Space-based technologies - opportunities for the rural sector - April 2021
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Space-based technologies – opportunities for the rural sector April 2021 By Paul Tregoning, Owen Atkin, Simon McClusky, Nan Yang, Martin Amidy, Sarah Adams, Jia-Urnn Lee and Julia Hammer
02
© 2021 AgriFutures Australia
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-76053-160-7
ISSN 1440-6845
Space-based technologies – opportunities for the rural sector
Publication No. 21-020
Project No. PRJ-012670
The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and
discussion and to help improve the development of sustainable regions. You must not rely on any information
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Researcher contact details
Paul Tregoning
Space-based
Research School of Earth Sciences,
The Australian National University ACT
02 6125 5510
paul.tregoning@anu.edu.au
In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed
to AgriFutures Australia publishing this material in its
edited form.
technologies –
AgriFutures Australia contact details
Building 007, Tooma Way
Charles Sturt University opportunities for
the rural sector
Locked Bag 588
Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
02 6923 6900
info@agrifutures.com.au
www.agrifutures.com.au
Electronically published by AgriFutures Australia at
www.agrifutures.com.au in January 2021.
AgriFutures Australia is the trading name for Rural Industries Research
& Development Corporation (RIRDC), a statutory authority of the
Federal Government established by the Primary Industries Research
and Development Act 1989.
04 05 Introduction
Foreword
Space technology globally is becoming increasingly
accessible as hardware becomes cheaper, more satellites
are launched and its applications are improved and expanded.
While traditionally sectors like defence and mining have
been testing grounds for frontier space technology, recent
advances, namely in satellites, have opened a wealth of
opportunity for Australia’s rural industries.
Less well known is that everyday technologies found on innovations with the potential to benefit the sector over a
Australian farms and on boats are powered by technology five-to-10-year horizon and determines their relevance and/
from space – including satellite imaging, low-bandwidth or transferability to Australia’s rural industries.
sensors, GPS tracking, autosteer machinery, paddock-level
imagery and weather forecasts. These technologies are a Overall, this report arms producers, industry, governments
consequence of recent advances, though the scope and and technology developers with a better understanding and
opportunity for rural industries is only just being realised. appreciation of the breadth and depth of opportunity that
space technologies offer rural industries, as well as what’s
The application of space technology has already translated coming, and delivers practical guidance on pathways to
to safer farms, more digitally enabled and connected adoption.
rural businesses, improved environmental management,
increased water efficiency, better input management This report has been produced under AgriFutures Australia’s
We are only now on the
and better market integration. Importantly, industry National Rural Issues (NRI) Program. Part of the National
experiencing these benefits encourages a more global Challenges and Opportunities Arena, NRI focuses on
mindset. The opportunities are limitless. thought-provoking and horizon-scanning research to inform
But what else does it mean? As space technology evolves
debate and policy on issues of importance across rural
industries. cusp of realising the
and offers new ways of doing business, producers are
grappling with the scope and scale of opportunity. We are Most of AgriFutures Australia’s more than 2,000 publications extent to which space-
based technologies
only now on the cusp of realising the extent to which these are available for viewing, free downloading or purchasing
technologies can be pathways to increased productivity, or online at www.agrifutures.com.au.
ways to solve producer pain points.
This report delves into technologies already deployed in can be pathways to
rural industries – from livestock farming, horticulture and
broadacre crops to fishing, aquaculture and forestry. It aims increased productivity,
or ways to solve
to consolidate and prioritise space technologies with the
greatest potential and to understand barriers to adoption.
It is designed as a resource for producers and industry so
they can understand the various uses of space technology, producer pain points.
and for technology developers so they are aware of the Michael Beer
needs of industry. It analyses the technical and practical General Manager, Business Development
considerations of technology adoption. It also scans for AgriFutures Australia
06 07
About the authors
Professor Paul Tregoning is a geophysicist at The Australian National University (ANU) who uses
This report scans, reviews
space-geodetic observations to study changes on Earth. He is a Mission Specialist of the ANU Institute
for Space, a member of the Leadership Group of the ANU Institute for Water Futures and a member of and consolidates information
on space-based technologies
the NASA GRACE Follow-On space gravity science team.
Professor Owen Atkin is the Director of the ANU Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology (CEAT) and
runs a research lab at ANU focused on understanding the interplay between plant metabolism and
environmental variation.
Dr Simon McClusky is an honorary faculty member at the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences and
with the potential to benefit
Australia's farmers, fishers
an employee of Geoscience Australia with research interests in the development and use of satellite-
based techniques for measurement and monitoring of the Earth.
Associate Professor Nan Yang leads the multi-scale communications research team and the Emerging
Communications Laboratory at the School of Engineering at ANU.
Martin Amidy is the Senior Fellow Agri-Technology at CEAT and a researcher specialising in agricultural
and foresters.
finance and systems modelling.
Sarah Adams is the Business Development and Outreach Manager at CEAT and a science
communicator with an interest in space and agriculture.
Jia-Urnn Lee is the Business Development Lead for Earth Observation at the ANU Institute for Space
and has a background in geospatial sciences for resource exploration.
Julia Hammer is the Technical Assistant at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in
Plant Energy Biology.
Acknowledgments Abbreviations
agri-tech Agricultural technology NBN National Broadband Network
The authors of this report would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, ANU The Australian National University NavIC Navigation with Indian Constellation
who are the Traditional Owners of the land upon which they live and work. They pay their respects CEAT Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology
NDVI Normalised difference vegetation index
to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and elders past, present and future.
CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
POES) Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites
The authors would also like to acknowledge the participants and presenters in the national Research Organisation
workshops held in August and September 2020 who contributed to the report. Participants ESA European Space Agency RDCs Research and Development Corporations
included representatives from AgriFutures Australia, Grains Research and Development
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite Systems RD&A Research, Development and Adoption
Corporation, Sugar Research Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia, Forest and Wood Products
Australia, Hort Innovation, CSIRO, the Australian Space Agency, Geoscience Australia, universities GPS Global positioning system SPOT Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre – Satellite for
and other research institutes, members of the space industry, startups, agronomists, and GRACE Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment observation of Earth
producers. In addition, the authors thank the facilitators of the workshops: Beck Davis, Mitchell
IoT Internet of things SBAS Satellite-based Augmentation System
Whitelaw, Hannah Feldman, Denise Higgins, Rae Cooper, Jesse Newman, Oli Madgett and Ben
Baghurst. LiDAR Light detection and ranging SMOS Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity
This research was identified through the Emerging National Rural Issues Forum. The forum LPWAN Low Power Wide Area Network SWOT Surface Water Ocean Topography
provides Rural Research and Development Corporations, the National Farmers’ Federation and
the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment with an opportunity to discuss and NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration VRT Variable rate technologies
collaborate on cross-industry projects. This report was developed in close consultation with
workshop participants and the expert advisory group, and the outputs are designed for use by
producers, industry stakeholders and all levels of government. AgriFutures Australia would like to
acknowledge those who contributed to its preparation.
08 Section 1 09 Introduction
Contents
Foreward 04 Section 5 Technologies to locate us 42
About the authors 06 Costs and benefits 44
Acknowledgements 06 Meet the missions behind geolocation 45
Abbreviations 07 Satellite-based Augumentation System (SBAS) 45
Preface - A farmer's morning in 2050 12 Solutions on the market 47
Executive summary 14 Summary 47
Section 1 Introduction 18 Section 6 Technologies that connect us 48
The Australian space sector 20 Costs and benefits 50
Satellite sizes 21 Meet the missions in connectivity 52
Fleet Space Technologies 53
Myriota 53
Section 2 Methodology 22 NBN Sky Muster 53
Iridium 53
Immarsat 53
Section 3 Space-based technologies and the rural sector 26 Globalstar 53
Agriculture 28 Solutions on the market 54
Fisheries 28 Summary 54
Forestry 29
Summary 29
Section 7 Barriers to adoption 56
Lack of integration 58
Section 4 Technologies to view land and sea 30 Not meeting needs 58
Costs and benefits 32 Unclear return on investment 58
Meet the missions behind remote sensing 35 Lack of connectivity 59
Landsat 35 Need of new skills 59
Sentinel 36 Need for local support 60
Terra/Aqua 38 Need for consultation 60
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) 38
Himawari-8/Himawari-9 38
SPOT Image 38 Section 8 Future scoping 62
Digital Globe 38
PlanetScope 38
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) 39 Section 9 Resources 68
Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) 39 Appendix A – Further reading 70
Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) 39 Glossary 71
Solutions on the market 40 References 72
Summary 40
10 011
11
Figures
Figure 1 Machine learning can transform low resolution images to high.
Modified ESA Copernicus Sentinel data CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
33
"There’s a lot of
Figure 2 Landsat imagery of eastern Australia acquired during the January 2020 35
capacity in the space
bushfires. USGS/NASA Landsat, public domain
sector that’s not
Figure 3 Sentinel-2 image of Channel Country, a pastoral region in QLD. 36 being tapped into by
rural producers."
The image was processed to include near-infrared, which makes vegetation
appear bright red. Modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019) processed by
ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Figure 4 Virtual fencing systems use GPS satellites and collars that emit a sound when 47
cattle approach a ‘fence’ boundary. CSIRO/David McClenaghan, CC BY 3.0 Martin Amidy,
Senior Fellow Agri-Technology, CEAT
Figure 5 Satellite-connected sensors track groundwater use in one of the largest 51
aquifers in North America. Flickr/IBM Research CC BY-ND 2.0
Figure 6 A satellite-backhaul system 70 km out to sea provides effective two-way 52
communication with instruments such as temperature buoys and cameras.
Australian Institute of Marine Science, CC BY 3.0 AU
Figure 7 Satellite launches planned over the next five years. 64
12 13
Preface
A farmer’s morning in 2050
Jamie Blakeman gets up with the rise of the sun and switches on her
computer. A quick check of the water tank levels indicates that tank
6E is getting low, so she opens the irrigation program and transfers
300 L water to it from the upper reservoir.
Next, she refreshes the soil moisture map of her property and notices
that the light rain squall in the past week has wet the north-western
paddock. Seeing that an updated satellite pass has become available,
she downloads the new grass quality data and compares it with the
soil moisture.
The correlation is good. It’s clear that it’s time to move the stock into
that pasture. She reconfigures the virtual fencing app and starts
the process of moving the stock from paddock 4 across to the
pasture. Knowing that it will take half an hour for the animals to be
encouraged along by the moving virtual fence, she gets up from her
desk and goes into the kitchen for breakfast.
After breakfast, she checks the real-time cameras to verify that the
stock has moved, checks the soil moisture in paddock 4 and decides
to irrigate only the lower third. She switches on the system, setting it
for a 30-minute watering. All this is plausible
With the immediate operational tasks complete, she turns her
attention to longer-term issues of weather prediction for the next
through the application
week and purchasing fertiliser and seed in preparation for the next of existing technologies,
round of planting.
All the above is plausible through the application of existing
which have the potential
technologies, which have the potential to revolutionise the to revolutionise the
working day of tomorrow’s farmers.
working day of
tomorrow’s farmers.
