, which is a hands-free device attached with grain carts, and supports the entire operational hours of harvesting. In integration with modern communication tools, GNSS enabled vehicle-to-vehicle information sharing of yield and moisture layers, wireless transfer of guidance lines and coverage maps between multiple, spotting vehicle locations throughout the field for efficient route management for harvesters and grain carts, and calculating how much field area has been harvested. » Precision weather forecasting: According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), weather-related incidents cause 90% of all crop losses. To deal with weather issues and get the best price from the market, weather-modelling services use Big Data analytics technology. For instance, IBM’s Deep Thunder gathers data from sensors placed throughout fields that measure temperature and moisture levels in soil and surrounding air. That information is combined with multispectral satellite or aerial images of fields. The system then combines the field data with a diversity of public data

from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the US Geological Survey, and private data from companies like Earth Networks. A supercomputer processes the combined data and generates a 4D mathematical model. Deep Thunder can deliver hyperlocalised weather conditions up to three days in advance. From applications as simple as improved water management through the use of laser technology for land levelling or GNSS-powered auto steering to improve productivity of the equipment or variable rate application of seeds or fertilisers to improve crop health and yield, precision agriculture is realising adoption across a wide range of farm sizes and economies of scale, observes Albert Zahalka, President, Topcon Precision Agriculture. “Geospatial technology can provide up to 30% RoI, depending on seasons and solutions,” says Michael Martinez, Market Manager, Trimble Agriculture, as he points out Trimble’s GreenSeeker system enabled the University of Kentucky to calculate an RoI of $15 to $95 per acre on its plantation. Agrees Zahalka: “Today equipment efficiency drives significant adoption of technologies such as auto steering, Variable Rate Application and automatic on/off for sprayer or planters.” On the other hand, in developing countries like India, where farm sizes are typically small, precision agriculture is yet to take off since the machinery are not affordable. However, Michael Martinez, Market Manager, Trimble Agriculture, insists that it is a big misconception that precision farming cannot be used in small farms. “Precision farming is being used across many small Asian rice fields, including India, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia.”

“Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes, gets lost or wasted.” — OECD-FAO

G-powered initiatives in agriculture Historically the application of geospatial information was reserved to concrete application areas, such as disaster reduction. Specialised agencies like FAO made use of geospatial information, particularly earth observation (EO), for general surveys. The global land cover and forest resources assessments are some examples. However, for most initiatives, the broader context of the integration of geoinformation used for and generated by the project was left to countries. More recently, multilateral agencies have adopted a more strategic approach towards geoinformation for mapping of their own activities and advice to partner countries. The ‘mapping for results’ initiative of the World Bank and the United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative are examples. Geoinformation also plays a role in developing agriculture insurance schemes supported by multilateral agencies. This also applies to monitoring of food security. The UN Office for Drugs and Crime has made use of EO for a long time to detect coca and poppy plantations. Although not technically a multilateral agency, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has invested substantially in the GEONETCast programme, where free satellite imagery obtained through low-cost receiving stations is used for detection of agricultural pests, among others. It’s GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEO GLAM) initiative, part of the G20 Action Plan on Food Price Volatility, uses EO satellite data and validates this using in situ measurements. The aim is to deliver reliable, accurate, timely and sustained crop monitoring information, and yield and weather forecasts. »World Bank: The Water Partnership Programme (WPP) of

Precision seeding

Geospatial World | September 2013

Big Story | Agriculture

Remote sensing images showing agriculture patterns in different countries

“By 1990, less than 40% of the population lived in cities, but as of 2010, more than half of all people live in urban areas. By 2030, 6 out of every 10 people will live in cites and by 2050, this proportion will increase to 7 out of 10 people.” — WHO 32

the World Bank in its planning document for the next few years has identified remote sensing as a technology to be explored further. The World Bank is also experimenting with community participatory mapping. As part of its new policy, Access to Information, and building on the success of the Open Data Initiative, the World Bank developed the interactive ‘Mapping for Results’ platform in October 2010 to visualise the locations of Bank-financed projects and international aid programmes (including food security and hunger eradication) at the sub-national level. In addition, with the entire Bank portfolio now geo-coded, the World Bank and other donors established an Open Aid Partnership to improve coordination and effectiveness of aid worldwide. »FAO: FAO, of course, embraced e-agriculture long ago to ‘bridge the rural digital divide’. It has a successful programme on early detection and eradication of locust plagues that can devastate crops, based on low-cost satellite imagery. FAO has collaborated with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and SAGE to form a consortium called Agri-MAPS, which aims to provide a global spatial database based-on selected subnational agricultural statistics. FAO is establishing GIS guidelines and spatial standards and norms for internal use in order to rationalise, harmonise and advance its GIS and

Geospatial World | September 2013

cartographic activities and to support GeoNetwork, which has interactive maps, satellite imagery and related spatial databases to provide a GIS gateway to farmers. Established in the wake of the world food crisis of the early 1970s, FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) remains the leading source of information on food production and food security for every country in the world. In the past 25 years, the system has become a worldwide network which includes 115 governments, 61 NGOs and numerous trade, research and media organisations. »WFP: The World Food Programme (WFP) uses geoinformation for vulnerability assessments, making use of local expertise and relatively lowcost handheld GPS-devices. Similarly, geoinformation plays a key role in the national comprehensive food security vulnerability assessments that WFP carries out regularly. »Asian Development Bank: ADB prominently uses geospatial technology for collecting food security information. Food security information includes estimating cultivated area, crop production of paddy, precipitation data, soil moisture, drought index, vegetation index and land cover/land use map. ADB sees remote sensing technology as a cost-effective and efficient tool as it enables periodic observation of a wide area with the ease of integration with maps,

says Yusuke Muraki, Space Technology Specialist with the organisation. “In many countries, latest and reliable information about crop growth and agricultural weather conditions are insufficient, or impossible to obtain. Satellite data is often the only available data for such regions,” he adds. ADB’s Global Precipitation Map (GsMAP) offers ‘free’ hourly global rainfall map from various satellite data. »European Commission: The MARS Unit Mission of the European Commission has been conducting several agriculture-based activities with satellite data. Some of its initiatives include AGRI4CAST, GeoCAP and FOODSEC. The AGRI4CAST system, also known as the MARS Crop Yield Forecasting System, is made by remote sensing and meteorological observations, agro-meteorological modelling (Crop Growth Monitoring System) and statistical analysis tools. The GeoCAP Action addresses the new information needs for policies related to agriculture and regional development, such as cross compliance, farm advisory system, food quality and product origin traceability in Europe. The FOODSEC action was developed in 2001, in cooperation with the MARS STAT action and in the framework of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative, a system for regional monitoring and forecasting in various parts of the world. A two-speed world Typically, most national and agricultural policies were formulated way before the geospatial revolution took off. Interestingly, one of the first concrete applications of EO is related to agriculture. In the early ’70s NASA officials realised that with satellite images they could predict a bad grain harvest in what was then the Soviet Union, and that the US could have obtained a higher price for the annual grain sales to the USSR. Geospatial information was used to support agricultural policy and only later it was realised that this enabled new and innovative ways towards a more holistic agricultural policy.’ Realising the urgency and profitability, both developed and developing nations have started using geoinformation and advanced technologies like automation and precision farming to improve

G-players in agriculture Trimble: From GNSS-powered automated guidance and steering systems, yield monitoring and water management systems to connected farm apps for smartphone, Trimble has solutions for every step of the farming process. Hexagon: Leica offers solutions in machine control, field automation via guidance systems. Intergraph’s GIS and imagery analysis are refining the process. Z/I’s airborne photogrammetry enables access to sophisticated maps. DigitalGlobe: Helps quantify crop status, soil conditions and crop change. By quickly locating problem areas and tracking the effectiveness of the solution, AgroWatch can boost field productivity and crop quality. Astrium: Offers precision agriculture, agricultural business intelligence, and agricultural information system. Its agricultural intelligence combines satellite imagery processing, agronomic and meteorological models for stable and consistent information. Topcon: Provides agriculture hardware which utilises GPS and GLONASS constellations for higher accuracy. Application control solution provides exact applications of seed, fertilisers etc, while the agronomy solution provides realtime integrated crop monitoring and application. Blackbridge (previously RapidEye): Offers satellite image products, including RapidEye, the first commercial satellite constellation to include the Red Edge band, which is sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content. Assists in monitoring vegetation health, improve species separation and measuring protein and nitrogen content in biomass. Hemisphere GPS (aka AgJunction): Provides hardware and software applications for precision agriculture worldwide. Products support advanced farming practices and enables seamless data connectivity. ProGIS: Offers applications for agriculture, forestry, ecology and rural area management. Included are tools for logistics, community management, utility management, precision farming and virtual farming. eLEAF: Aims to become the global reference in daily supply of data on water and vegetation of any land surface to support sustainable use of water, increase food production and protect environmental systems. John Deere: Primarily an agriculture machinery leader, it has solutions for the entire crop cycle. Deere’s agricultural tractors and farm machines are also g-powered. The company is also in crop insurance business.

Geospatial World | September 2013

A Helping Hand Global bodies have pledged to ensure food security in developing countries through g-powered initiatives. • The EU annually contributes approximately EUR 500 million for food security in the regions through g-powered technological knowhow

Precision drainage

• Global Monitoring for Food Security, a geo-enabled food security initiative sponsored by ESA and the European Commission, aims to provide EObased services in Africa for information on precipitation, crop yield, soil moisture, vegetation index, etc.

yields and reduce costs. “There are many factors that influence technology acceptance, from its awareness, reliance, infrastructure availability or even application fit. This clearly varies from region to region, as well as application,” says Simão. He adds that it will be a good idea to identify high-yield farming in emerging and mature markets and then justify more complex solutions. However, till then the state of agriculture practices is clearly moving at two speeds in the two markets, a fact necessitated by local compulsions and requirements. »Developed regions: Developed countries such as Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand and those in Europe have been the early adopters of new technologies. While the governments here woke up to evolving technologies and the need for clearcut policies for an agri revolution, large farm sizes and scarcity of labours compelled local farmers to the use of remotely controlled high-tech machines, sensors and EO satellite data. A very clear example is the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), supported by the European Commission’s GeoCAP Action, renamed as of January 2008 from the previous ‘MARS PAC’ action, which also indirectly provides assistance to policies linked to it such as the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the Herbicide & Herbicide Directive. “Among the main examples, one can cite the ‘Control with Remote Sensing’ [which is now legally accepted as an on-the-spot check method] and the development of digital Land Parcel Identification Systems based on ortho imagery,” says Loudjani. GeoCAP also provides recommendation on how to validate and use GNSS devices in the frame of parcel area measurements for the CAP. GeoCAP also addresses new information needs for policies related to agriculture and regional development, such as cross compliance, farm advisory system, food quality and product origin traceability in the continent. Further, it has a number of ongoing activities (low carbon farming practices, soil carbon preservation and sequestration etc.) to analyse how change in agriculture practices or land protection could help mitigate 34

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• USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network, developed mainly for Africa, uses satellite data for precipitation, snow cover and snow water equivalent, vegetation, and yield forecasting information. • The ADB and ASEAN+3 is developing the ASEAN Food Security Information System to provide rice-related statistics from satellite data to strengthen food security in the region.

the impacts of climate change. “Once we reach specific recommendations to mitigate effects, geospatial technologies can be of great importance to implement some of them such as precision farming,” says Philippe Loudjani, Head, GeoCAP, MARS unit, Institute of Environment and Sustainability. Europe is also developing precision agriculture databases and standardising data exchange (AgroXML). ISO Bus implementation (and further development) is also in process to overcome compatibility problems. Land use monitoring has long been one of the main geospatial activities for agricultural policy monitoring and impact measurement. The US Department of Agriculture uses geoinformation to support the national policy on commodities, conservation, agricultural trade, nutrition programmes, rural development, agricultural research, education and extension, forestry, biofuels, sustainable agriculture etc. More specifically, the National Integrated Drought Information System provides forecasts and other information to farmers on droughts, such as the ones that hampered agricultural production in the Western and SouthWestern US in the last few years. In most of the developed countries, crop canopy sensors are being used to detect light reflectance or laser induced chlorophyll fluorescence. They use sensors as electronic noses, measuring volatile organic compounds produced by fungi, for early and species-specific pest detection. Unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are increasingly carrying sensors for field monitoring. In addition, these countries are using autonomous field robots for crop monitoring and crop treatment. For instance, researchers at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, University of Sydney, developed robotic systems, sensors and intelligent devices for automated agriculture. The robots can move through an orchard gathering data and develop comprehensive in-ground and out-of-ground model. They will be also equipped to perform many agricultural operations such as fertilising, watering, sweeping and mowing.

