Thermal Infrared Earth Observation System Launched by ConstellR
German NewSpace company ConstellR has successfully launched their first thermal infrared Earth observation system into space for global water monitoring. The payload was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, part of the Northrop Grumman resupply mission to the International Space Station.
ConstellR is taking on the challenge of scaling down the size and cost of a normally very complex payload while maintaining the very high performance required so that we can be complementary with large institutional missions, with the added benefit of a higher revisit time."
Dr. Max Gulde, CEO of ConstellR.
The novel payload, LisR (Longwave Infrared Sensing demonstratoR), is the first of its kind to be launched by ConstellR and is a precursor to its full constellation of microsatellites, the first generation of which will be launched end of 2023. It paves the way for a scalable, commercial water monitoring service for smart agriculture based on the detection of changes in crop health days to weeks before current approaches.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN and the World Wildlife Fund, agriculture consumes 70 percent of the world's available fresh water. 60 percent of this water is wasted however, due to ill-maintained irrigation systems, inefficient application methods and crops that require more water than their environment allows. This is where ConstellR’s technology will be so relevant: their thermal infrared Earth observation system produces colored land surface temperature heatmaps, depicted across a scale of blue, turquoise, yellow, orange and red represent various scales of plant stress and water availability at sub-field level. This level of insight helps in the optimization of smart irrigation systems, the detection of potential threats to yield and the early mitigation of crop stress.
These kinds of maps and measured biophysical indicators have the potential to disrupt global agricultural practices and could in the future improve weather models, optimize urban planning and drive more effective disaster management.
The team’s patented space-based technology will deliver high-precision, granular crop health data, allowing the derivation of evapotranspiration and other biophysical factors that help determine biosphere health. This information offers the potential to enhance precision agriculture on a global basis and deliver actionable insights faster and more cost efficiently than existing solutions.
This demonstrator thermal infrared Earth observation technology provides an first thermal datastream for ConstellR, with the goal that the data will be utilized by their pilot clients as early as April 2022. The technology will allow the team to understand more about how its thermal infrared system performs in space whilst allowing agri-analytics customers to pilot the use of a novel, calibrated thermal EO dataset and guide the design of future monitoring products. It represents a first step in ConstellR’s vision to build a deeper atlas of the planet’s ecosphere, driving a better understanding of global resources, more crop per drop and a strong contribution to global food security.
ConstellR anticipates large agri-food companies including Bayer Crop Sciences, BayWa and Ferrero, as well as governments and global agricultural research groups to be among their future clients. For such customers, the scalability and high precision of ConstellR’s data in supporting yield monitoring, prediction and management, will be key.
When plants are in bad shape they wilt and change color, by which point it is already too late to take mitigative action. Thanks to the infrared technology with which ConstellR’s satellites are equipped, it will be possible to detect early signs of water stress up to two weeks earlier. This can help prevent long-term crop damage, over-watering and water waste.
"Together with a world class team at OHB, ConstellR is taking on the challenge of scaling down the size and cost of a normally very complex payload while maintaining the very high performance required so that we can be complementary with large institutional missions, with the added benefit of a higher revisit time," said Dr. Max Gulde, CEO of ConstellR. "The LiSR demonstrator is an important first milestone in this technology evolution and we look forward to continuing working together in the future."
(Image provided with ConstellR news release)