The proposed technology, if successful, could add tremendous value to NASA's Landsat mission, as well as to MODIS and TRMM and new environmental systems – NPP and NPOESS. It will also directly relate to efforts of the Agriculture DISC program.
Our product will likely be most attractive commercially for precision agriculture. Using our approach, it will be possible to determine how much of a particular crop type is planted globally each year and to continuously update harvest estimates throughout the year. This will find direct application for commodity trading firms, as well as commercial enterprises that seek to hedge commodity purchases. Other applications include evaluation of crop health (stress by insufficient water, insect infestations, etc.), so our work should contribute to developing analytical models for pesticide/fertilizer/water application and efficacy. Farmers globally can submit crowd sourced point information (crop type, health, etc.), and our system will incorporate weather data (precipitation, temperature, etc.). Hence there will by myriad applications in the agricultural sector.
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