is suitable for at least one of the GIS to predict an overall 10% decline • Agriculture production has risen approaches. in maize productivity by 2055 (in the by almost 6% in India’s Karnataka US), equivalent to crops losses worth following implementation of the • The Arab Spatial Development and Bhoochetana project led by the Inter- an estimated $2 billion per year. Food Security Atlas is a start-up initianational Crops Research Institute for tive by the International Fund of Agrithe Semi-Arid Tropics in 2008. In 2011,• International Center for Agricultural cultural Development and the Policies, Research in the Dry Areas and its 3 million farm families experienced Markets, and Institutions Program of partners used a GIS model adapted yield gains of 35-66%. to data-poor environments to prothe Consultative Group of International duce a ‘suitability map’ of Eritrea’s Agricultural Research Centres • Two centres supported by the Zoba Debub area. The map enabled Consultative Group on International them to assess the potential of dif.• Over the last 20 years, the InternaAgricultural Research — the Internaferent macro- and micro-catchment tional Livestock Research Institute has tional Center for Tropical Agriculture water harvesting techniques and collected and generated an extensive (CIAT) and International Livestock range of spatial data layers. Research Institute (ILRI) — have used indicated that 70% of the area The commercial agriculture market has been identified as the largest segment for potential use of UAS by the American Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), which is upbeat about its use for precision application of crop protection agents or nutrients. However, though the use of UAS is subject to country-specific legislations and the US has banned use of commercial UAS flights till 2015, Tamme Van Der Wal, Geomatics Expert at Aerovision, says a number of countries such as Japan are opening up to this new technology. AUVSI also expects a favourable decision from the US government. »Developing regions: Developing and poorer countries host a majority of the world’s 815 million chronically food-insecure people, according to FAO. Agriculture remains the largest employment sector in these countries, which typically have small farm holdings and lack technological knowhow and funds for modern agriculture. However, the use of satellite data for weather and crop forecast, monitoring soil quality, irrigation sources etc have taken off well even in these countries. In Asia, using geospatial information for predicting monsoons and extreme events has become a part of the agricultural policies. In Africa, the MESA programme, a cooperation between the African Union and the EU, has a similar aim. In Brazil, the Canasat project, for establishing and monitoring areas under sugarcane cultivation, is an example of a geo-application supporting national agricultural policy. In fact, Brazil is an exception among the developing countries. The Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) has made the country a pioneer in precision farming. EMBRAPA has also developed ‘Observation and Monitoring System for Agriculture’ (SOMABRASIL). “The project organises, integrates and makes geospatial databases available on the Web, thus contributing to the understanding of land use and land cover changes.” points out Mateus Batistella, Director, EMBRAPA Satellite Monitoring. Agriculture has been the thrust area in the remote sensing application programme in India and crop forecasting using re-

mote sensing data by the Indian Space Research Organisation started in the late ’80s, says Dr Shibendu Shankar Ray, Director, Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre. He adds that satellite-based remote sensing data is being used for a manifold applications in agriculture, including crop production forecasting, sustainable agricultural development, irrigation management, site suitability for infrastructure development, watershed development, drought assessment, soil resources mapping and so on. Satellite data also has a great role in many allied fields of agriculture, including potential fishing zone forecast. Geospatial tools and techniques were used under the National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture programme that was launched in February 2011 for identifying agriculturally vulnerable regions in the country, points out Dr Kaushalya Ramachandran, Principal Scientist, CRIDA. Recently, the Indian government recommended remote sensing and GPS-based support system for land rejuvenation, while pilot studies are being planned to perfect such techniques for land-use planning and precision farming. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has launched a $250-million World Bank-funded initiative called the National Agricultural Innovation Project which extensively uses geospatial data for innovative ways of farming. In Malaysia, the Planning, Information Technology and Communications Division of the Department of Agriculture developed and maintains the GIS base Agriculture Information Portal System (AgrIS GeoPortal). In addition, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) is pushing precision technology in rice farming. Vietnam has used geospatial data and technologies for land evaluation on national, regional, provincial and district scales for suitable land-use planning/agricultural development. It has developed applications for explicit assessment of nutrient demands for promoting efficient regional fertiliseruse management; using Webmap for transferring fertiliser recommendation to farmers, traders, fertiliser producers Geospatial World | September 2013

Big Story | Agriculture

and administrators. It is also using remote sensing and geostatistics for identifying geographic hotspots of humaninduced land degradation and their social-ecological types. “There have been a number of policies to mandate the use of geospatial technology in agriculture for transfer of spatial information in a faster and productive way,” says Nguyen Van Bo, President, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Geospatial technology is used in a big way in rice production, leading to an increase in production by 1 million tonne a year. Chile has been using remote sensing data for various uses in agriculture for many years now. The National Resources Information Centre (CIREN) has convinced the Ministry of Agriculture to set up a spatial data infrastructure, IDE-Miniagri, discloses Dr Eugenio Gonzalvez Aquilo, Executive Director, CIREN. The Foundation for Agricultural Innovation, a public agency to promote and financially support agricultural research, development and innovation, collaborated with the World Bank in 2009 to prepare a vision document for agriculture in Chile for 2030 which has proposed an extensive usage of modern technology for natural resource and farm management. Since land is the mainstay of agriculture, more often than not policies in this sector are often aligned to land management issues. For instance, geospatial technology helped in land elevation study and agricultural infrastructure development in Philippines. “The true value of this technology

was realised during the World Bank-supported geo-tagging project which helped validate and monitor the area under agriculture,” says Arnel de Mesa, Deputy Programme Director, Mindanao Rural Development Programme, Department of Agriculture. “It helped in eradication of corruption, especially in agricultural tendering process,” he says. The department is now looking at the use of UAVs for airborne monitoring and survey of farms. Russia’s System of State Land Monitoring is another good example. It comprises two subsystems. “The Federal Geographic Information System Agricultural Lands Atlas was created to provide up-to-date information about agricultural lands to government bodies and local authorities, legal entities and individuals. The Remote Sensing Monitoring System uses RS data for information related to planning, control and management of agricultural lands,” explains Michael Bolsunovsky, First Deputy Director General, Sovzond, which collaborated with the Russian Ministry of Agriculture on the project. Further, for optimum utilisation of available land, several countries like China and Vietnam are converting all small farms into big farms. The future The increased attention agriculture is getting from international policy makers — as shown by the decision at the G8

Reaping the benefits of g-tech Agriculture Application

Geospatial technologies G-powered mobile apps

GIS

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Water level

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Weather

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Soil

Earth observation

GNSS

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Seeding & ploughing

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Irrigation

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Market intelligence

Lasers

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Harvesting

Hydro & soil sensor

Go Mobile World Bank’s Website lists 92 mobile apps that are being used for agriculture. Some of the best ones are: Summit in L’Aquila, Italy to mobilise $20 billion into the sector over the next three years — is timely. Most importantly, access to land and finance is a big challenge for many, which is essential for farming and agricultural entrepreneurship. The world’s 1 billion-plus farmers should be at the centre of new investment strategies, because they are, by far, the largest investors in agriculture, after public and private players. Farmers in 76 low- and middle-income countries invest almost $170 billion a year in their farms — about $150 per farmer, according to FAO estimates. This is a big source that needs to be tapped, but will not be easy given the economics involved. “We [the developing world] need modern technologies, both software and hardware, and satellite data for bringing innovation in agricultural practices. Cost of technologies is high, especially the cost of remote sensing satellite data,” underlines Nguyen Van Bo of Vietnam. Hexagon’s Simão thinks aligning the products and applications portfolio to the specific requirements of the emerging markets is the way to address the needs. “This also will enable us to help farmers adopt solutions that can improve their performance in their environment and, consequently, expedite the stages of utilisation of the precision farming technologies in these particular markets,” he points out. The new buzzword in agriculture is real-time information, but that remains a challenge for farmers in both developed and developing regions, even though the industry is bullish about big business prospect in this new application area. “The agriculture industry is beginning to shift from equipment efficiency to valuing the data, more importantly the information that can be obtained during the operational processes of planting and growing the crop,” says Topcon’s Zahalka. Bolsunovsky sees Web-based services by subscription and mobile applications as the best solutions for small agricultural producers who can’t pay significant money for ready-to-use multifunctional soft/hardware solutions. Agrees Dr. Bernhard Schmitz, Commercial Manager, ATS Products EAME, AGCO International GmbH: “Mobile and real-time information is definitely an important element of what farmers are looking for.” Dr Roy thinks involving the end-users in GIS application processes, capacity building, developing simpler GIS tools for better use of geospatial technology is required. “We also need to generate outputs in real-time. And for that, we need tools and technologies which are more user-oriented,” he adds. Whatever the new development, two significant challenges with respect to agricultural policy and geospatial information will have to be addressed. The first is delivery of the information to the target group, be it the policymaker or the farmer, at the right time and in the right format. Usually, the technical

• Mobile Farm Manager by John Deere gives producers easier access to important farm and field information through their mobile device. • Connected Farm by Trimble allows farmers and agronomists to map field boundaries, enter scouting attributes for pests (weeds, insects, diseases), and take geo-referenced photos and manage collected data online. • AGCOMMAND by AGCO features the ability to show turnby-turn directions, history of machine status and data, compare performance of multiple machines and user-defined alerts. • ArcGIS by ESRI extends the reach of a GIS from the office to the field. Users can query the map, search and find interesting information. • FieldNET Mobile from Lindsay allows users to control and monitor their irrigation pivots from anywhere. • PureSense Irrigation Manager allows users to monitor their real-time field conditions and irrigation activity from their phones. • SoilWeb provides GPS-based, real-time access to USDA-NRCS soil survey data. • My-Cast from Garmin displays animated radar, predicted storm paths and watches/warnings from the National Weather Service.

aspects of systems are well developed and the knowledge is available to the experts concerned, but communication with officials who have to act on the information and with other target groups presents problems in terms of timing and the way messages are formulated. The second challenge concerns the gap that exists between the local and national/international levels. Usually information is provided separately to these levels, complying with the different requirements, but information at the in-between level that is so important for district or provincial policy making and/or implementation, is lacking. Integration of different levels of information is of key importance to improve strategic decision-making in agricultural policy. Mark Noort, Editor-Agriculture mark@geospatialmedia.net Anand Kashyap, Research Fellow anand@geospatialmedia.net

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Agriculture | Policy

G-tech supports a Common Agriculture Policy in Europe

ince its creation in the late 1950s, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has shaped European agriculture. The CAP is defined at EU level by the governments of member states and implemented through regulations issued by the European Commission, rather than through the implementation of directives by member states. The CAP has evolved through a series of reforms in order to adapt to the changing needs of both agriculture and society as a whole. Today, rural areas constitute 90% of the EU territory, of which more than half is farmed. Also, the CAP is one of the most significant policy instruments in financial terms. In order to ensure that these funds are spent appropriately, Member State Authorities and the Commission services have to establish and apply appropriate management and control mechanisms. Fig.1: Examples of reference parcels super-imposed During the past decade, CAP legislative requirements have evolved towards on aerial orthoimagery (colours correspond to different land cover types as explained in Fig.2 ) geo-referenced, online information that

Europe’s Common Agriculture Policy has moved towards accomodating geo-referenced, online information supported by up-to-date nation-wide image datasets. This has largely been facilitated by technical innovations within the geospatial domain

is supported by up-to-date nation-wide image datasets, and consolidated in the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). This evolution has been facilitated and pushed by technical innovations within the geospatial domain. Major developments Since the late 90s, the Monitoring Agriculture Resources (MARS Unit) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has addressed new information needs for European policies related to agriculture and regional development, such as Cross Compliance, farm advisory system, food quality and product origin traceability. It has developed standardised and sustainable control methods in a variety of agriculture-related areas. It has also supported the development of multipurpose large scale mapping approaches, common specifications, standardised measurements and validated methods to reinforce the consistency of land parcel identification and measurement across the Union and in candidate countries. To date, the control with remote sensing (CwRS), Digital Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) and parcel area measurement using GNSS devices have become the keystones of the efficient administration and control of CAP subsidies. »The Control with Remote Sensing (CwRS): Initiated with some pilot studies in the 90s, the CwRS have now become an official method (equivalent to a physical farm visit) for member states administrations or their CwRS contractors to carry out part or all of their

Representations of reference parcels: Agricultural parcel (blue) one single crop group from a single farmer; farmers’ block/plot (red) one single or several crop groups from a single farmer; and physical block (yellow) one single or several crop groups from one or several farmers.