14 15
Executive summary
Space-based technologies
Who is the report targeted at?
This report is for anyone working in Australia’s rural sector • broadacre crops
have the potential to transform
with an interest in understanding the opportunities
• extensive livestock
available through the application of space-based
technology. It introduces key ideas and gives examples • intensive livestock
Australia’s rural industries and
of how these technologies can be applied to agriculture,
• horticulture
forestry and fisheries.
• fisheries
enable innovation across the
The report is supported by a series of fact sheets on
• forestry
space-based technologies for:
agri-food value chain.
Aims/objectives
This project aimed to provide producers and industry with This report explores pathways for agriculture, forestry and
information on the depth and breadth of opportunities fishery industries to engage with space-based technologies
from space-based technologies, current use cases and and service providers. It includes technical and practical
Space-based technologies and associated products
an understanding of the scope of opportunity arising from considerations when adopting space-based technologies.
and services will need to play an increasing role space-based technologies now and into the future.
100b
in rural businesses and value chains if Australian
agriculture is to reach its goal of being a 2030
$100 billion industry by 2030.
While this offers great opportunity, there are also barriers to Results/key findings
adoption that need addressing for industry to fully harness
the available opportunity. • The large-scale nature of extensive livestock farming $2.2 billion over a 30-year period2. Satellite
and broadacre cropping in Australia lends itself well connectivity will assist in furthering the application of
To remain internationally competitive while meeting broad
to space-based remote sensing, as satellites can internet-enabled technologies, with such technologies
social, economic and environmental goals, Australia’s rural
scan large areas relatively quickly. In contrast, more having the potential to add $15.6 billion to gross value
sector needs to ensure that it is making the best use of
intensive farming systems – including horticulture of production in agriculture, fisheries and forestry
space-based technology.
and dairy – can be better served by drones or in-field industries each year3.
technologies.
Previous reports have assessed the impact and potential • Existing and emerging satellite and communications
of individual space-based technologies for particular • Earth and marine observing (including satellites, technologies have been used to efficiently monitor
industries. This report consolidates this information to drones and sensors) had an estimated value to our vast swathes of ocean and to improve forecasting
identify the technologies and applications that are suitable agriculture, fisheries and forestry in the Asia-Pacific of events affecting the management of commercial
for the Australian context. This report focuses on three main region of $37 billion in 20191. Improvements to fishing.
components of space-based technologies that can help geolocation could benefit agriculture by
address challenges in the rural sector – remote sensing,
connectivity and geolocation.
1
Australian Government/Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Current and future value of earth and marine observing to the
Asia-Pacific region, https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-11/current-and-future-value-of-earth-and-marine-
observing-to-asia-pacific-region.pdf, Australian Government, 2019. 2Frontier SI/EY, SBAS Test-bed Demonstrator Trial, Frontier
SI, 2019. 3NBN, Connecting Australia, Future of farming [PDF], NBN, 2020.
16
0016 17 Executive summary
Executive Summary
• In the case of forestry, satellite observations can • rural locations may lack enabling technology, • Reliable, robust and fast internet connections are vital networks in the rural sector. Greater collaboration
provide information to foresters on canopy height and such as a reliable internet connection so that the rural sector can access data, information and coordination are required across the agricultural
density, vegetation cover and accurate locations of and telecommunication services. This is a major barrier innovation ecosystem to maximise the value that
individual trees. There is great potential • the identified pain point is not operation-critical to the uptake of some space-based technologies. these opportunities provide.
for existing precision agriculture and geolocation Emerging satellite connectivity technologies may
• investment to solve other problems provides a • Growth in Australia’s domestic space industry has
solutions to be adapted for forestry. also provide a solution to this challenge.
better return. created opportunities for the rural sector to engage
• The adoption of research and development outcomes, • Just as producers require assistance to navigate directly with space technology companies and
• The technologies that have seen broad uptake have the
and subsequent products and services, in the rural the increasingly complex and crowded technology service providers.
following characteristics:
sector is a multifaceted and complex issue. Barriers market, tech companies need assistance to navigate
to adoption for space-based technologies include: • integrate relatively seamlessly into existing
production systems and infrastructure
• solutions that are complex and do not fit within
existing production systems • often involve incremental improvement on an
existing activity or practice
• solutions that do not integrate easily, or at all,
with existing software or infrastructure
Recommendations
• are robust and effective and have a clear value
proposition and return on investment The objective of this project was to identify the current and 4. Address skills and capability gaps to capture the value
• solutions that only address one need of many that
would otherwise have been done on a single trip, emerging ways that the Australian rural sector can benefit of space-based technology applications. Mechanisms
• make operations easier, more efficient, reduce risk
and hence do not save a producer much time (for from space-based technologies. also need developing to increase the agricultural
or provide peace of mind
example, checking water levels in a tank could be literacy of solutions providers from other sectors,
For the rural sector to benefit from space-based to reduce barriers to entering the rural sector.
done while checking on livestock) • products have local service support or associated
technologies, it is recommended to:
distributors or advisor networks.
• producers have limited time available to source 5. Provide incentives and support greater collaboration
1. Develop industry data standards and architecture to and coordination across the agricultural innovation
and trial new technologies
facilitate the establishment of data interoperability ecosystem to maximise the value that these
• adoption requires skills or training to implement and common frameworks for data sharing. opportunities provide. Existing rural sector Research,
and/or use Development and Adoption (RD&A) networks, such
2. Establish demonstration sites to showcase practical
as farming systems groups, universities, CSIRO,
implementation and integration of space-based
state primary industry departments, agronomists
technologies, so that return on investment can be
and other rural advisors, can be useful resources for
understood and validated.
tech companies seeking advice and feedback as they
3. Improve connectivity for the rural sector. Connectivity develop new solutions.
Implications for relevant stakeholders solutions need to be reliable, fast and cost-effective.
