(SAR) to Support Agricultural Monitoring 2 - Group on Earth ...

International GEO Workshop on <strong>SAR</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Support</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring
2.2 <strong>SAR</strong> Data Providers
Yves Crevier of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) opened this session, which brought <strong>to</strong>gether
space agencies and companies that provide <strong>SAR</strong> data <strong>to</strong> the public. He gave two quotations,
<strong>to</strong> frame his presentation: “Technology and science are only as good as our ability <strong>to</strong> use the
information they provide.”, and “The successes are dependent on our ability <strong>to</strong> relay the
information the final mile <strong>to</strong> the people.” He identified the following opportunities for the
<strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring CoP as:
• To identify and prioritize the needs of the agriculture moni<strong>to</strong>ring community
• To communicate the information requirements and operational needs <strong>to</strong> facilitate
coordinated access <strong>to</strong> EO data.
Similarly, opportunities for the <strong>SAR</strong>-operating space agencies are:
• To open a dialogue with international science communities
• To understand the data needs and requirements regarding agriculture moni<strong>to</strong>ring that
can be addressed by <strong>SAR</strong> data products.
The following <strong>SAR</strong> data providers presented the details of their satellites, <strong>SAR</strong> sensors,
agricultural applications, and R&D programs:
• Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE, Argentina’s National
Commission on Space Activities)
• Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
• Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, German Aerospace Centre)
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA).
Figure 2 shows typical roughness and vegetation cover from a sample field campaign in
Argentina.
Denis Auger of CSA predicted that 250 EO satellites will be launched over the next ten
years. Malcolm Davidson of ESA described the future launch of the Sentinel-1 satellites,
which will be user-driven, and will provide conflict-free operations. Routine Data Access
will be available at no charge.
During the question period, it was pointed out that in the next few years, there will be a
number of <strong>SAR</strong> spaceborne sensors at L-band, C-band and X-band, so multi-frequency
technology will be available <strong>to</strong> exploit by the science and user communities. There are still
open science questions, including how best <strong>to</strong> use multiple frequencies, multiple incidence
angles, polarimetry and multi-temporal acquisitions for each of the applications, such as crop
yield and health, soil moisture and tillage. Providing scientific research <strong>to</strong> respond <strong>to</strong> these
questions can help the space agencies <strong>to</strong> meet user needs.
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