on-the-spot checks (OTS) of EU farms. In most of the cases, very high resolution (VHR) satellite images (<1 m pixel resolution) are used to perform parcel measurements and provide elements of identification of land cover type and/or checks of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs) aspects. High resolution satellite imagery is used to provide further elements for the diagnosis of land cover type and/or checks of the GAECs. To date, the CwRS methods are used to control more than 400,000 farmers for their area-aid applications in EU27. This represents approximately 70% of the total EU 27 OTS checks. To do so, some 700 HR images (e.g. SPOT, IRS, Rapid Eye, Landsat, etc.) and more than 230,000 sq km of VHR resolution data (e.g. Worldview, GeoEye, Ikonos, Quickbird, etc) are financed annually by the European Commission and made available to member states. »Digital Land Parcel Identification System: In 1992, as a result of the evolution of CAP legislative requirements, the EU Commission asked the member states to establish an Integrated Administration and Control System in order to administer and control farmers’ declarations. In the subsequent years, it was found that a high percentage of

declared areas were incorrect. Therefore, the process of declaration had to be improved by the establishment of a Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) to identify and quantify the land eligible for payments. These identification systems have been mainly established on the basis of aerial or satellite orthoimages. These orthoimages, together with attribute information concerning land use, form the basic set of components of LPIS. Different approaches have been used by the member states to develop their LPIS. Today, 45 different land parcel information systems exist across the EU, which sees more than 135 million detailed land parcels declared annually by its 8 million farmers. »Parcel area measurement: In the frame of CAP direct payments and associated on-the-spot checks, agricultural parcel areas are determined with measurement tools that are “proven to assure measurements of quality”. The uncertainty specific to any measurement tool is characterised by a number of parameters such as its bias, precision and accuracy or technical tolerance. As of January 1, 2008, only the perimeter buffer tolerance is applied to agricultural parcels. This buffer tolerance, which cannot exceed 1.0 ha, is calculated by

Digital land parcel identification systems have been established on the basis of aerial or satellite orthoimages. Today, 45 different land parcel information systems exist across EU, which has a total of over 135 million detailed land parcels declared by its 8 million farmers Geospatial World | September 2013

EVOLUTION OF IMAGERY USED FOR THE CAP CWRS THROUGH THE YEARS Agriculture | Policy Area of very high resolution images for the CwRS campaigns 2003-2013

Area in sq km

Number of images

Number of high resolution images acquired for the CwRS campaigns 2003-2012

GNSS devices and VHR orthoimages are tools used to perform almost 100% of parcel area measurements for the CAP management. Today some 80 different combinations of GNSS receivers and measurements methods are used in EU, representing a total of around 6,400 GNSS receivers 40

Geospatial World | September 2013

multiplying the parcel perimeter by a (buffer) width of maximum 1.5 metre. In the context of on-the-spot checks, tolerances are applied to the assessment of the difference between the declared and measured areas of the claimed agricultural parcel in order to come with a decision on the accepted area for payment. With the development of technologies, GNSS devices and VHR orthoimages have become the tools that are used to perform almost 100% of parcel area measurements for the CAP management. In order to determine the measurement accuracy of these tools, member states are requested to systematically perform an area measurement validation test that has been set up by the MARS Unit. Today some 80 different combinations of GNSS receivers and measurements methods are used in EU, representing a total of around 6,400 GNSS receivers. Future directions Towards 2020, CAP foresees the continuation of the IACS, LPIS maintenance and CwRS (as part of the OTS checks). Furthermore, the new CAP reinforces the efforts on sustainable rural development (the second pillar), on environ-

mental, sanitarian and societal requirements (cross-compliance) and on environment as a whole (the greening). This will require the detailed characterisation of rural landscape (landscape features such as location, type, area length; land cover; land use) based on the development of technical solutions which will be more than ever based on geomatics and geospatial data. These new requirements will force agricultural GIS systems to store additional data and to interoperate with environmental and other databases. It becomes evident that the LPIS data, rather than being solely dedicated to support the aid declaration and subsequent controls, could also be broadly used by other ‘external’ users to evolve toward the establishment of Land Management Information Systems for rural areas. Philippe Loudjani, Project Leader, GeoCAP, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability Monitoring Agricultural Resources Unit, European Commission The author would like to acknowledge all those who, in the history of MARS Unit, have contributed in some manner or another to works quoted in this article

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Geospatial World | April 2013

Agricultureâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Insurance

RS technology for crop insurance Despite advances in the use of remote sensing technology in the field of agriculture, data analysis & developing applications for agricultural risk management have proved to be more complex and expensive than anticipated

Geospatial World | September 2013

griculture is set to play an important role in achieving the goals set by developing economies in the next few decades. Providing food, raw materials and energy in sufficient quantity for a burgeoning population will be a major challenge. Food security will be an increasingly important element of agricultural policy for every country. According to the projections, climate change may increase the variability of weather patterns in many regions, with consequences such as rising frequency and severity of extreme climate events. Against this backdrop, managing agricultural risks is a key challenge. Crop insurance systems will play an increasing role in this task. This was clearly demonstrated by the US drought in 2012, which affected the most important agricultural region in the USA, the Midwest, with the corn and soybean crops getting affected. Total crop losses in the USA in 2012 amounted to around $20 billion, of which $16.99 billion was indemnified to farmers by the National Crop Insurance System. Historically, this is the highest amount ever indemnified by a crop insurance system worldwide. In recent decades, crop insurance systems have been designed and implemented in several countries (Figure 1). The most promising and sustainable approach is that of insurance systems within the framework of a publicprivate partnership between the state, the agricultural sector and the (re) insurance industry (depicted as green and blue). It can be assumed that crop insurance systems will be developed and implemented as public-private partnerships more and more in devel-

oping economies. Advances in remote sensing technology will certainly fuel this trend. Current applications Most agriculture-related applications of remote sensing technology are focused on monitoring the vegetation status by using signals collected in the visible and near infrared regions by special spacebased sensors and by mathematically combining these signals to vegetation indices. One of the most prominent vegetation indices is the NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index). The advantage of this index is that data are recorded daily by different sensors, and time-series of up to 30 years are available. These are the reasons that the NDVI is widely used, also for crop insurance purposes. However, according to Joint Research Centre (Meroni et.al, 2013) due to inaccuracies as a consequence of factors such as background reflectance and the three dimensional structure of the canopy, alternative indices are currently being developed. The disadvantage of optical sensors is that they provide useful data only when there is no cloud cover. This is a major constraint because the cropping season is relatively short, and for many applications, data in specific growing stages are needed with a good spatial resolution. By contrast, radar sensors can be used even in case cloud cover. Their area of application in agriculture is currently restricted, but with the availability of new bands and more research, advances can be expected in future. At present, radar sensors are used for information on cultivated area, soil moisture analysis and flood monitoring, often in combination with optical sensors.

Potential applications Remote sensing technology can bring innovations to the process of developing and operating crop insurance systems. Innovations will be seen especially in the following areas: »Plot identification: Identifying productive agricultural plots and distinguishing them from other land use is an essential element in any agricultural information system. Determining the boundaries and the size of individual plots is another requirement for operating any crop insurance scheme. In Germany, a field reference system has been established to identify individual plots for administration and control of European agricultural subsidies; according to GAF AG remote sensing data combined with GIS and aerial photographs have been used. »Crop identification: Another important piece of information is which crop or crop type is being cultivated where during a specific cropping season. This is not an easy task as the appearances of the wide variety of crops being cultivated are often difficult to distinguish on satellite images. However, significant advances have been made using multi-temporal datasets during the vegetation period. »Crop monitoring: Monitoring the crop cycle from planting to harvesting is important for identifying potential problems at an early stage. For crop insurance purposes, it is important to know if crops have really emerged since the insurance cover often starts only with the emergence of a viable crop stand. Reliable remote sensing data can reduce timeconsuming and costly field inspections. »Yield estimations: Estimations based on crop monitoring are still in the early stages of development, and considerable work is required to arrive at reliable estimates. The work is costly, as it requires not only analytical work but also reliable ground truth data, i.e. yield data collected in the field, for calibration and testing the results. With the fast

Worldmap of Agricultural Insurance

Characteristics of Agricultural Insurance Systems Class Comprehensive system System with premium subsidies Purely private Insurance No sizeable

spreading of automatic yield recording and harvesters producing yield maps of individual plots, however, more reliable ground truth yield data will be available in future. Different approaches to forecast yields are used at present: • Satellite information as the primary source: The NDVI is the classical example. What is measured is the reflection of the plant canopy using different wave lengths. Depending on the crop type, biomass is more or less correlated with yield. There is a relatively good correlation in grassland but a low correlation can result for arable crops under particular circumstances. • Using crop growth models as the primary tool, based on satellite information on the biomass as the input factor besides others like soil type, weather conditions (e.g. precipitation, temperature) and management factors: This approach is more promising when dealing with arable crops, as more accurate yield estimations can be obtained. Regional yield estimates for cereals, oilseeds and tuber crops can be expected in the near future. However, it will be much more difficult to assess yields on individual plots. The currently available spatial and temporal resolution (both being required simultaneously in high definition) is not sufficient, especially when we are dealing with average sized plots.

Crop insurance systems will be developed and implemented as public-private partnerships more and more in developing economies as advances in remote sensing technology fuels this trend

Geospatial World | September 2013

Courtesy: European Commission/Copernicus, 2013

Agriculture | Insurance

Courtesy: European Commission/Copernicus, 2013

Flood on the River Elbe in the agricultural area around Breitenhagen in Germany in June 2013. The flooded area is shown in light blue, and the reference water level in dark blue

Pre-flood situation in the agricultural area around Breitenhagen, Germany

»Loss event monitoring: This is a very important application not only for crop insurance but also for state authorities in managing crop disasters in an efficient and timely manner. Early loss estimations and catagorising the regions according to the degree affected are required. In the case of floods, according to GAF AG radar sensors are very efficient in addition to optical sensors, as they also provide information if there is a cloud cover (Relin, 2013). The extent of crop losses can be assessed with the information about the duration and height of the flood, together with the information about the planted crop types which react differently to water submergence and water logging. »Risk assessment and underwriting: The two essential elements of any crop insurance operation can be supported by digital elevation models elaborated with remote sensing technology. These models can be used to assess flood and frost risk and derive underwriting criteria. »Insurance products: Insurance products based on the NDVI have been offered to cover grasslands. However, these products, introduced in the US and Spain have only limited market penetration. One of the obstacles is the lack of acceptance and trust among clients with regard to a satellite index which is neither transparent nor easy to understand. With the development of reliable regional yield estimates by remote sensing technology, corresponding area yield insurance products will come. Yield insurance at farm level, however, is still a distant prospect. Outlook Though still in its infancy, satellite technology has considerable potential to develop and enhance crop insurance and the disaster response of state authorities after major losses. The heterogeneous structure in crop production poses a major challenge for the technology, which works best with big plots and homogenous crops. Furthermore, the temporally limited availability of optical methods because of cloud cover is a major constraint; especially after loss events, images are needed at defined points of time, and it is not possible to wait for weeks for a cloud-free period. Advances in the area of radar data might supplement optical data, thus easing these constraints. Additionally or alternatively to remote sensing information, aerial photographs taken from unmanned airplanes will play an increasingly important role, especially when dealing with specific issues of loss adjustment in the field, like determining areas of damaged crops in big fields. Dr Joachim Herbold Senior Underwriter, Agricultural business unit, Munich Reinsurance Company, jherbold@munichre.com

Geospatial World | September 2013

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Agriculture | Interview

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Geo-technology is a great tool for agriculture market regulationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) regulates the agricultural products market in Germany. BLE President Dr Hanns-Christoph Eiden explains how geoinformatics helps in effective surveillance of the EU agricultural subsidies, and in managing the volatility in commodity prices

What is the mandate of the German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) and what are its core activities? The Federal Office of Agriculture and Food is responsible for all the tasks which fall within the scope of the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). In particular, the Federal Office, an agency of the Common Market Organisations within the European Union, regulates the German markets for a number of crops and agricultural products. The office issues licences for

In times of high commodity prices and high price volatility, surveillance of the agricultural production process is important for all countries 46

Geospatial World | September 2013

cross-border trade of goods and services produced by the food, agricultural and forest industries. The BLE supports the BMELV in issues related to international cooperation on global food security. Recently, we have started coordinating with the German Federal States for the implementation of Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) for the surveillance of the EU agricultural subsidies. We are also involved in setting up a centre for geoinformatics and remote sensing. How does the BLE use geospatial technologies such as GIS and remote sensing? The amount of EU agricultural aid payments is mostly based on the size of the area for which the aid is claimed, often in combination with other commitments or compliance requirements, for

example, concerning the use of the land, the preservation of certain landscape features and so on. The determination of area size is done by using GNSS-devices for measurements or by aerial-based or space-based remote sensing. Our new centre for geoinformatics and remote sensing is currently engaged with the implementation of the INSPIREDirective, an initiative of the European Commission which aims at establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe. The implementation of INSPIRE has a welcome side effect: the evaluation of our existing geodata and the possible extension of their use and visualisation. The geodata infrastructure for Germany (GDI DE) revolves around our Web-based portal GDI BMELV (www. gdi.bmelv.de), and we plan to put the INSPIRE metadata on this to make it available to all concerned. We also plan to equip our Web portals with dynamic map viewers. The new centre is developing ideas to integrate the use of remote sensing into the work of the BLE. Market regulating agencies in developing countries are slowly gaining strength but awareness about the benefits of location technology is still lacking in these parts of the world. Your comments. In times of high commodity prices and volatility, surveillance of the agricultural production process is important for all countries. Location technology, like GIS and aerial-based or space-based remote sensing techniques, are helpful tools for achieving food and nutrition security and a sustainable agricultural production for all countries, whether developed, emerging or developing. I think the application of GIS and remote sensing technologies in developing countries is continuously evolving. In recent years, the dissemination of GIS and remote sensing techniques in

developing countries has been promoted widely by various international aid projects. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) supported by USAID and the Global Food Security Service (GMFS) initiated by European Space Agency (ESA) are two good examples. Programmes such as GEOGLAM, an international initiative for global agricultural monitoring, and Asia-Rice Crop Estimation and Monitoring, a rice monitoring project in different Asian countries, have proved to be helpful. The use of remote sensing techniques in developing countries will increase with the improvement in technology transfer and easy access to satellite imagery. You have served in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. How, in your opinion, can precision farming meet the growing demand for food production? On the one hand, there is a demand for an increased agricultural production. On the other, essential resources like fossil energy, water and biodiversity are becoming rare. It clearly means that the agricultural production has to become sustainable and resource-saving. Precision farming could help in achieving this goal. With precision farming the inherent heterogeneity of agricultural fields is recognised and the specific crop requirements, such as the need for water, fertilisers or agrochemicals, become easy and cost effective. It promises to benefit both farmers and the consumer.

