The SABRES project was initiated in September 1998 by partners in Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, with shared cost funding support from the European Commission. The project objectives were to evaluate the potential of satellite images — more specifically the new very high resolution images from IKONOS — for agricultural management and decision making. SABRES products, farm management information systems and data distribution systems are now beginning to be exploited commercially in the partner countries.   You can get this brochure by downloading it here or on request at RSAC.

Brochure.pdf [.PDF Document    ±1.2Mb]

V. García Cidad, E. Vrindts, J. De Baerdemaeker
Laboratory of Agro-Machinery and Processing, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

ABSTRACT
A prototype system for farm decision making was developed allowing satellite images to be properly displayed and combined with land parcel data. As a part of this prototype system, an Algorithm provides tools for the partial automation of the decision process to formulate N-fertilisation recommendations, in the form of a Nitrogen Application Map. The most important part of the algorithm is the work unit based on very high resolution remotely sensed data. To develop this work unit, field measurements were taken parallel to satellite images during two growing seasons (1999-2000) on winter wheat parcels with different plant densities and nitrogen treatments. The parameters measured included reflectance and Leaf Area Index (LAI) during the growing season and yield, protein content and number of spikes, at harvest. Several vegetation indices (VI's), calculated from the satellite and ground data, were studied with respect to their sensitivity to the different nitrogen doses and to low noise production. The correlation between VI's and important crop parameters for nitrogen fertilisation management (i.e. LAI) was tested as well.

Keywords:
Remote Sensing, Canopy Management, Precision Agriculture, Very High Resolution Satellites

Article1.zip [.PDF Document    ±0.5Mb]

Poster1.zip [.PDF Document    ±2.5Mb]

ABSTRACT
This is a presentation given in Sweden on 14 January 2001.....

Presentation1.zip [.PPT Document    ±3.8Mb]

By R. H. Blakeman, Rosie J. Bryson and P. Dampney
Remote Sensing Applications Consultants Limited, Alton, UK
ADAS Boxworth, Boxworth, UK

ABSTRACT
This project aims to evaluate the potential uses of very high-resolution satellite images (VHRSI) at a field scale, and to provide imagery and derived products in "near real time" to agri-businesses. Crop management decisions have traditionally been based on extensive field walking, which is time consuming, and results in an overall recommendation for the field. The advent of yield monitoring and mapping technology has raised interest in a more detailed analysis of crop performance within and between fields. Decisions on inputs now increasingly have a spatial component, usually based on data relating to previous crops. VHRSI (1-5m), delivered onto farm within a few days of acquisition, offers the potential to give a record of crop condition and spatial variability, which with skilled interpretation and digital analysis, can be used as a basis for decision making on the current crop.

Keywords:
Remote sensing, crop management, precision agriculture, very high resolution satellites

Article2.zip [.PDF Document    ±0.4Mb]