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THE BIG STORY: AGRICULTURE
The Geo-Green Revolution | P. 28
REGIONAL FOCUS
LatAm Calling | P. 64
TRIMBLE
SEPTEMBER 2013

VOL 04

ISSUE 2 | ISSN 22773134 www.geospatialworld.net


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WORLD
GEOSPATIAL
Y O U R G E O S P A T I A L I N D U S T R Y M A G A Z I N E
A GPS company until 1999, Trimble dared to re-defne itself,
pursued a much wider range of technologies to cater to chosen
vertical markets and over a period of just 14 years became
agnostic relative to technology, all the while being central to the
change it wanted to see in global geospatial industry P. 22
Transforming
the World
TM
6 Geospatial World | April 2013
Shaping the Future of the Geospatial Industry On the Go
2013 Intergraph Corporation. All rights reserved. Intergraph is part of Hexagon.
Intergraph and the Intergraph logo are registered trademarks of Intergraph
Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.
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For more information visit
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6 Geospatial World | April 2013
September 2013 Vol 4 Issue 2 Inside...
Disclaimer
Geospatial World does not necessarily subscribe to the
views expressed in the publication. All views expressed
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World is not responsible for any loss to anyone due to
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Aida Opoku Mensah
Special Advisor, Post 2015
Development Agenda, UN
Economic Commisssion
for Africa
Barbara Ryan
Secretariat Director, Group
on Earth Observations
Bryn Fosburgh
Sector Vice-President,
Executive Committee
Member,
Trimble Navigation
Derek Clarke
Chief Director-Survey and
Mapping & National Geospatial
Information, Rural Development
& Land Reform, South Africa
Kamal K Singh
Chairman and CEO,
Rolta Group
Lisa Campbell
Vice President,
Engineering &
Infrastructure, Autodesk
Mark Reichardt
President and CEO,
Open Geospatial
Consortium
Matthew OConnell
CEO, Adhoc Holdings
Ramon Pastor
Vice-President and
General Manager, Large
Format Printing Business,
Hewlett-Packard
Stephen Lawler
Chief Technology Offcer,
Bing Maps, Microsoft
Dr Swarna Subba Rao
Surveyor General of India
Vanessa Lawrence
Director General and
Chief Executive,
Ordnance Survey, UK
Dawn J. Wright
Chief Scientist,
Esri
A
d
v
i
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r
y