Screenshot of geoportal developed by BLE, which will have the INSPIRE metadata and dynamic map viewers

Our new centre for geoinformatics and remote sensing is currently engaged with the implementation of the INSPIREDirective, an initiative of the European Commission which aims at establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe Geospatial World | September 2013

Agriculture | Unmanned Aerial Systems

tal impact while improving on their own financial margin.

The FieldCopter consortium is using the Sarah platform, a very advanced helicopter platform also used in film industry. The gyrostabilised head guarantees the right camera angle Courtesy: Aerovision

UAS to monitor crop health status

UAS is a flexible and agile way of collecting imagery to monitor crops and for mapping out differences in crop growth and health status

he uptake of geospatial technology creates many new opportunities for improving farming. One of these opportunities is the ‘variable rate application’ or VRA, where farmers can apply different rates (nutrients, water crop protection agent etc) depending on the local situation. In contrast to current practices, VRA responds to the spatially varied needs of the crop, or simply put, apply only what is needed. For instance, based on the mapped nitrogen deficiency in the crop, fertilisation can be done only on areas where it is required. VRA is an opportunity for farmers to reduce environmen-

Geospatial World | September 2013

Sowing new seeds Unmanned Aerial Systems or UAS are a flexible and agile way of collecting imagery, compared to alternatives like satellites, manned aerial photography or terrestrial sensors (e.g. vehicle mounted or handheld). UAS flies a pattern of parallel paths covering the whole field, taking multiple images that are later stitched together. It uses multispectral camera payload to measure sunlight reflectance in the visible and near-infrared spectrum to determine specific vegetation indices. An image of a whole field provides insight in the subfield differences. Based on these differences, management zones could be determined, each with their own intensity for spraying. This could then be fed into agricultural machinery with GNSS location to apply the right dose at the right place. The UAS used in agricultural monitoring are small, light-weight platforms. Around the world, different universities, extension organisations and service providers experiment with small multi-rotors, helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks. Depending on the type of usage and service, most important differentiators are the space needed for take-off and landing, the endurance of the platform and the payload capacity. The use of UAS is subject to legislation as many countries are still defining the regulations for airspace use. Safety is the main issue for integrated use of manned and unmanned aircrafts. Use of commercial UAS flights are banned in the US till 2015 but the American ‘Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’ (AUVSI), which in its latest economic report had identified the commercial agriculture market (for UAS) as “by far the largest segment,

Reaping the benefits In Europe, a consortium called FieldCopter is investigating the use of UAS for crop state monitoring and how to set up a reliable service. FieldCopter is a EU-funded project and a consortium of SMEs TerraSphere, Aurea Imaging, Flying Cam and AeroVision, and research institutes National Research Council (CSIC) and Centre for Advanced Aerospace Technologies CATEC of Spain. FieldCopter is using an autopilot to guide the UAS on a pre-programmed flight path. It is using the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) for accurate positioning. EGNOS is only available in Europe, and similar augmentation systems could be deployed in other parts of the world. The consortium has developed a lightweight board computer that integrates the EGNOS receiver with gyroscopes and accellerometers for optimal autonomous flight control. The board computer also controls the on-board camera to make sure that the right image is taken at the right spot. FieldCopter uses two different camera systems â&#x20AC;&#x201D; multispectral and thermal infrared. The multispectral camera is configurable, in which bands could be measured both in terms of the central wavelength and bandwidth. It could therefore mimic the bands from any satellite sensor currently available. The multispectral imagery is used to determine crop vigour, biomass growth and crop nitrogen status. The

thermal infrared camera measures the emitted long-wave radiation that is directly linked to the temperature of the emitting body. For crops, canopy or leaf temperature could be related to evapo-transpiration status. FieldCopter is using thermal camera to determine irrigation performance and crop water needs in irrigated agriculture. Conclusion Cloud cover is a major showstopper for many satellite applications in agriculture since the opportunity window for image acquisition could be as small as a 5- or 10-day period and farmers want to use the imagery in near real time. FieldCopter investigated the weather conditions in the Netherlands and concluded that the use of UAS (standalone, or in combination with satellite imagery) could increase the service performance to an acceptable level. Besides multispectral and thermal cameras, hyperspectral cameras are also being made available for UAS platforms, thus increasing their performance. Given the increasing autonomy of the UAS platform, it may not be long before every farmer posseses his UAS. This will create a wealth of remote sensing data on crops and fields, paving the path for more resource-efficient farming. This is good news for the environment, the farmer and the consumer. Tamme Van Der Wal, Geomatics Expert, Aerovision

Besides multispectral and thermal cameras, hyperspectral cameras are also being made available for UAS platforms. Given the increasing autonomy of the UAS platform, it may not be long before every farmer posseses his UAS

A vineyard in Spain monitored with FieldCopter using a thermal infrared camera shows differences in vine temperature. The red colour reflects higher temperature and thus higher crop water requirement

Courtesy: Flying Cam

dwarfing all othersâ&#x20AC;?, expects a positive decision from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on opening the US airspace for UAS use. AUVSI foresees that besides remote sensing, unmanned systems could also be used for precision application of crop protection agents or nutrients. This is already taking place in places like Japan where fields are sprayed using unmanned helicopters.

Geospatial World | September 2013

Agriculture | Data Integration

Brazil shows the way in use of GIS for sustainable agriculture Brazil, one of the world’s main agricultural powers, utilises geotechnologies to integrate datasets from several sources for sustainable agribusiness and cover change studies on agricultural frontiers, carbon storage estimates in forest and agricultural systems, among others. The Centre also conducts studies for the identification and monitoring of degraded pastures in Brazilian biomes, the control of animal diseases on the country’s borders, improving the knowledge of how agricultural activities affect the environmental quality such as greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable use of water resources, and dynamic mapping.

Embrapa Satellite Monitoring facility in Campinas, Brazil

Geospatial World | September 2013

he Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) aims to provide feasible solutions for the sustainable development of Brazilian agribusiness through knowledge and technology generation and transfer. One of its many research centres is Embrapa Satellite Monitoring Centre, a thematic unit focused on geotechnologies, which houses qualified staff, monitoring agricultural expansion, land use change, and their implications on environmental and economic sustainability of agribusiness. The Centre has provided support in many research fields such as land use and cover dynamics in the Amazon region and its relation to socio-economic drivers, land-use zoning based on biophysical and human characteristics for distinct Brazilian states, land-use

Increasing agricultural production Brazil is blessed with favourable biophysical conditions, which places it among the world’s main agricultural powers. Since 2004, the Amazon deforestation rate has dropped 80% and the agricultural production has increased consistently year after year. Different productive chains are responsible for 27% of the country’s GDP, 36% of the exports, and 39% of the jobs. Recent assessments based on satellite imagery have shown that more than 60% of the country is still covered by its pristine land cover, approximately 5 million sq km or 10 times the size of France. The use of geotechnologies has fostered great innovations in rural areas in Brazil. Rural planning, infrastructure and logistic issues, environmental impacts, crop forecast, expansion and intensification of agricultural systems, and even cattle traceability systems can make use of geospatial information.

Geospatial knowledge is the basis for promoting a new development model in order to minimise the negative environmental and social impacts resulting from human activity. Organising and integrating census variables and remote sensing information in one geospatial database in order to enable studies and analysis for the characterisation and monitoring of agricultural activities, the preservation of natural resources, and the production of maps and zones is essential. In this context, Embrapa Satellite Monitoring Centre developed the System for Agriculture Observation and Monitoring (SOMABRASIL), which integrates geographic databases from several sources and allows the performance of interactive queries based on different access levels. SOMABRASIL organises, integrates and makes geospatial databases available on the Web by means of tools for spatially explicit analysis and dynamic visualisation, thus contributing to the understanding of land use and land cover changes. The WebGIS interface allows the user perform basic and advanced queries and generate useful information for land zonings, agricultural monitoring and for detecting priorities for research and policy making. The system is entirely based on open source software (i.e., PostgreSQL, PostGIS, and GeoServer) and has been used by several organisations as a valuable tool for the dissemination of products and results obtained through geospatial analysis. The system has thousands of registered users, ranging from government agencies, universities, research institutes, banks, agricultural private companies, and the civil society in general. SOMABRASIL is a WebGIS that includes tools for access, display, and manipulation of geospatial information. The user can display several layers and control their transparency, besides selecting different types of background

information, such as Google, Virtual Earth and Yahoo. The system structure is divided in three sections: »Thematic maps: In this, geospatial data include administrative boundaries for states, meso-regions, micro-regions, and municipalities; cartographic indices; path and row for different satellites providing free data; physical layers (topography, hydrography, basins, biomes, soils, and agricultural aptitude); protected areas (conservation units of sustainable use, integral protection, and indigenous lands); logistics (waterways, railroads, and roads); and climate. »Diagnostics: This includes land-use and land cover satellite-derived information from the ‘Project of Deforestation Monitoring of Brazilian Biomes’ (PMDBBS) and ‘Project for Deforestation Monitoring of the Brazilian Amazon’. There are also layers generated by users from queries to the official statistics on Municipal Agricultural Production and Animal Production. Depending on the user access level, other advanced databases and queries are available, using the SQL syntax. »Monitoring: Dynamic information derived from satellite data is available, such as vegetation indices and large scale agriculture mapping for the entire country. Examples are the maps indicating areas of severe drought or precipitation, polygons of agriculture based on one or two crops per year, and maps showing pasture degradation levels, all produced using MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and SPOT Vegetation time series. SOMABRASIL is updated regularly with new information layers and databases generated by Embrapa Satellite Monitoring or other organisations, creating new possibilities for the observation and monitoring of the Brazilian agriculture. Mateus Batistella, Embrapa Satellite Monitoring

SOMABRASIL WebGIS interface showing a query example for municipalities with cattle herds larger than 100,000 heads in 2011 (above) and levels of pasture degradation (below) in the state of Goiás, central Brazil

SOMABRASIL organises, integrates and makes geospatial databases available on the Web for spatially explicit analysis and dynamic visualisation, thus contributing to the understanding of land use and land cover changes Geospatial World | September 2013