6. Support engagement activities between the Australian
Without appropriate connectivity, many technologies
rural sector and the growing domestic space industry
The following implications are identified in the report: possible to quickly tease out insights from data and have limited practical value despite their theoretical
to support development of products and services
make them accessible to producers to inform timely capability.
• Space-based technologies are already being used in optimised for the Australian market.
on-ground decisions.
rural industries to create better value for producers,
but many opportunities are being underutilised. • In 2025, a major change to Australia’s use of global
positioning system (GPS) will improve real-time
• New satellites are being launched regularly, ranging positioning accuracy from a couple of metres to
from nanosatellites for sensing water to an improved about 10 cm, opening opportunities for applications
positioning system that is accurate to a few
centimetres. The rural sector will need to keep across
such as virtual fences and automated vehicles.
In 2025, a major change to Australia's use of
advances in the rapidly developing space sector if it
hopes to remain internationally competitive.
• Some satellite technologies, such as GPS, are already
embedded in agricultural solutions. Possible uses of
global positioning system (GPS) will improve
• Data from existing satellites is being used in new ways.
new technologies and return on investment is often
unclear. Demonstration sites and field trials can
real-time positioning accuracy from a couple
Machine learning and artificial intelligence make it assist with local validation. of metres to about 10 cm.
0018
18
Executive Summary
Introduction
Section
120
0020 Section 1 21
Introduction
The space sector in Australia is growing, with the Australian Satellite sizes
Innovation is key to the success of Australia’s rural sector, and Government identifying the importance of the sector and
agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries are embracing allocating $260 million in the 2018 Federal Budget to develop
satellite technologies. The SmartSat CRC leveraged $55 million
technology to sustainably manage land and marine environments. from the Australian Government, with $190 million in partner
There is a surprising variety of satellites in our skies today. The
International Space Station is so large that six people live in it,
investment, to develop a seven-year, $245 million research
while the smallest satellite could sit on the palm of your hand.
program in advanced telecommunications, intelligent satellite
For producers, there are benefits to using large-scale and small-
systems, Earth observation and remote sensing analytics4.
Space-based technologies, enabled by easier access to space The space sector scale satellites, as both have strengths and weaknesses.
and the rapid growth of the commercial space sector, are an in Australia is growing The Australian Space Agency was established in 2018 to develop
exciting aspect of that innovation. This report focuses on three Large-scale satellites take about 10 years from initial planning
the civil space sector through strategy, policy, coordination and
main components of space-based technologies that can help to launch. This inhibits quick solutions to industry challenges,
legislation in high-priority areas. It also leads our engagement with
address agricultural challenges – remote sensing, connectivity however the quality of data produced is excellent. Industry
international space agencies, such as the United States’ National
and geolocation. sometimes finds new, unexpected uses for such data. For
260m
Aeronautical and Space Association (NASA) and the European
Allocated in the 2018 example, GPS technology was first developed for military
Federal Budget to Space Agency (ESA). The Australian Space Agency has a mandate
Remote sensing uses sensors and cameras to detect purposes – not for many of the things we use it for today.
develop satellite to triple the size of the domestic space industry by 20305.
characteristics of an area from a distance, usually through technologies
observations of Earth taken by satellites, aircraft or other Small satellites, such as cubesats and nanosats, are relatively
The Australian Space Agency does not build satellites nor launch
high-altitude platforms. These could be images of crops, new and provide cheaper and quicker access to space. They can
missions into space. Rather, the agency leads the development of
pastures, forests or coral reefs, and can provide information on be built and launched for less than one million dollars, which
the Australian space sector through strategy and technical road
temperature, water currents, vegetation cover, crop health, opens the possibility of small and medium enterprises and
maps so that industry can make decisions on where to invest time
water quantity and soil moisture. university groups being able to launch their own satellites.
and energy.
Connectivity is the ability of sensors, devices and computer While small satellites may be cheaper, they have shorter lifespans
While a long-term and fully-operational satellite space mission
systems to communicate with each other. It enables people as they cannot carry thrusters and fuel to keep them in orbit.
Value of a seven- can cost hundreds of millions – or even billions – of dollars, the
to access data, video or voice services from their computer, The mission duration of these small satellites is typically 4-12
year research expense can be eclipsed by the value that such a mission can
phone or other devices. In remote areas, satellite services allow program in advanced months, rather than 3-20 years for large-satellite missions.
deliver to a sector like agriculture. The key to getting high-cost
greater connectivity to support decision making, environmental telecommunications,
missions funded is to create a compelling business case for
monitoring and land management.
intelligent satellite
systems, Earth
observation and remote
245m government or venture capitalists, demonstrating the value of
the proposition. This is not easy and requires sustained effort
Small satellites also have smaller sensors, requiring them to
be in low Earth orbits to collect good quality data. In low Earth
Geolocation is information on positioning, navigation and timing, orbits, it takes days for a satellite to return to the same place
sensing analytics over many years, working towards a single vision.
including the real-time location of fishing vessels, vehicles, over the Earth, meaning it can be days between measurements
equipment, paddocks and livestock. Satellite technologies deliver in particular locations on the ground. A constellation of small
Developments in satellite and rocket technology over the past
precise information, which unlocks applications such as virtual satellites, rather than a single satellite, can overcome this
decade have enabled the launch of cost-effective small-scale
livestock fencing, precision agronomy and autonomous vehicles. problem by providing more frequent repeat measurements, but it
satellites. Lower capital requirements and shorter development
is an expensive solution.
and launch timeframes have led to an increase in private sector
investment in an area which had previously been the domain of
Nonetheless, small satellites are an exciting addition to the sky.
