(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
1. Introduction
The Canadian <strong>Group</strong> on Earth Observations (C-GEO) joined with the Government of
Canada and other sponsors <strong>to</strong> organize an International GEO Workshop on <strong>SAR</strong>
(synthetic aperture radar) <strong>to</strong> <strong>Support</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring in Kananaskis, Alberta on 2
– 4 November 2009. This Workshop brought <strong>to</strong>gether remote sensing experts and
resource managers who map agricultural land cover and land use; moni<strong>to</strong>r changes in the
agricultural land base; identify crops and estimate crop area; qualitatively and
quantitatively assess crop condition; and moni<strong>to</strong>r properties related <strong>to</strong> water availability
such as soil moisture.
The Workshop also identified and communicated the information and operational needs
of the agricultural user community <strong>to</strong> facilitate coordinated access <strong>to</strong> Earth observation
data. A “by invitation” training session was organized, targeted <strong>to</strong>wards participants
from developing countries, and it preceded the Workshop from 31 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber – 1
November.
The goal of the Workshop was <strong>to</strong> state clearly and strongly the Earth Observation
requirements of the international agriculture community and the strategies needed <strong>to</strong>
promote the use of <strong>SAR</strong> for agricultural moni<strong>to</strong>ring, in the context of science, research,
operations and capacity.
The specific objectives of the Workshop were <strong>to</strong>:
1. Increase understanding of the capabilities of <strong>SAR</strong> for agricultural moni<strong>to</strong>ring;
2. Share best practices with respect <strong>to</strong> processing, analysis and modeling of <strong>SAR</strong>
data for agricultural mapping and moni<strong>to</strong>ring;
3. Increase awareness of software <strong>to</strong>ols, applications and processes for the effective
use of <strong>SAR</strong> for agricultural moni<strong>to</strong>ring;
4. Build capacity within the agricultural user community <strong>to</strong> exploit <strong>SAR</strong> data,
especially in developing countries; and
5. Initiate a dialogue <strong>to</strong> identify the needs of the agriculture moni<strong>to</strong>ring community
with <strong>SAR</strong> satellite opera<strong>to</strong>rs and <strong>SAR</strong> application software developers.
In preparation for this workshop, a survey was sent out <strong>to</strong> the agricultural moni<strong>to</strong>ring
community, including those who planned <strong>to</strong> attend the workshop. The plan was <strong>to</strong> collect
the views of the community and present this <strong>to</strong> the workshop attendees, <strong>to</strong> ‘prime the
pump’ and stimulate discussion. The organizers wanted <strong>to</strong> know the current state of
agricultural moni<strong>to</strong>ring, in particular using <strong>SAR</strong> data, and what the issues were and what
actions could encourage greater use of <strong>SAR</strong> data for agricultural moni<strong>to</strong>ring. During the
workshop, people were encouraged <strong>to</strong> fill out the survey if they had not done so already.
This survey provided an important opportunity for stakeholders <strong>to</strong> express their views on
the priority strategies <strong>to</strong> facilitate greater use of <strong>SAR</strong> by the agriculture community. A
report from the Workshop includes an aggregated summary of these survey results. This
report is widely available and accessible at www.cgeo.gc.ca.
Report on Results: Survey on <strong>SAR</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Support</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring – Annex 1 1