Agriculture | Case Study

Smart ICT for weather and water information Geospatial technology enables provision of timely and detailed fieldand crop-specific information throughout the growing season to farmers in Africa via mobiles and other smart ICT channels

eLEAF’s Fieldlook platform enables farmers to zoom into their crops

Geospatial World | September 2013

limate change, water scarcity and food security are becoming increasingly important topics for the growing population of Africa. Due to a general lack of water resources and/or development in the semi-arid and arid zones, water is generally the limiting factor for agricultural production. Smart and affordable technologies need to be adapted to customise farm management for farmers with limited water resources. The general challenge is to produce more food with less water while improving the income and livelihoods of millions of farmers. Against this backdrop, Netherlandsbased e-LEAF has developed and tested innovative technology and application services to supply farmers in Africa with information on their crops via mobile phones and other smart ICT modes. This way, the information access barrier in rural Africa can be lowered and informed

decision making by smallholder farmer is enabled regarding the management of their land and water resources, and farmers’ negotiation capacity with water- and farm-related service providers enhanced. Rather than providing general statements on crop growth, these applications provide timely and detailed field- and crop-specific information throughout the growing season, which supports the farmers in improving their crop production and their economic returns/income. eLEAF supplies reliable, quantitative data on water and vegetation on any land surface to support sustainable water use, increase food production, and protect environmental systems. For the implementation of the Smart ICT project, four pilot areas located in West-Noubaria (Egypt), the Arata Chufa irrigation scheme in Oromiya (Ethiopia), the spate irrigation area of the Gash Delta (Sudan) and Office du Niger (Mali) were selected. Information delivery to the farmers is based on the conclusions of a user need assessment which identified the preferred and most effective methods of communication and desired type of information to be received by the small African farmers. FieldLook platform and irrigation planner The eLEAF data gives information about the status of vegetation (crop-

specific) at the land surface every week. During the pilot period, farmers get free access to information that is computed for their own fields. They need to subscribe to this service by specifying the digital boundaries of their fields. Local partners/extensions officers are enhanced to collect the relevant information from farmers and enter this in the system. As many farmers in the pilot areas do not have direct access to the Internet, the local partner plays an important role in supporting the individual farmers to access and interpret the data. The eLEAF FieldLook website contains an Irrigation Planner application, in which farmers can enter their irrigation amounts on the day of irrigation. Subsequently, a soil water balance model is run using weather forecast data. This provides the farmers with tailormade advice on when they will have to irrigate next to prevent crop water stress and avoid wasting water at the same time. SMS service Within each pilot area, 60 pilot farmers have received a free mobile phone and instructions on how to use these devices and applications. These farmers are subscribed to the Smart ICT SMS service, which was identified as the most direct way to get information to the farmers. The content of the messages is based on the FieldLook and Irrigation Planner information, but converted into simple text messages to farmers related to irrigation and fertilisation of crops. The messages tell farmers in the local language about crop water needs, crop water stress, crop nutrient status, biomass production and flood forecasts for spate irrigation. The service delivers weekly information on crop growth and water use efficiency indicating whether those parameters are (a) below average, (b) average

and (c) above average when compared to neighbouring fields. This allows farmers to assess the performance of their fields and crops in relation to the fields of their colleagues. In addition, the system is highly interactive and provides on-demand information, rather than forcing the messages upon the farmers. Farmers can request irrigation advice from the Irrigation Planner by SMS while in the field, and can feed the Irrigation Planner with data on their irrigated amount to receive updated advice. Future perspectives The feedback from the farmers and local partners (agricultural staff ) in the pilot areas in the four African countries is encouraging, which is a clear indication that there is a great potential for continuing the agricultural advisory services in the current pilot areas and in other African countries. During the pilot, farmers have become acquainted with eLEAF-enabled applications and services and local partners have learned to interpret the data, translate it into improved farm management practices, which has shown to have positive impact on crop production and efficiency of water use. As eLEAF data can provide valuable insights in a wide variety of crop specific information and is not restricted by political borders, it is a suitable basis for developing mobile agricultural applications throughout Africa.

The eLEAF SMS service delivers weekly information to farmers on crop growth and water use efficiency

The eLEAF FieldLook Website contains an Irrigation Planner application which provides the farmer with tailor-made advice on when he will have to irrigate next to prevent crop water stress and avoid wasting water at the same time

Courtesy: eLEAF Geospatial World | September 2013

Agricultureâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Case Study

Geospatial tools for rainfed agriculture Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture uses geospatial data and tools to identify and establish trends to promote rainfed agriculture

ndia is a vast country with total geographical area of 328 million hectares (Mha) and a net sown area of 142 Mha. Out of this, over 85 Mha is under rainfed cultivation which is the domain of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), a constituent of ICAR, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The government has assigned top priority for developing rainfed agriculture under the XII Five Year Plan through the use of biotechnology and declaring a National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture. CRIDA has research programmes to address various issues, including soil and water conservation through watershed development projects, water harvesting structures, study of agro-climatic situation, development of crops to withstand drought and shorter length of growing windows, soil fertility improvement, increasing carbon sequestration, increasing biomass availability for incorporation in soils, pest management and a host of others. Geospatial tools are used in a host of these research programmes. Watershed-based development The Watershed Development Programme is a major strategy for soil and water conservation in rainfed regions and is implemented across major agroclimatic or agro-ecological regions in the country. Changes in land use and

Geospatial World | September 2013

land cover cause degradation, which requires restoration through interventions. Geospatial tools help in carrying out these tasks through land-use planning based on land capability and suitability, watershed-based development, soil and water conservation, locating water harvesting structures and farm ponds to improve water supply for rainfed agriculture, use of vegetation index to study crop condition, plant vigour, pest and diseases, soil fertility status, yield estimation etc, in addition to climate change studies and modelling. Watershed-based development is critical for the fragile rainfed agroecosystems and hence a number of projects have been implemented since 1980s. During the XI Five Year Plan (2002-2007), it was felt that the guidelines for implementation of watershed projects required to be revised. This prompted a geomatics-based research study to develop methodology for assessing sustainability of watershed projects in rainfed agro-ecological-subregions in India. The CRIDA project undertook to develop a procedure for monitoring and evaluation of watershed projects using sustainability indicators to be measured by geospatial tools. Eight treated and untreated watersheds in Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh were selected for monitoring and evaluation. While the usage of GIS, satellite data and GPS are routine features in

delineation of watersheds and their development, their use for carrying out an objective post-facto monitoring and evaluation by a third-party after exit by a project implementing agency was new. The study helped to identify 12 critical indicators for sustainable development of watershed projects. Spatial evaluation of the watershed projects indicated that in the selected districts, sustainable agriculture was being practised on 29-43% of the land in treated micro-watersheds. Rainfed agriculture in the untreated watersheds was found to be lagging, underlining the utility of watershed projects. Use of geomatics helped in developing an objective evaluation procedure in addition to measuring â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sustainabilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Effects of climate change Sustainability of rainfed agriculture is threatened by climate change. ICAR carried out a study for assessing agricultural vulnerability at the agro-eco-sub-region and district level in the country using a vegetation index. An analysis of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time-series data showed variations, indicating the impact of climate change on vegetation growth and vigour. Vulnerable districts were identified for developing climate-resilient technologies. Variations in NDVI were correlated to standard precipitation index instead of the actual daily rainfall to study the impact of extreme weather events like drought, flood, heat and cold waves, cyclone, untimely rain, etc. National Agricultural Statistics pertaining to agricultural production, yield and net sown area were analysed to corroborate results obtained from study of NDVI variations. All these information helped to identify agriculturally vulnerable regions in rainfed areas. It was found that over 92.98 Mha area in India experienced decreasing trend in NDVI while there was no change on 25.2 Mha. An increasing trend of NDVI was recorded

on 183.96 Mha. Geographically decreasing trends in NDVI was noticed in the Western Ghats, Orissa and Chattisgarh regions of the country, the Northeast states and in lower Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh and southern Kashmir. Overall there was an improvement in vegetation cover in the country. In 56 districts covering 30.93 Mha, a decrease in vegetative cover was registered, while in 41 districts with 22.25 Mha, there was no perceptible change in NDVI. In 457 districts accounting for over 249 Mha, a positive trend in NDVI was registered. An analysis of the Standard Precipitation Index indicated that while the regions of Deccan, West Bengal, Bihar, parts of northeast states, western Rajasthan and western J&K were receiving more rainfall, large parts such as the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Arunachal Pradesh were receiving less than normal precipitation.

Irrigated & Rainfed Districts In India

Irrigated Rainfed Data not available Snow-clad mountain Source: Dept of Stat & DoA (GoI 2001-2007)

Conclusion Geospatial data and tools were fundamental in the above studies and helped identify and establish certain trends for the benefit of rainfed agriculture in India. At present, commercial software like ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine are being used while an increasing need is being felt for the use of open-source GIS software and improved access to global and national datasets. While the National Remote Sensing Centre under ISRO is committed to supply free archived data, there is a need to develop tailored data like the GIMMS and MODIS datasets for public use in the country. Dr Kausalya Ramachandran, Principal Scientist & ICAR National Fellow, CRIDA- ICAR, kausalya@crida.in Geospatial World | September 2013

Agricultureâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Case Study

Profiling agricultural activities through GIS The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority of Malaysia uses GIS to understand the needs of the rural population and ascertain the number of agricultural producers and the volume of produce near rural centres

Receiving satellite information via hand-held devices 56

Geospatial World | September 2013

he Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) is an initiative of the Malaysian government to optimise the potential of rural areas and streamline development activities for the benefit of the people. RTC is a mechanism under the Rural Transformation Programme which was initiated in 2011. The objective was nationwide establishment of RTCs to expand economic activities that were previously concentrated in urban areas such as the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor further into rural areas. RTCs had the aim to serve as centres of logistics integration, processing and distribution of agricultural products, and were equipped with facilities such as banking and insurance, training centres, clinics and retail space. This programme was implemented through eight initiatives: skills training for rural people, setting up of information kiosks, encouraging value-added agriculture, processing of agrofoods, managing the agricultural supply chain, providing financing facilities, food safety and pharmaceutical services, and cooperation of higher education institutions.

Profiling the players through GIS In order to understand the needs of the rural population and have outreach programmes for their benefits, it was necessary to gather data about the current situation and the expected outcomes. Accordingly, a study carried out by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) of Malaysia in 2012, sought to obtain the locations and profiles of various target groups within a radius of 15 km from the Perak RTC. Among the information that needed to be mapped were locations of agricultural produce areas, FAMA marketing infrastructure, government departments/agencies, local authorities, financial institutions, marketing institutions, higher learning institutions and demographics. This mapping would facilitate government departments and agencies in reaching the specific target groups that needed their assistance. During the process of determining the research framework, it was decided that GIS tools would be utilised as GIS has the capability to synchronise the information from spatial databases with attribute databases. This would enable the visualisation of the information collected in an easy-to-understand format and provide all the details required by policymakers.

This study was carried out from January 6 to February 10, 2012, involving 12 officers divided into four groups. The division of labour was instrumental in ensuring that all the important areas were covered in the lowest possible time and costs. The methodology involved mapping in the areas identified. Handheld GPS devices were used to plot the coordinates of locations of the activities as set out earlier in the scope of the study. Data processing flow of GIS The data plotted were divided into a few categories: • Producers such as individual farms, cluster farms, contract farms and small and medium enterprises • FAMA marketing infrastructure such as farmers’ markets and fresh fruit stalls • Offices of government departments/ agencies and local authorities • Financial and banking institutions • Marketing institutions such as hypermarkets, markets, night markets, day markets, retail outlets, wholesale outlets, restaurants and eateries, bakeries, mini markets, catering services, fruit shops and nurseries • Demographics such as housing areas and villages Basic background data of the respondents such as names, telephone numbers and addresses were also collected and entered into the devices for records and future reference. Conclusions After the location coordinates were collected, the relevant data were transferred from the GPS devices to computers and then processed, which involved differential corrections on distance estimations. Maps were then produced to assist in disseminating the information to would-be-users and decision makers.

From this study, FAMA was able to successfully map 949 plots, covering a radius of 15 km from RTC Gopeng in Perak region. Out of this total, the biggest number consisted of marketing institutions with a total plot number of 510. There were 123 learning institutions, 108 offices of government departments/agencies/ local authorities, 18 financial/banking institutions, 31 demographics (housing areas and villages), 154 agricultural producers and 5 FAMA marketing infrastructures. As a result of this study, FAMA was able to identify the activities in the surrounding areas and devise strategies to reach out to these target groups in order to hasten economic growth in the vicinity of the RTC. It was also possible to ascertain the number of agricultural producers and the volume of produce which may be tapped to establish supply linkages with the RTC. In addition, the data was shared with other government departments and agencies which were involved with the RTC programme. Bisant Kaur, Mohd Hafiz Mohd Adnan, Azian Abd. Rahim Market Information Division, Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority, Malaysia

Map of plot locations from profiling study carried out within a radius of 15 km from RTC Gopeng, Perak

The study enabled FAMA to identify agricultural activities in specific areas and devise strategies to reach out to target groups for hastening economic growth Geospatial World | September 2013

Agriculture | Case Study

GIS field survey for agri planning & development

Courtesy: www.thedriftingwinemaker.com

Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture has developed an Agriculture Field Survey System using GIS solutions to effectively operate agriculture and funding schemes to precisely record, measure and publish data

Stretches of rice fields in Indonesia

griculture is the key to Indonesia’s economy, contributing around 15% to the GDP while farm labour accounts for up to 43% of total national employment. To facilitate sustainable development in agriculture, the government in Indonesia has invested more than $7 million annually in launching diverse grant-in-aid projects. In addition to agriculture policies, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is responsible for developing a fair trading system in agricultural commodities and enhancing production through providing agriculturists with proper funding, seeds, insecticide, etc. To obtain and manage spatial information of each farmland correctly, 58

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the MoA developed an Agriculture Field Survey System with mapping solutions that are available in mobile devices, desktop, and server applications to help maximise field productivity, perform data editing and analysis, as well as integrate and share the latest spatial data and GIS services across the sector. The Agriculture Field Survey System allows the MoA to overcome the disadvantages of the traditional paper-andpencil survey mode, complete data collection of crop types and conditions, and perform precise measurement of farmland size in each district. As a result, the agency can effectively manage farmlands and crops, reduce the cost of unnecessary waste of resources, and formulate feasible funding and agricultural development plans with accurate and up-to-date data. The desktop GIS software helps the MoA easily visualise and analyse field data, ensuring that the integrated agricultural data is updated and managed through enterprise geodatabase. Besides, server GIS also serves as a fullfunction platform for data synchronisation, management, and sharing. Therefore, the cost of data duplication and storage could be significantly reduced. For data capture, the Agriculture Field Survey System enables surveyors throughout the country to smartly measure farmland areas, add attributes, and take pictures for crops using mobile

The workflow of agriculture field survey system

GIS and GPS tools. It also ensures that newly collected agricultural data can be uploaded and well managed on server, bringing MoA the real situation of fields, crops, and pesticides in order to make better decisions in encouraging the domestic farming community. Custom GIS solutions for data management The Agriculture Field Survey System is built on mobile, desktop, and server software to fulfill diverse project requirements. In addition to overlaying layers, editing features, and geo-tagging photos in the field, mobile GIS technology offers an easy-to-use manipulation mode, localised user-interface for Indonesian users to reduce labour costs and increase field productivity. The mobile application also enhances the connection with the server, so the officers in central office in Jakarta can view the surveyed data uploaded from mobile to server side via Internet connection. A customised website is also developed for the central officers to examine the data reliability in real time, facilitating decision making more promptly and accurately. In addition, the desktop application is used to visualise, manage, and process agricultural data of each province. The integrated layers can be published as map services through the server to be the base-referenced maps once field workers update the collected data. The

Performance measurement of polygons via browsers

desktop GIS software supports MS SQL Server and Oracle Spatial, ensuring that multiple users are able to access and edit the data simultaneously. The custom server GIS platform increases the MoAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to systematically monitor and manage fields and crops by accessing dynamic vector data and raster data and using various front-end applications such as customised SuperPad, SuperGIS Desktop, Web applications to view, query, and update data and maps online with ease. Different GIS platforms are combined together to assist in policy-making. Conclusion With growing population and food demand around the world, sustainable agriculture becomes crucial to increase food production and reduce environment degradation. Good decision making and management is the key to agricultural productivity. The goal of the project is not only to support MoAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts using GIS solutions to effectively monitor farmland situation but also to yield agricultural and environmental improvement in Indonesia. The comprehensive GIS solutions enables the government to take wise decisions on granting funds as well as promote efficiency in developing subsidy policies for development in agriculture.