The Australian space sector large government-led initiatives.
There are launches each year of satellites of all sizes. A blend of
Partner investment in
the seven-year research 190 m An increase in government and private sector investment in
missions of big and small satellites will be important in the future.
program Australia’s domestic space industry has created an environment
Australia has largely been an end user of satellite technology, The number of satellite-enabled solutions available to
benefiting from free and publicly available data from missions where a vibrant local space startup ecosystem has emerged6. This
Australian rural industries has increased recently, and there are
launched internationally. provides an opportunity for the rural sector to engage directly with
opportunities for adoption. Satellites have the potential to make a
locally based satellite companies to develop solutions optimised
greater impact on Australian agriculture if we can:
Australian scientists and engineers have contributed to missions for Australian deployment to meet specific industry needs.
SmartSat CRC investment
by creating instruments and software. Among our greatest • improve connectivity
in the seven-year research
contributions are ground-based measurements that calibrate program, leveraged from the • make demonstration sites and outcomes more accessible
in-orbit sensors and validate the accuracy of satellite Australian Government 55 m 4
Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and
Science, SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, Supporting • clarify the value proposition
observations. Australia’s ground stations, such as the Parkes
Australia’s Space Industry [PDF], Australian Government • simplify the way people access data.
telescope, are important for collecting and distributing data. Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, 2020. 5CSIRO,
Space Roadmap, CSIRO 2018 6KPMG, Investment in the Australian
Space Sector [PDF], KPMG, 20200022
22
Methodology
Section
224
0024 Section 2 25
Executive
Methodology
Summary
This report has been developed through a process of Space-based
identifying, in existing literature, the technologies and
applications that are suitable for the Australian context.
innovations present
A summary of key reports is included in Appendix A. unlimited opportunities
for rural industries
We solicited input from industry representatives,
primary producers and end users through public through fine tuning
workshops held in 2020. More than 100 people of food and fibre
from industry, government and academia attended
these workshops.
production, connectivity
efficiencies, data
Through this process, we were able to identify problems collection, food
facing different industries, barriers to adoption of
new technologies, and challenges for which solutions traceability, and
already exist. improved monitoring
We engaged with an expert panel to seek independent
and response to natural
advice on the collated information. The expert panel disasters, water
members were Darren Price and Sean Starling (Price management and land
Rural Management), Graeme Kernich (Frontier SI),
Professor Bob Furbank, Dr Tim Brown and Dr Luigi degradation.
Renzullo (ANU College of Science) and Associate
Professor Salman Durrani (ANU College of Engineering
and Computer Science).0026
26
Executive Summary
Space-based
technologies
and the rural
sector
Section
328
0028 Section 3 29 Space-based technologies
and the rural sector
Space-based technologies and the rural sector
Forestry
The space industry in Australia is rapidly growing. Australia
has an emerging satellite communications ecosystem
but relies heavily on resources from other countries and Forestry contributes $9.2 billion to Australia’s economy annually14.
Sustainability continues to be a key factor in the management
Strategically placed networks of sensors could also enable
individual tree health parameters to be sent to a central platform
commercial partners for remote sensing satellites. Satellite of Australia’s forests, with space-based technologies potentially for better stand management.
able to assist in best practice management processes.
data is crucial for managing Australia’s agriculture, fisheries In addition, satellite observations can provide foresters with
information on canopy height and density, vegetation cover, and
and forestry industries. Satellite data can be used to track changes in the forest, such
as monitoring recovery after bushfires or harvesting, stand accurate locations of trees. There is great potential for existing
inventory and environmental monitoring. Satellite data has been solutions in the areas of precision agriculture and geolocation to
used to count trees in forests and in plantations, with the aim of be adapted for forestry.
Satellite-based technologies have the potential to significantly Fisheries improving harvesting decisions.
increase the productivity, sustainability and profitability of the
sector. It is estimated that:
Australian fisheries and aquaculture is a $3 billion industry12.
• Earth and marine observing (including satellites, drones and
While the proportion of aquaculture has grown steadily over the
sensors) had a value of $37 billion to agriculture, fisheries and
forestry in the Asia-Pacific Region in 20197
past two decades, wild catch fisheries still account for most of Summary
the industry’s gross value of production.
• improvements to geolocation could benefit agriculture by $2.2 Agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries can benefit from space-based technologies.
Globally, commercial fishing covers more than four times The technologies that can benefit the rural sector fall into three main categories:
billion over a 30-year period8
more ocean surface than land area used for agriculture13.
• satellite connectivity will assist in the increased application of High consumer demand for fish in Australia and internationally • technologies to view land and sea (known as remote sensing)
internet-enabled technologies in the rural sector, which could brings with it the need to efficiently harvest our oceans, and
add $15.6 billion to the agriculture, fisheries and forestry to sustainably manage our fish and seafood stocks. • technologies to locate us (known as geolocation)
industries’ gross value of production each year9.
Existing and emerging satellite and communications technologies
• technologies to connect us (known as connectivity).
have been used to efficiently monitor our marine estate and to
improve forecasting of events that affect the management of
Agriculture The following three sections look at each of these technologies in the areas of:
commercial fishing.
• costs and benefits
Data on weather patterns, visible identification of runoff to
Australian agriculture (excluding fisheries and forestry) is a predict algal bloom events, fish migration patterns, and tracking
diverse sector, operating on more than 58% of the continental
• the missions and key satellites
of fishing vessel activity have been instrumental in improving the
land mass10, and contributing more than $60 billion per annum to sustainability of fish stocks and fisheries.
the Australian economy11.