The goal of the project is not only to support the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts in using GIS to effectively monitor farmland situation but also to facilitate agricultural and environmental sustainability in the country

Courtesy: Supergeo Technologies Geospatial World | September 2013

Agriculture | Case Study

Monitoring agricultural lands via remote sensing A Russian company automates the process of data collection to improve the management of agricultural lands and decrease the cost for land monitoring

n a bid to allow the government, enterprises and farmers to get most credible information about agricultural lands in Russia, Sovzond Company enabled FSUE, the main computer centre of Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, implement the system of state land monitoring in 2011-2012. The system consists of two subsystems; the agricultural lands atlas and the remote sensing monitoring system of agricultural lands.

Web-based interface of agricultural lands

Geospatial World | September 2013

form using these receivers. After this the specialists in the office only have to enter the collected data into the geodatabase without any additional processing. »Storage of remote sensing data: Satellite images serve as the basis for agricultural land mapping and automated interpretation of vegetation condition. Remote sensing data is downloaded as map services in ArcGIS (or other GIS clients/applications) or as geotiff files using the portal download instruments. »Agricultural lands geodatabase: It is Agricultural Lands Atlas (ALA) used for automatic update of the central Federal GIS Agricultural Lands Atlas storage by exchanging data with agro(Federal GIS ALA) was created for the chemists. Specialists digitise the fields’ Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian borders using satellite images and fill in Federation in order to provide government bodies and local authorities, legal attribute data using rich client of ArcGIS entities and individuals with up-to-date Desktop and extra module for data quality control. This module prevents errors in atinformation about agricultural lands. tribute data. This kind of data is collected The ALA consists of four main parts: »Survey field data by 110 agrochemical service offices over the whole territory of Russia. collection system based on GNSS re- »Web-interface (geoportal): It is ceivers and Mobile designed for data publication. Having GIS platform: Mo- logged in, all interested users can access the data which is stored in central bile GIS is used for geodatabase. It is also possible to make vegetation survey reports about the area of interest. and agrochemical Up-to-date remote sensing data, inspections. The Topcon GRS-1 was spanning across the area of 580,000 sq purchased for agro- km, was provided by RapidEye satellites for the purpose of agricultural lands chemical specialists. The specialists inventorying and monitoring of local agrochemical services. go to the fields The following features are provided every year to collect for web application users: data and fill in the

• Viewing satellite imagery data, special and thematic agricultural maps of different detail levels (types of agricultural lands, cultivated crops, reclaimed lands, degraded agricultural lands, etc.). • Map navigation and scaling. • Viewing information about the sites depicted on maps. • Searching for sites according to desired search conditions: name of a settlement, district, region or geographic coordinates. • Creating reports on the condition of agricultural lands at all detail levels (from a field to a federal district). • Field filter based on different criteria. The ALA operates on ArcGIS for Server software platform as well as ArcGIS for Desktop with an additional module ‘agrochemical service tool’. Remote Sensing Monitoring System of Agricultural Lands (SDMZ) The Remote Sensing Monitoring System is developed to provide important information for planning, control and management of agro-industrial complex of Russia on the basis of advanced remote sensing data. The first stage of the Remote Sensing Monitoring System implementation was presented in three regions; Volgograd Oblast, Voronezh Oblast and Tambov Oblast. The Remote Sensing Monitoring System includes 5 cycles of remote sensing of all agricultural lands (the period from April till November) and finally will cover about 4,000,000 sq km of agricultural areas of the Russian Federation. The received information is extracted from satellite data (UK-DMC-2, Deimos-1, Nigeriasat-X, RapidEye) along with data from other sources. It allows identifying valuable crop features used for the statistical assessment at all levels of the system: winter and spring crop land areas evaluation, germination rate and maturity estimation, evaluation of

total area of arable lands, harvesting rate estimation, identification of abandoned and overgrown fields, determination of soil moisture and identification of eroded soils. Remote sensing system is operated five times a season according to the main stages in the growing period: • The early-spring vegetation stage estimation of winter crops state after overwintering. • The late spring vegetation stage - estimation of winter crops state, assessment of spring crops germination. • The middle summer vegetation stage — monitoring of winter crops harvesting, estimation of spring crops state. • The autumn vegetation stage — monitoring of spring crops harvesting. • The pre-winter vegetation stage — assessment of winter crops germination. The Remote Sensing Monitoring System of Agricultural Lands includes the following subsystems: • Automated RS data supply. • Automated RS data processing. • Creation of statistic reports. • Field data input and data processing for detection of crops characteristics. • Automated crops type detection. • Automated determination of results of winter and spring crops harvesting. A geoportal has been created with user-friendly interface for experts and specialists of the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as for farmers and agronomists, with different levels of network access to the information. Automation of data collection and processing allows increasing the rates of vegetation and soil data collection as well as the quality of the acquired data. It also decreases the cost for land monitoring and improves the effectiveness of agricultural lands management in Russia.

Detailed field information

The Remote Sensing Monitoring System includes 5 cycles of remotely sensing of all agricultural lands and covers about 4,000,000 sq km of agricultural areas of the Russian Federation

Courtesy: Sovzond Geospatial World | September 2013

Agriculture | Case Study

Optimising sugarcane crops with precision agriculture Smart agriculture is helping ethanol and sugar producers in Brazil increase crop yields and optimise the performance of workers and machines through improved production logistics and plantation designs based on available land, topography and ideal planting time

razil is the largest sugarcane producer in the world. Most of its farms are located in the city of São Paulo, where processing plants produce sugar and ethanol. One of them is Guaíra Sugar Mill, an award winning mill and electricity producer. Founded in 1981, Guaíra distillers started out producing 120,000 litres of ethanol a day. Today, 2,700 workers produce 480,000 litres and 1,000 tonnes of sugar per day. The produce is supplied across the Brazilian, European, African,

Geospatial World | September 2013

Middle Eastern, Chinese and Russian markets. The processing ensures every part of the cane is used. The wet waste of the distillery is returned to the field to be used as composite fertiliser, while the dry waste fuels an electric power generator. The generator makes the mill self-sufficient in, and its surplus is sold to the electric grid. The challenge A typical cane stalk is approximately 3-metre high and is 70% water. Its stems

can be harvested for five to six years, if managed correctly. However, harvest productivity can be quite a challenge without proper irrigation or precision agriculture. Maximising harvest potential also means keeping harvesting machines from running over the plant lines and killing the cane stems. The use of an autopilot in the machines can reduce this loss, but without proper interpretation and handling of the line information, this benefit is limited. The solution The growing demand for ethanol in a highly competitive market has created a perfect opportunity for the early adoption of precision agriculture. Hexagon’s Smart Agriculture solution not only optimises the utilisation of land and water, but also ensures maximum benefits of fertilisers, pesticides, seeds and other farming resources. Utilising geo-processing software from Intergraph and steering solutions from Leica Geosystems — two of Hexagon’s leading brands — Guaíra Sugar Mill kept abreast of crop management and production through digital workflows created from geo-enabled data. With the analysed information, action could be taken to optimise processes and increase efficiencies, thereby improving crop yields and saving costs. The Intergraph GeoMedia software helped Guaíra Sugar Mill map all its land in a geo-referenced database with precise representation of field limits, water resources, roads and infrastructure for electricity and waste management. The topography of the land was optimised to create manageable farming areas. Initially, planting lines should follow the topography of the terrain to guarantee a proper water supply for the sugarcane. Smart Agriculture helped the mill’s designer in creating multiple line alternatives and selecting the best set of lines to be sent to the autopilots.

The system could estimate the time and fuel needed for each field operation and provided better precision and reliability for planting, harvesting and pulverisation. By integrating with the automatic pilot, Guaíra Sugar Mill was able to increase the number of lines for crop rows, increasing the amount of sugarcane produced. “The process for automatically generating crop row lines has improved dramatically,” says Alfredo Barbosa Neto, coordinator of geo-technology at Rosário Farm, a branch of Guaíra Sugar Mill. “We used to waste a lot of time on each project. Now, we take only a few minutes. The planting team has more time to analyse all the projects and check for accuracy.” Benefits Smart Agriculture maximised the use of land by increasing the number of lines per hectare with a rational design. It enabled faster decision making with ease of access to geographic plantation information. The lines could be stored for reuse in future harvesting, fertilising and pest control. During the 2011-12 harvest, Guaíra Sugar Mill achieved an average productivity of 82.4 tonne per hectare on a fouryear-old plantation. This was 23% higher than 68.29 tonne per hectare, the average Brazilian productivity in sugarcane for the same period. “With Smart Agriculture, it is now possible to have a geospatial view of the entire plot area before initialising the work, saving both time and fuel,” said Neto. “By using this new technology, we have already projected more than 2,000 hectare of planting area. Imagine the number of additional plants this software will generate for all the farms owned by Guaíra Sugar Mill.” Dr José Eduardo Deboni, R&D Manager, Sisgraph

Smart agriculture maximised the use of land by increasing the number of lines per hectare with a rational design. It enabled faster decision making with ease of access to geographic plantation information Geospatial World | September 2013

Special Feature | Latin America

LatAm calling Geospatial technology is integral to Latin America’s slow yet steady growth process in the face of a global slowdown. As the region gears up for the next level in terms of infrastructure, industrial growth and competitiveness, the g-factor is fast becoming a big factor

n a first common spatial initiative for the developing world, 32 countries in Latin America and Caribbean have joined hands to develop a joint Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the entire region. The multimillion dollar project, funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and various governments, is being seen as an effective mechanism to support decision-making, regional integration and a fundamental support for infrastructure and sustainable development in the region. Economic growth Latin America has steered clear of the global slowdown and recorded a growth rate of 3% for 2012 and 2013 compared to the global GDP growth rate of 2.3%. However, global factors like global slowdown and fluctuating commodity prices have been spoilers. There are other homegrown factors too. For instance, export of manufactured goods in 2011 from Europe and US, respectively, were 80% and 76% of the total exports. In South America, this rate was 24%, not much better than the African average of 19%, establishing a clear weakness of the region in manufactured goods. Experts feel there needs to be more coordination in policies for improved financing conditions and more support for training of workforce. 64

Geospatial World | September 2013

In such a background, quick, reliable and transparent information about resources for demographic growth, and further analysis and decisions can optimise processes. Geospatial is known to be great enabler — be it for the private sector in reading the trends or for governments effective planning. “Geospatial technologies today encompasses virtually all fields of economic activity, and is therefore the key in the promotion of sustainable economic development,” says Alexandre Derani, Director, Digibase, a Brazilian company providing solutions in surveying and delivery of custom maps. Concurs Maurício Aveiro, President, OrbiSat, a Brazil-based company specialising in radars: “Geotechnology is responsible for the initial information needed to analyse the feasibility of a project. A country that needs development shall provide accurate geographic information to enable new investments.”