• solutions on the market.
For the fisheries sector, satellite technology is being used to
Satellites have applications in a variety of farming types, build more accurate pictures of commercial fishing globally.
Case studies are included throughout to show how the technologies have been applied.
including broadacre farms growing cereal and other crops, Geolocation is used to precisely position fishing vessels and
horticulture businesses, and farms where the focus is livestock to track migratory species.
production. The large-scale nature of broadacre and livestock
farming in Australia lends itself well to remote sensing, as
satellites can scan large areas relatively quickly. By contrast,
small-scale farming, including horticulture and small-scale dairy,
may be better served by drones or on-field technologies. 7
Australian Government/Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Current and future value of earth and marine observing to the Asia-Pacific
region [PDF], Australian Government, 2019. 8Frontier SI/EY, SBAS Test-bed Demonstrator Trial, Frontier SI, 2019. 9NBN, Connecting
Australia, Future of farming [PDF], NBN, 2020. 10T Jackson, S Hatfield-Dodds, K Zammit, Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2021, ABARES,
2020 11Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Value of agricultural commodities produced, Australia, ABS, 2020 12AH Steven, D Mobsby, R
Curtotti, Australian fisheries and aquaculture statistics 2018, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation project, ABARES, 2018.
13
D Kroodsma et al, “Tracking the global footprint of fisheries”, Science Vol: 359, Iss: 6378, pp. 904-908, 2018. 14L Whittle, Snapshot of
Australia’s forest industry, ABARES, 20180030
30
Executive Summary
Technologies
to view land
and sea
Section
432
0032 Section 4 33 Technologies to view land and sea
Technologies to view land and sea
Key Terms
Precision agriculture refers
to methods of making farming While free satellite images are generally low-resolution, image
Space-based remote sensing technologies are increasingly techniques more accurate through
processing can actually improve the resolution even after an
used to quantify many components of the Earth’s ecosystems, technology. Remote sensing supports
image has been captured. Because satellites repeatedly visit the
same area, small differences in multiple low-resolution images
including vegetation types, land coverage, soil moisture and precision agriculture through precise can be used to build high-resolution images. Machine learning is
positioning and as a means of creating driving improvements in this area.
changes in water resources. There is significant scope to maps of variation across the land.
improve the management of agricultural, fisheries and To produce images of higher value, computers can also integrate
satellite imagery with other data sets, such as visual images and
forestry industries by exploiting existing and future data. Variable rate technology is one soil moisture estimates. The latter are insensitive to cloud cover
example of precision agriculture in but have very low resolutions. Combining them with visual images
action. It allows farmers to deliver creates a more useful product.
different amounts of inputs such as
Historically, satellite-based remote sensing has been of limited In forestry, remote sensing can partially replace manual surveys On-demand remote sensing by satellites is another option to
pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers
use to the rural sector due to the high spatial resolution required and site visits, resulting in considerable cost savings. Satellites obtain high-resolution images, but these come with a price tag.
across areas. Inputs are applied where Costs depend on how much land needs to be imaged and the
for decision making. The number of satellite-based remote can image an entire stand, replacing manual counting of a
sensing solutions available on the market has significantly sample area and extrapolation of data.
they are needed most, improving type of sensor needed.
increased recently, due to advances in instrumentation and sustainability, saving costs on inputs
computational power, the launch of new commercial satellites, There are also fewer risks to employees by them not being in the and/or increasing yield.
and enabling technologies such as machine learning. field. It will become possible to identify a particular tree from its
spatial location, then quickly retrieve the history of the tree.
Visible light cameras can map crop distributions at local to
national scales. Infrared cameras can give insights into plant Examples of how remote sensing satellites are used in
health, vegetation moisture content and soil moisture content. agriculture include:
Other sensors can detect the temperature of land and water.
• crop mapping and classification
Satellites can estimate plant growth by using the normalised
difference vegetation index (NDVI), which measures the difference • yield mapping and forecasting
between the near-infrared light reflected by green vegetation and
the red light absorbed by green vegetation. A higher value on • soil, water and pasture monitoring
NDVI indicates more green plants.
• pest and disease detection
NDVI can show which fields are performing best and worst, and
help identify stressed plants. Some pests and diseases can be • plant and tree health
spotted in remotely sensed data using NDVI, along with
other calculations. • support of precision agriculture and variable rate technology.
Some satellite products are free and publicly available, but
these have limited usefulness because their coarse resolution is
Costs and benefits
generally 5 m. Examples of the different resolutions needed for
different purposes include:
Remote sensing can be used to track sea level and temperature, • variable rate technology requires 5-10 m spatial resolution
as well as wave and ocean current activity. This is useful for fish
migration modelling, which benefits researchers and fishers. • biomass and yield estimates require 1-3 m resolution
Figure 01. Machine learning can transform low-resolution images to high. Modified ESA Copernicus Sentinel data CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
• weed detection requires 5-50 cm resolution . 15
R Sishodia, R Ray, S Singh, “Applications of remote sensing in precision agriculture: A review [PDF]”, Remote Sensing, 2020, 12, p 3136.
1534 35 Technologies to view land and sea
Meet the missions behind
remote sensing
Remote sensing without
satellites
Several key existing satellite systems are described below. Case study — Rapid mapping
Satellites aren’t the only technology Some commercial products/services/companies are named of wildfire damage
available for remote sensing. Aircraft to provide examples of how the data is used. The list is not
exhaustive and is not meant as an endorsement of any particular
and drones can do it too.
product or enterprise. Data from Landsat satellites was used
in Australia during the 2019-20 NSW
Aircraft and drones can provide Landsat bushfires to map the extent of wildfire
more detail over smaller areas, while
damage. The Google Earth Engine
satellites can image more land in Landsat is the longest Earth observation program in operation,
providing a half-century record of global land cover and land-use
Burnt Area Map measures colour
less detail. Satellites can give regular
change. There are two Landsat satellites in operation (Landsat 7 change in vegetation before and
reports on the same area, showing
and Landsat 8), with a third (Landsat 9) scheduled for launch in after a fire, and was a rapid way to
changes over time. Drones and aircraft
September 2021. support environmental management
can operate on cloudy days, when
decisions and to understand impacts
satellite images would be impacted. Google Maps and Google Earth images are based on enhanced
on forestry resources.
Costs are variable and depend on the and colour-balanced Landsat imagery. Landsat data is freely
size and location of a farm. available from the US Geological Survey (USGS) website and
Geoscience Australia website.
It can be difficult to decide which Resolution: 15-100 m, revisits every eight days.
technology is right for the job. Here,
individuals need to determine what
success would look like and think
about what resolution they might need.
This might include a farmer asking
questions such as: “Do I need to see
individual trees?” or “Is it useful to
have one image that captures a
whole paddock?”
It may be necessary to try a few
options to find which work best for
given needs. Combining different
services might provide the most
benefit.
Figure 02. Landsat imagery of eastern Australia acquired during the January 2020 bushfires. USGS/NASA Landsat, public domain
16
NSW Government Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (NSW DPIE), The Google Earth Engine Burnt Area Map, NSW DPIE, 2020.36
0036 Section 4 37 Technologies to view land and sea
Sentinel in action
Sentinel data is being used to support
a range of agricultural activities.
Livestock: Sentinel-2 optical imagery, updated every five days, is An integrated smart farming platform in Greece, Gaiasense,
being used by CiboLabs to monitor land condition and to provide uses Sentinel imagery to calculate vegetation, plant health and
advice on stock rates for available pastures. Technologies can soil moisture, and is reported to have increased crop production
reduce operational and feed management costs by up to 9%, by 10% and to have decreased the application of inputs (water,
depending on the type of livestock17. fertiliser, herbicides) by 19% over two years. Data is being used to
help shape farming subsidy policy and food security policies20.
Crops: Early signs of crop stress can alert growers to potential
pest and disease outbreaks, irrigation issues, soil nutrient Forests: The UK Government is exploring the use of Rezatec to
deficiencies and weeds, among other pressures. FluroSat creates identify and track outbreaks of sweet chestnut blight in England.
insights into crop health, which are derived from free Sentinel Sentinel data is used to distinguish sweet chestnut trees from
data or from on-demand high-resolution images from satellites oak trees and to identify stressed sweet chestnut trees for
such as KOMPSAT-2 and TripleSat. Case studies have shown targeted inspection21.
yield improvements of 10-25%18.
Fishing: In Greece and North Macedonia, the Satellite Near
Farmers in Denmark and Sweden can use CropSAT to view Real Time Monitoring Network uses Sentinel data to produce
biomass maps of farms to assist with precision agriculture and maps of sea surface temperature and water transparency. This
inputting nitrogen fertiliser as required, reducing input costs provides decision support for fishers and fish farms in the area by
and harmful runoff . monitoring algal events and water quality22.
Figure 03.Sentinel-2 image of Channel Country, a pastoral region in QLD. The image was processed to include near-infrared, which
makes vegetation appear bright red. Modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019) processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Sentinel missions include radar and multi-
Sentinel spectral imaging for land, ocean and atmospheric
Sentinel missions include radar and multi-spectral imaging for monitoring. There are six missions in the Sentinel
land, ocean and atmospheric monitoring. There are six missions
in the Sentinel family, and each is based on a constellation of
family, and each is based on a constellation of
satellites to fulfil coverage requirements. Sentinel-2 is the most satellites to fulfil coverage requirements.
relevant to agriculture as it monitors plant growth and land cover.
Sentinel data is publicly available.
Resolution: 10 m, revisits every five days.
Geoscience Australia, Frontier SI, Digital Earth Australia, Harvesting the benefits of Earth observation [PDF], Digital Earth Australia, 2020
17
Australian Government Business, FluroSat – growing better crops through remote sensing, Australian Government Business, 2020. 19European
18
Commission, NEREUS, ESA, The ever growing use of Copernicus across Europe’s regions: a selection of 99 user stories by local and regional
authorities, European Commission, NEREUS, ESA, 2018 20European Commission, NEREUS, ESA, The ever growing use of Copernicus across
Europe’s regions: a selection of 99 user stories by local and regional authorities, European Commission, NEREUS, ESA, 2018 21European
Commission, NEREUS, ESA. 22European Commission, NEREUS, ESA.38
0038 Section 4 39 Technologies to view land and sea
Terra/Aqua SPOT Image Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment (GRACE)
Terra and Aqua are a pair of satellites that collect multi-spectral SPOT satellites can be reactively programmed to meet client Case study — Forestry and
imaging of land, sea and sky. Over land, they can monitor surface requirements. SPOT satellites are commercially available in bark beetles GRACE measures changes in total water storage on Earth,
temperature and estimate the rate of photosynthesis across the Australia through SPOT Imaging Services. Australian agencies including melting of polar ice sheets, ocean mass increase and
globe. Over water, they detect ocean colour and phytoplankton. In have used SPOT-5 imagery for mapping land cover, forestry, groundwater depletion. Data has been used to quantify drought
the sky, they detect cloud properties and greenhouse gases in the topography and water23. Planet Labs’ PlanetScope and SkySat in Australia.
atmosphere. Data is publicly available.
constellations provide high-resolution,
Resolution: 1.5-6 m, revisits 2-3 days. Improved accuracy in root-zone and groundwater stores has led
Resolution: 250 m to 1 km, revisits every two days. high-frequency satellite imagery for to improved prediction of vegetation state up to five months in
forestry. The data is used for early advance, which could aid preparations for fire seasons.
identification of bark beetle infection in
Polar-orbiting Operational forest stands in the Czech Republic24, Resolution: 200-300 km but can be downscaled to tens of
forest inventories for Pan Pac Forest kilometres when used in conjunction with other data sets. Data
Environmental Satellites (POES) Digital Globe
products are typically monthly estimates.