The G factor Geospatial experts agree the region has huge business potential and offers a large number of opportunities for the development of infrastructure, applications and consolidation of spatial information. “The use of modern positioning technologies based on navigation satellites is a reality in many countries. So is the use of remote sensing data combined with processing and analysis for decision making,” underlines Luiz Paulo Souto Fortes, President of CP-IDEA, the Standing Committee that operates under the UN guidance for establishing policies and standards for developing a regional cartographic model. Thanks mainly to their space programmes, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico have recorded significant development in geospatial programmes. Colombia and Venezuela are moving in the same direction. Major industry players estimate the growth of the geospatial sector in Latin America is around 20% against a global growth rate of 10%. The reasons are not difficult to guess. The steady economic growth in the region and a growing awareness of the importance of geography are attracting huge investments from global geospatial players. “Latin America is a very diverse marketplace with differing cultures and economies,” says Fernando Schmiegelow, Marketing Director, South America, Hexagon. The company sees excellent possibilities for growth and has different business models and commercial channels throughout the continent. In 2012, Trimble invested $3 million to set up its first unit at Campinas in Brazil. After selling its products in the country for the last 10 years, with its own unit, Trimble now looks to partner with local players for developing integrated projects. “The increasing value of land information in all countries is driving the devel-

opment of small and medium domestic industries to create [geospatial] products and services tailored to the habits and customs of each place,” adds Claudio Brunini, President of SIRGAS, the main articulator of geodesic activity performed over 50 institutions on the region. Spatial Data Infrastructure Advances in survey and mapping in several countries highlight the maturity of the geospatial community here. “Decision makers now hesitate to imagine spatial information as a sheet of paper fixed in time. They want to view it as an entity made up of digital layers which are constantly changing,” says Brunini, from SIRGAS. All big countries have launched their National SDI initiatives, with the most recent one being Map Viewer Digital Chile, which publishes data and maps for decision makers. This is the first Web platform with land information of the entire country led by the Territorial Characterization Project and the National Land Information System (SNIT). “Georeferencing is essential [for development and policy implementation]. It is a huge industry that involves around $200-billion business. The platform has to be fed constantly and we hope it will be of great help,” says Rodrigo Perez, the minister in-charge of the project. Colombia released Version 2.0 of the Portal Maps of Bogota in June. “The portal has over 700 layers including building information, health, education, planning, roadways and public areas,” points out Gustavo Petro, Mayor of Bogota. Peru is also working on developing a geoportal to make available all such data online. “The use of geospatial tools in Peru has been rapidly increasing in various public and private institutions as well the academic world,” says Jesús Vargas, Cartographic Chief of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) Peru.

Fact File No. of countries: 20 Population: 590 mn % of Urban population: 80 Growth rate in 2012: 3% GDP invested in infrastructure:

2.1% This means an investment of $511 bn by 2015 Investment of $185 bn a year needed to meet current demand

Geospatial World | September 2013

Special Feature | Latin America

“

Geotechnology is responsible for the initial information needed to analyse the feasibility of a project. A country that needs development shall provide accurate geographic information to enable new investments Mauricio Aveiro, President, Orbisat

“

It’s better if we pursue the development of an SDI as our main objective, to support the use of spatial information in the context of sustainable development Santiago Borrero, General Secretary, IPGH

Similarly, Venezuela is working on maps for major urban areas of the country (at 1:1,000 and 1:2,500 scale). Till date, mapping has been done for 51 towns, informs Jonathan Ochoa, General Manager of the Venezuelan Institute of Geographic Simon Bolíva (IGVSB). The institute is also working on updating maps at 1:25,000 in 21 states, part of a plan to address the demand for planialtimétric information update. The project combines data from Satellite Miranda, radar technology and photogrammetry. Both Brazil and Mexico are the biggest users of geospatial technology and have Websites with open data about their territory. The Brazilian SDI was set up in 2008 and offers a number of services, including an online map viewer that allows developing interactive maps in raster and vector formats. Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) is also the coordinator of the National System on Geographic and Statistic Information (SNIEG) since 2006. The portal focuses on providing qualitative information that is relevant, accurate and timely, in order to contribute to national development. The El Salvador National Geographic Institute (NGI) is one of the first agencies in the region to launch a cloud-based map service. It is making available only a selected set of national base maps in the first phase, but plans to add many more datasets in near future. Many of these institutes have completed global map datasets and are planning to switch to global standards and higher resolution data. Therefore, the next logical step is to coordinate data integration across international boundaries, build regional applications, and develop higher resolution datasets at 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scale, say experts. Participatory regional coordination of mapping activities is essential to ensure long-term data compatibility. Regional SDI The common SDI project has come at an opportune time. While advanced countries like Brazil and Mexico have their own SDI to facilitate data and information sharing, some are in the beginning stage. The common SDI will host current and accurate geoinformation for all. “We are setting the foundations for a com-

Geospatial World | September 2013

mon SDI for the Latin America and Caribbean region,” says Eric van Praag, Regional Coordinator of GeoSUR. The process is on to identify successful initiatives and the joint plan will look at putting together all such efforts. Launched in November 2012, the ‘Joint Action Plan 2013-2015 to accelerate the Development of Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas’ aims to consolidate the activities of Pan American Institute of Geography and History (IPGH), Geocentric Reference System for the Americas (SIRGAS), Permanent Committee for Geospatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas (CP-IDEA) and Geospatial Network Latin America and the Caribbean (GeoSUR). While IPGH will act in cartographic capacity, SIRGAS will work with the geodesic framework; CPIDEA will act as the political regional manager and the GEOSUR will develop applications. “These entities are already contributing to the UNGGIM initiative in the Americas. It’s better if we work together in pursuing the development of SDI to support the use of spatial information for sustainable development,” says Santiago Borrero, General Secretary of IPGH. “The goal is to maximise the economic, social and environmental impacts from the use of geospatial information, starting from the knowledge and exchange of experiences and technologies, and based on common standards,” says Luiz Paulo Souto Fortes, president of CP-IDEA. Land & cadastre The turn of the millennium was characterised by great social, economic and political changes in Latin America. Among others, these led to the conceptualisation of the territory as a must for economic and social development and political sustainability. The concept multiplied the need for information required by governments to implement social and economic policies. With nearly 80% of its population in cities, Latin America is one of the most urbanised regions in the world. However, the collective deficit of around 51 million housing units is one of the main problems to be overcome, according to a UN-Habitat report ‘State of the Cities of Latin America and the Caribbean 2012’. Several bottlenecks need to be overcome to

build the land administration system for better urban planning. These include archaic property identification systems, inappropriate policies, lack of technical knowhow and inadequate capacities. In Mexico, the government is working on a $1.7-million Programme for Modernisation and Linking Property Public Records and Cadastre. The Congress is also discussing a law that addresses the issue of public real estate records and municipal land registers to provide the basis for generating a detailed and transparent digital list of properties. Proponents agree that such a law, if enacted, will have a far-reaching impact on public finances, particularly in the collection of taxes, ensuring legal certainties, attracting investments and fighting crime. “It has the same impact of structural reform without being one,” notes Manuel Nunez Velasco, Economic Adviser to the Mexican Senate. Brazil has a mature cadastre system. The National Institute for Agrarian Colonisation (INCRA) is responsible for maintaining rural property records. The Land Management System (SIGEF) receives information in an automated form. Until mid 2012, an average of 20 certified property registrations were issued per day, which has risen up to 140. “SIGEF is an electronic tool designed to welcome, validate, organise and provide georeferenced data of rural properties. The challenge now is to offer a service that not only keeps the record, but also plans for the future,” says Carlos Guedes, president of INCRA. Another project, the Rural Environmental Cadastre (CAR), involves the use of high-resolution satellite images to mark the perimeter of the farms across the country and their online registration. A total of $28.9 million was invested in 2012 for acquiring high-resolution satellite images of up to 5-metre resolution for the entire country, which is used as a basis for CAR. “It was the largest acquisition of satellite images from Brazil and one of the largest in the world, provides for the registration of more than 5 million farms, and when implemented will be the largest programme of carbon sequestration on the planet,” emphasises George Porto Ferreira, Coordinator of Environmental Monitoring at IBAMA, the Brazilian agency to combat deforestation. Venezuela’s National Land Programme is almost towards the end of its first phase and has consolidated much of the target areas in the form of cartographic, geodetic, cadastral and collateral impact of social actions. The next step is to establish a period of review and analysis of the results, procedures and strategies adopted during the initial phase to perform the necessary adjustments based on past lessons.

Brazil on a roll with mega sporting events

razil will invest around 4% of its GDP, totalling $250 billion, over the period of five years, in infrastructural development for 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics Games. The Ministry of Sports, Brazil has already spent around $14 billion to upgrade the public resources for the upcoming grand events. The investment is scattered over 51 projects across 12 cities which will host the games. Out of these, 35 are infrastructure projects for transportation and urban mobility. According to the government, this expenditure is within the overall budget for the World Cup. It is estimated that around $22 billion of $17 billion will be invested in the city of Rio de Janeiro alone for the major sporting events. The organisers of both the games explain that the government investments are planned mainly for the country’s infrastructure, urban mobility, stadiums, airports, transportation and communications, among other areas directly connected to the events. Private investments are more concentrated towards the tourism sector, especially construction of new hotels. According to a study by Itaú Unibanco, on the economic benefits realised with the help of these major sporting events, a positive impact of 1.5% to the GDP of Brazil is predicted in the next three years, with the creation of at least 250,000 direct jobs in various sectors. “The direct impact of investments in infrastructure, both by government and the private sector, is adding 1% to the GDP. Preparations for the World Cup is giving a multiplier effect to the economy,” says Ilan Goldfajn, President, Itau bank. Astrium is providing satellite images of the construction and renovation works being carried out at various stadiums in Brazil, in an initiative of its own. “The population needs to monitor the management of these resources. The government buys some images to monitor the progress of work being done but do not have a regular supply. The great demand is still to come”, says Pierre Duquesne, President, Astrium company. Besides infrastructure, 14 Command and Control Centres will be set up (two national and 12 in the World Cup host cities). These centres will offer modern technology solutions like air imaging devices and observation decks providing real time updates. After the events, these centres will be linked to support technological and telecommunication integration to police, which is highlighted as one of the most important legacy that will be left for the country. Geospatial World | September 2013

Special Feature | Latin America

“

We have to maximise the economic, social and environmental impacts from the use of geospatial information, starting from the knowledge and exchange of experiences and technologies in different countries, based on common standards Luis Fortes, President, CP-IDEA

“

Brazil’s Land Management System is an electronic tool designed to welcome, validate, organise and provide georeferenced data of rural properties. The challenge now is to offer a service that not only keeps the record, but also plans for the future Carlos Guedes, President, INCRA

Infrastructure Latin America has a long way to go in terms of putting in world class infrastructure. According to a report, Designing the infrastructure in Latin America: the Next Five Years, by CG/LA Infrastructure, 2.1% of Latin America’s GDP is invested in infrastructure, which means an investment of $511 billion by 2015. This is just enough to operate and maintain the old matrix. There must be an investment of $185 billion a year to meet current infrastructure demand. The biggest demand in 2015 will be transportation, mainly highways (40% of investments), followed by the generation and transmission of energy (25%) and telecommunications. Also, ‘The Five Powerful’ — Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile — represent 70% of total infrastructure investments in the region. Geotechnologies are generally fundamental to all phases of infrastructure, i.e., it is present in different forms in preliminary and feasibility studies, execution, overseeing, monitoring and finally during operation. Agriculture Agriculture is the backbone of the region’s economy. Several initiatives in this sphere demonstrate the advances geospatial technology has made in this sector. In Brazil agribusiness is vital, accounting for around 25% of the GDP. The Territorial Management unit of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) has a mission to propose, coordinate and implement services of territorial management of agriculture at strategic levels, and develop technologies and innovative solutions. Brazil has in fact been a pioneer in the use of various advanced technologies in agriculture. This is also underlined by the fact that in the last 10 years, more than a hundred small to medium industries involved in developing and marketing precision agriculture products have come up in neighbouring Argentina. The machines are exported especially to Brazil, and to developed countries like the US. “The future of agriculture and livestock lies in the accuracy of the process and that requires programming and control,” says Mario Braga-

Geospatial World | September 2013

chini, Coordinator, Network of Precision Agriculture Project and Machines Accurate National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA). Other successful examples are the projects coordinated by Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food to promote research plans for increased productivity in agriculture. The priority lines of research focus on improving the quality of seeds and plants to make them more resistant to climatic, pests and diseases. In April, the Secretariat signed a $4.2-millon agreement with 32 states to activate projects for agriculture, livestock, fisheries and productive assets. In Chile, the SDI project of the Ministry of Agriculture arises from the need to have a unified system that allows access to all geospatial information from government institutions. One of the fundamental principles of the IDE is interoperability. The project is currently in its second version and operates a portal wherein users can access the geo-catalogue from the ministry, news, miscellaneous documents and display of maps. Eugenio Gonzalez, President, Centre for Natural Resource Information (CIREN) emphasises, “We have a very important work — to kind of ‘evangelise’ about the use of these technologies at the public level. We have been working very hard to demonstrate to the world of agriculture that this is such an essential tool.” Mining Latin America and the Caribbean together has around 65% of the world’s lithium reserves, 42% of silver, 38% of copper, 33% of tin, 21% of iron, 18% of bauxite and 14% nickel. According to a report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean (ECLAC), the four UNASUR countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru) account for 62% of the regional investments in mining exploration for 2010. Adding Mexico takes this figure up at 84%. In 2011, Brazil, Chile and Peru were among the top 10 countries in terms of attracting mining investments (36% of the world’s total), up from 26% in 2000. The current focus in Brazil is to discuss a new regulatory framework to expand and

strengthen the participation of mining in the national economy. Mining contributes 23.5% to Brazil’s total exports. Another highlight is the creation of a new regulatory organisation to implement a new management model, regulate mining activity, mitigate market imperfections, among others. Similarly in Peru, mining comprises around 30% of the national budget and provides jobs to about 10 million citizens. Peru is working at reducing the time taken to issue new mining exploration licences. “The licences took between 300 and 500 days, but with the new rules this will come down to less than 200 days. This will help us deliver faster permits for exploration in Latin America,” says Peruvian Minister of Mines and Energy, Jorge Merino Tafur. The mining sector is driven by data and advanced technologies. From exploration to production to transportation, an integrated dataset and a wide array of technologies is imperative