Products in New Zealand25, and to
POES are a constellation of weather satellites that monitor severe Digital Globe offers satellite imagery and radar that can be monitor forest carbon stocks and
weather and ocean events. Data is freely available and used integrated with other maps. Data is commercially available
emissions26.
by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Applications include and has applications for autonomous vehicles, disaster Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS)
monitoring cloud cover, fire detection, sea surface temperature, response and crisis management, defence and intelligence,
The Queensland Government has an SMOS measures the amount of soil moisture in the top 5 cm layer.
ice, snow and vegetation cover. telecommunications, and security.
agreement with Planet Labs for whole- When used in conjunction with land surface/hydrology modelling,
Resolution: 1-20 km, revisits twice daily. Resolution: 30 cm to 2 m, revisits 1-3 days. of-government subscription-based observations of the soil moisture content improve the accuracy of
access to PlanetScope imagery27. modelling shallow, root zone and groundwater resources.
Resolution: 10-25 km, revisits every three days.
Himawari-8/Himawari-9 PlanetScope
Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 are geostationary satellites with All Planet Labs satellites are CubeSats (small satellites under
coverage over Japan that provide information on weather events 5 kg). They operate about 150 optical satellites and they launch Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
for the Japan, East Asia and Western Pacific regions. Himawari-8 new satellites into orbit every year. PlanetScope’s ‘Doves’ satellites
provides the core of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s make up the world’s largest constellation of Earth-imaging Scheduled for launch in September 2021, SWOT will survey
satellite data intake. Data is freely available. satellites. Earth’s surface water and ocean topography. The mission will be
capable of resolving changes in heights of water bodies wider
PlanetScope data is commercially available. PlanetScope market than 100 m.
their imagery as providing tools to boost agricultural productivity
and profitability. Their data is used for monitoring crop growth and Resolution: Initially about 250 m but expected to improve to
Key term: Geostationary health, yield forecasting, precision agriculture and as a tool for about 100 m.
deforestation compliance.
A satellite in geostationary orbit Resolution: 5 m, revisits up to 12 times daily.
is orbiting Earth around the equator
at the same rate as the Earth spins,
so that the satellite remains above
the same point on the Earth’s
surface at all times.
23
A Forghani, S Reddy, C Smith, Evaluating SPOT-5 satellite imagery for national mapping division’s topographic mapping program
[PDF], Geoscience Australia, 2003. 24S Doshi, Bark beetles are decimating forests: Satellite data can help, Planet, 2019. 25 Interpine,
Automated cutover mapping with satellite imagery – case study, Interpine, 2020. 26O Csillik et al, “Monitoring tropical forest carbon
stocks and emissions using Planet satellite data”, Scientific Reports, 9, 2019. 27Queensland Government Business Queensland,
Satellite imagery, Queensland Government, 2020.40
0040 Section 4 41
Solutions on the market
Remote sensing applications in agriculture have the potential to • FarmMap4D uses high-resolution imagery from DigitalGlobe
improve crop productivity while minimising the use (and cost) of and other digital tools to provide land managers with online
resources and environmental impacts. access to detailed maps of their properties.
There are many service providers of remote sensing for farm • Farm Doctors, a precision agriculture company, uses remote
enterprises. Examples include: sensing of NDVI to measure plant health.
• Digital Agriculture Services, in partnership with CSIRO, • Cibolabs uses remote sensing data coupled with machine
delivers rural intelligence through satellite imagery. It learning to provide farmers with information on pasture
provides a powerful visualisation tool, allowing people to productivity, land condition and stocking rates.
geo-locate farms, rivers, dams and buildings, and assess
yield and soil type. • Pasture.io uses satellite imagery to improve pasture
management.
• FluroSat uses remote sensing of NDVI to create crop health
reports and to send automatic crop stress alerts to farmers. • Indufor uses satellite imagery to monitor forest and landscape
Their high-resolution images allow farmers to see individual changes, including continuous plantation monitoring.
trees, meaning the service is suited to orchards, vineyards and
high-value crops on drip-irrigation. This is not an exhaustive list and is provided to show the variety
of offerings in Australia.
• DataFarming uses Sentinel data to identify where crops are
performing well.
The adoption of
• Hummingbird Technologies provides broadacre farmers in
Australia with insights into drought damage to soy and maize
crops, grass weeds in canola and wheat fields, and nitrogen
needs for barley.
remote sensing
technologies has not
Summary been fully realised
There are many applications of remote sensing technologies, particularly in
agriculture. New advances in machine learning are making it easier for people to
across the rural sector.
access and use data from existing satellites to make on-farm decisions. Remote
sensing has a strong role to play in understanding and monitoring the environment,
This represents a
including that of marine estates and forests.
great opportunity
As the precision and coverage of space-based remote sensing continues to advance,
and development and deployment costs reduce, these technologies are likely to become for Australia.
more cost competitive with drone imagery solutions. Remote sensing is an active area
of growth and exploration, and the adoption of these technologies has not been fully
realised across the rural sector. This represents a great opportunity for Australia.You can also read