“

in all the stages. Also, as more and more mines The satellite images are opt for automation for better productivity coordinated by INPE and safety, geospatial technology has almost and published openly become a backbone of the sector. “The demand so that neighbouring for such services has been growing with rising countries can also awareness about this technology,” says Marcelo benefit from the data. Moraes, Technical Manager of Globalgeo, a Publishing open data is Brazilian company that sells satellite images a global trend and INPE and geo-based software and services. has adopted this policy After the infamous incident in 2010 when since 2005 33 miners were trapped underground for Carlos Alexandre Wuensche de over two months in Chile’s San Jose mine, the Souza, Chief of Office Direction, government made the use of GPS mandatory INPE in all mines besides investing in technologies to ensure safety. “Technologies like LiDAR are important from the safety aspect as it allows us to look at the operations area without anybody physically entering unsafe zones,” notes Rodrigo Soto, Business Director of Fugro Geospatial Service, one of the pioneers in the use of LiDAR technology in Chile.

Any tool you need. Software for ingestion, recording, cataloging, processing, distribution, evaluation, analysis and orthorectification for all satellite images. The most complete Ground Station System.

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Special Feature | Latin America

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Though geospatial technology has been accepted well in a wide range of sectors, it is still unknown and unexplored in many others. The governments must progress to the next level of using this technology to solve business problems rather than using it only for mapping Juan Enrique Silva, Director Commercial, Esri Chile

“

The geospatial industry focuses only on the public sector. The participation of the private sector is still very limited as companies that operate in the space segment are highly dependent on public sector Antonio Machado de Silva, President, AMSKepler

Environment & Amazon Latin America is known for its natural resources and the Amazon. Development of geo-technology in this region is closely linked to environmental preservation and combating deforestation. According to IBAMA, the Brazilian agency to combat deforestation, its success hinges on the use of geospatial technologies. Brazil’s DETER programme or deforestation detection system in real time, created by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in 2004, extensively uses satellite imagery. IBAMA receives INPE images with the polygonal evidence of anthropisation action in Amazon every 48 hours. “Before making this available to the field crews, we check the data to identify where these polygons are occurring — if they are in protected areas, indigenous lands, personal property or other domain. Only then we upload our spatial database,” explains George Porto Ferreira, Coordinator of Environmental Monitoring at IBAMA. The deforestation rate in Amazon has been dropping. From 27,000 sq km in 2004, this has come down to 5,000 sq km in 2012. The DETER programme is one of the major beneficiaries of the $300-million CBERS (China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite) project, the first Brazilian satellite dedicated to monitoring of the Amazon. The satellites images are coordinated by INPE and published openly so that neighbouring countries can also benefit from the data. “Publishing open data is a global trend and INPE has adopted this policy since 2005,” says Carlos Alexandre Wuensche de Souza, Chief of Office Direction of INPE. Environmental monitoring and preservation of the Amazon is driving the local industry to develop new solutions. For instance, the Orbisat radar, which operates in X and P bands to produce surface and below-forest mapping, has been chosen by the Brazilian Army for mapping the Amazon. “It operates in adverse weather conditions, at day or night, with or without clouds, which brings the certainty of the fulfillment targets and work schedules,” informs Maurício Aveiro, President of OrbiSat.

Geospatial World | September 2013

The challenges Geospatial has been integral to industrial activities in Latin America, but there remain a lot of teething problems. One of the main points is the lack of political will and the need to educate policy makers about the possibilities and benefits of such innovative technologies. “There must be a high-level government support to ensure a continuous funds flow,” says Praag of GeoSUR. “Though geospatial has been accepted well in a wide range of sectors, it is still unexplored in many others,” concurs Juan Enrique Silva, Director Commercial, Esri Chile, who also feels governments must progress to the next level of using this technology to solve business problems rather than using it only for mapping. Some see the issue of updates and upgrades — both in data and technology — as another big concern. “Once implemented, there comes the difficulty of maintaining and updating the data. Institutions have to continuously focus on promoting and maintaining operational technical capabilities,” points out Ochoa from IGVSB. Experts feel the field is still not consolidated because there is lack of planning and cohesion. The public sector speaks for around 70% of the demand but this is not organised since they do not coordinate with each other. “Every agency, ministry and institution makes its own purchase of geospatial data and technology and there is no convergence,” says Pierre Duquesne General Director of Astrium. Organised demand will avoid data duplicacy and optimise state spending. There is also a feeling that the geospatial industry focuses only on the public sector. “The participation of the private sector is limited as companies that operate in the space segment are highly dependent on public sector,” points out Antonio Machado e Silva, President of AMSKepler, a Brazilian software development company. Further, despite the awareness about transparency in government actions, there exists resistance to provide open and free information. “Open data can spike innovation, where the industry can develop useful applications from free data for the benefit of all. But it doesn’t mean the data is being standardised,” notes Luis Bermudez, Director Compliance Program, OGC, while

emphasising that free data requires a mix of government leadership, policies and technology. The OGC also sees interoperability as a big issue. In Brazil, INPE provides free satellite images of Sino-Brazilian Satellites (China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite) CBERS 1 and CBERS 2, in a friendly tool display on its portal. But in Mexico, enterprises identify the availability and cost of satellite images as one of the barriers to the development of the geospatial industry in the country. The creation of the Mexico Reception Station Constellation Spot in 2003 reduced costs but the sector is still missing the vital push. “There are two challenges: reducing the cost of satellite images and educating the decisionmakers about the use of geo-technologies,” says Esteban Garcia Dobarganes Bueno, Director of Geotecx, a Mexican consulting group. Lack of trained manpower is another grave concern and IBAMA’s Ferreira feels the onus is on the geospoatial industry, free software com-

munity and universities to focus on capacity building. “Geoinformation is becoming part of our everyday life. We need more human resources for the sector’s growth,” he says. There is a clear need for greater investments in training, quality programmes and the dissemination of good practices to implement successful projects and thereby generate a virtuous circle that ensures that this technology is used not only by the top strata of the powers that be, but also the masses. But the good news is that in the private sector, geotechnology is migrating from being under ‘spending’ header to ‘investment’ header of companies and government departments. “This is very good and it means that there is great growth potential,” signs off Machado e Silva, from AMSKepler. Renata Dias Rodrigues, Asst Regional Product Manager, Latin America, Geospatial Media & Communications, renata@geospatialmedia.net

The "One Stop Shop" for Satellite Imagery and Geo-softwares in South America since 1997 !

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Curitiba - Paraná - Brazil Geospatial World | September 2013

Beat

Maintaining stable standards in a changing market Rapidly changing markets are increasing the demand for revised and new standards. By particpating in the standard development process, stakeholders can steer this change

ublic and private sector organisations across the globe follow OGC’s guidance while planning and procuring technology. These organisations have a strong interest in complying with OGC standards to maximise the value of their technology investments. Innovation in standards is vital. Therefore OGC standards working groups review all requests for changes in existing standards. Change requests

Requirement of new domains

User suggestions

Geospatial World | September 2013

are usually submitted by developers who have gained experience in implementing the standards. Sometimes change requests or requests for new standards come from domains that were previously not represented by the OGC, such as modelling and simulation, smart cities and carbon offsetting. Requests also crop up due to emerging technology trends that change the playing field for technology users and providers.

Emerging technologies Externally developed interface & encoding specifications

‘OGC baseline compatibility’ or ‘big tent’? The OGC baseline consists of the approved OGC Abstract Specification and OGC standards as well as OGC Best Practices documents and related ISO TC 211 standards. The OGC Abstract Specification provides the basic concepts that form the basis of the organisation’s standards. Most OGC standards are compatible with the OGC Baseline and its implementation standards. Sometimes specifications are introduced that enable OGC to standardise on existing technology that has been developed outside (such as KML, WaterML and the Augmented Reality Markup Language). Efforts are made to harmonise these externally developed standards with the OGC Baseline. Compatibility across the baseline is a key OGC strength, but this is frequently a topic of debate among the Consortium members. Some favour the ‘big tent’ approach under which any spatial interface or encoding standard that plays a prominent role in the market might be introduced for adoption in the OGC as an open standard.

This maximises the opportunities for eventually harmonising those standards with the baseline. The challenge is to balance the diversity of specifications, which expands the OGC’s scope of influence, with compatibility, which ensures interoperability among systems that implement OGC standards.

Market domains proliferate The OGC serves many market domains. National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDIs) make up an important ‘megadomain’ in which a national regime of specific technical standards and policy imperatives underpin widespread sharing and reuse of geospatial data and services. NSDIs support domains such as emergency response, planning, disaster management and business geographics. Compatibility between NSDIs supports regional and global cooperation. The OGC staff analyses market domains to support membership development, as illustrated in the OGC home page http://www.opengeospatial. org/. On the left side is a list of geospatial market domains, such as aviation, business intelligence and defence and intelligence. By clicking on a market domain one can see a Web version of the domain business plan. Each of these domain pages provides an overview of the domain and how the OGC is addressing its needs. As spatial information gets embedded in the activities of more market domains and the systems become more interconnected, issues of interoperability and data sharing become more important. Also, challenges to ‘baseline purity’ arise as new domains and new domain relationships give rise to requirements for new and revised standards, new connections with non-OGC (and non-spatial) standards, and new ‘flavors’ of existing standards.

A screenshot of OGC Website giving a list of geospatial market domains

Technology trends destabilise standards Geospatial technology is implemented with broader information technologies such as databases, search engines, imaging technologies and sensors. Advances in these underlying technologies may benefit geospatial applications and create opportunities for new geospatial applications, but those advances also may make some standards obsolete. Vendors of geospatial software and services must constantly race to adapt to technology trends and to innovate ahead of their competitors. The playing field changes constantly. For example, OGC standards have contributed to wider availability of of outdoor location-based information, and this is driving demand for indoor location applications, which make more standards work necessary. Inexpensive “big processing” (access to massive server resources ‘in the cloud’), the embedding of microprocessor sensors into nearly every device, commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the miniaturization of LiDAR systems – of these developments drive innovation in geospatial software and services

markets and increase the pressure on OGC members to revise and expand the OGC baseline.

The only remedy At present, there is an active and broad-ranging discussion going on within the consortium about the evolution of the OGC Baseline. Weighing and debating the benefits and risks of change, the members are proceeding carefully. On one hand, any hasty decision by the OGC can jeopardise the prior investments made by technology providers and users. On the other hand, failing to adapt to change can result in obsolete standards, and this, too, can jeopardize those investments. There will be a change and there will be growth in the number of standards. By participating in the standards process stakeholders can steer this change, meet the growing need for maintenance, compliance testing and documentation, and get the earliest possible understanding of what the change will mean for their organisations. George Percivall, Chief Engineer Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Geospatial World | September 2013

Events

November

October

September

Mark Your Calender September 16-19 URISAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 51st Annual Conference for GIS Professionals Rhode Island, US

September 17-18 Geospatial Defence & Intelligence Asia 2013 Singapore

September 24-25 5th International LADM Workshop Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

September 24-26 Asia Geospatial Forum 2013 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

http://www.urisa.org/gispro2013

http://www.geospatialdefenceasia.

www.isoladm.org

org/

October 28-31 The year in infrastructure 2013 conference London, UK

October 30 2013 Blue Marble User Conference US

http://goo.gl/U9FUPY

http://www.bluemarblegeo.com/

http://www.asiageospatialforum.

com/Default.aspx?MAC=GSW

October 1-3 Conference on Earth from Space Russia

October 22-25 Symposium on GNSS 2013 Istanbul, Turkey http://www.isgnss2013.org/

http://www.conference.scanex.ru/

bmuc/index.php

index.php/en/

November 4-8 GSDI World Conference 2013

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/

November 5-7 Geo-Services International Conference Quebec, Canada

November 18-22 Pacific Islands GIS/RS User Conference Suva, Fiji Islands

www.geoservices2013.com/en

www.picgisrs.appspot.com/

Data courtesy City of Quebec

Geospatial World | April 2013