B
o
a
r
d
Greg Bentley
CEO, Bentley Systems
Prof. Ian Dowman
First Vice President,
ISPRS
Dr. Hiroshi Murakami
Director-General of
Planning Department,
Geospatial Information
Authority of Japan
Prof. Josef Strobl
Chair, Department of
Geoinformatics,
University of Salzburg,
Austria
Juergen Dold
President
Hexagon Geosystems
Mohd Al Rajhi
Asst Deputy Minister for
Land & Surveying,
Ministry of Municipal &
Rural Affairs, Saudi Arabia
Dorine Burmanje
Chair-Executive Board,
Cadastre, Land Registry and
Mapping Agency (Kadaster),
The Netherlands
5 Geospatial World | September 2013
CHAIRMAN
M P Narayanan
Publisher
Sanjay Kumar
PUBLICATIONS TEAM
Managing Editor
Prof. Arup Dasgupta
Editor Building & Energy
Geof Zeiss
Editor Agriculture
Mark Noort
Editor Latin America (Honorary)
Tania Maria Sausen
Editor Geospatial World Weekly
Dr. Hrishikesh Samant
Executive Editor
Bhanu Rekha
Deputy Executive Editor
Anusuya Datta
Product Manager
Harsha Vardhan Madiraju
Sub-Editor
Ridhima Kumar
Graphic Designer
Debjyoti Mukherjee
Circulation Manager
Amit Shahi
07 Editorial
08 News
16 Product Watch
72 OGC Column
74 Events
Special Focous: Latin America
64 LatAm calling, Renata Dias Rodrigues
Corner Offce
18 Bert Turner, Senior Vice President,
Sales, DigitalGlobe
28 Te Geo Green Revolution
Mark Noort & Anand Kashyap
Articles
38 G-tech key for a Common Agriculture
Policy, Philippe Loudjani
42 RS technology for crop insurance,
Dr Joachim Herbold
48 UAS to monitor crop health status,
Tamme Van Der Wal
50 Brazil: GIS for sustainable agriculture,
Mateus Batistella
Case Studies
52 Smart ICT for weather information
54 Geospatial tools for rainfed agriculture
56 Profling agricultural activities
through GIS
58 GIS feld survey for agri planning
60 Monitoring agricultural lands via
remote sensing
62 Optimising sugarcane crops with
precision agriculture
Interview
46 Dr Hanns-Christoph Eiden,
President, BLE, Germany
The Big Story: Agriculture
Cover Story
22 Trimble: Transforming the world, Bhanu Rekha
6 Geospatial World | April 2013
Creating your own map from maps published by other users is just one of
many ways to take advantage of the rich collection of data and resources
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7 Geospatial World | September 2013
I
ndia is going through an economic crisis; the
Rupee is falling, the stock markets are down
and gold prices are going through the roof. In
the backdrop of all this, the Indian government
decided to bring in a Food Security Bill to ensure
minimum nutrition to the underprivileged and
the poor. India Incs fear that scarce funds will be
diverted from industry to agriculture is adding
to the turmoil. However, food is something that
is the very basis of our existence and the very
underpinning of civilisation.
While tremendous developments have hap-
pened in diferent sectors; those early agricultural
crops have remained the same over the centuries.
What has changed are the technique of agriculture
and food processing and preservation. Today, we
can observe another major change, this time in
the use of geospatial technology to bring efciency
and higher yields. Tis has become an imperative
as the world population grows, nutrition require-
ments increase, while land the essential base for
agriculture remains limited, and in fact, under
pressure from conficting demands from diferent
sectors like infrastructure, urbanisation, commer-
cial crops and forestry, to name a few. Land must
be sustainably used; yields must be improved;
wastage must be reduced; distribution should
become efcient and ubiquitous.
In this situation, geospatial technologies
can play a vital role in inventory of resources,
planning, monitoring and efcient implementa-
tion of activities. Tese applications have moved
beyond Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment,
which used remote sensing data to assess crop
acreage and production estimation. Today,
remote sensing, GIS and GPS is being used in
precision agriculture to optimise application of
inputs to maximise yield. According to Trimble,
these solutions aim to provide the farmer with the
best possible outcome for himself, his family, his
investors, and indirectly for the customers and the
environment. Te idea is to provide analysis, op-
timise practices, increase productivity and make
the best use of available resources.
Te industry of agriculture also requires insur-
ance against unexpected damage due to extreme
weather events. Climate change poses many prob-
lems and geo-technologies ofers solutions.
In this issue we have endeavoured to cover all
these aspects with stories of geospatial application
as well as a review of the role of geospatial technol-
ogies and their use by various institutions. Agricul-
ture is now as complex as any other manufacturing
industry, perhaps more so, because, if agriculture
fails everything else will. Napoleon said an army
marches on its stomach; a statement which can
be extended to any human activity, I may add. It is,
therefore, but natural that geospatial systems, like
many other technologies, should play an important
role in agriculture.
EditorSpeak
Farming the
benets of
geospatial
Prof Arup Dasgupta
Managing Editor
arup@geospatialmedia.net
8 Geospatial World | September 2013
Americas
NEWS
Intermap bags airborne
mapping contract
Intermap Technologies has won a $3.5
million airborne mapping contract for
hi-res 3D digital models of the earths
surface ag-
gregated with
customer-
specifc data.
Te Denver-
based com-
pany said it was using its proprietary
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture
Radar (IFSAR) mapping technology on
the new project to collect orthorecti-
fed radar imagery and hi-resolution
elevation data to update the unnamed
customers existing geospatial map da-
tabase. Final deliveries of the projects
dataset used for improved disaster
planning, resource management,
security interests, and infrastructure
planning are slated to be completed
by the frst quarter 2014.
Google Maps is the worlds most used smartphone app
Google Maps is the most-
used smartphone app
in the world, according
to newly released data
recorded over the second
quarter of 2013. Te data,
collected and correlated
by digital media agency
GlobalWebIndex, shows
the most popular apps by
usage among the worlds
969.49 million smartphone
users over the second quarter of 2013. According to the fndings, Google Maps was at
the very head of the top 10 most actively used smartphone apps with 54% of smart-
phone users having accessed it during the survey period. Coming in second was the
Facebook app, which 44% of smartphone users accessed; 35% went on YouTube via
the app; and, in fourth position was the Google+ mobile app, used by 30%.
BUSINESS
Trimble adds DigitalGlobe
imagery to mobile apps
Trimble has entered into an agreement
with DigitalGlobe to license its satel-
lite imagery for ofine use in Trimble
Outdoor mobile apps. Tis will allow
outdoor enthusiasts to view and store
imagery on their smartphones and
tablets. In addition, DigitalGlobe
imagery will be available for high-
resolution, large-format custom prints
at MyTopo.com, a Trimble company.
DigitalGlobe will provide imagery
down to a 30-cm resolution for the
continental US and 50-cm resolution
globally, efective immediately.
GPS companies sued for
$1.9 bn by Harbinger
Harbinger Capital has sued agri-
cultural equipment maker Deere &
Co and Global Positioning System
companies for damages of $1.9 billion
as it looks to recoup its investment
in the bankrupt wireless company
LightSquared. Te lawsuits defend-
ants, which include GPS companies
Garmin International and Trimble
Navigation, had opposed LightS-
quareds plans to build a wireless
network because of concerns that
this would interfere with GPS sys-
tems, which are used in everything
from farming to airline navigation.
Harbinger, which has spent billions
of dollars on LightSquared, said in a
complaint that it never would have
made the investments if the GPS
industry had disclosed potential
interference problems between the
LightSquared spectrum and GPS
equipment between 2002 and 2009.
$3.5 mn
for 3D digital model of
earths surface
Apple looks for ground truth
experts to improve its maps
Te Maps Team at Apple is looking for
a small army of Maps Ground Truth
Local Experts to help beef up its data
quality for its iOS Maps app. Te
launch of Apples Maps in September
of 2012 was met with heavy criticism
over the quality and accuracy of the
geographic data. Currently listed
are 39 jobs calling for Ground Truth
Local Experts and Maps Ground
Truth Regional Managers on Apples
site. Ground Truth Experts are being
sought for many major cities around
the world with locations such as
New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Tel Aviv, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and
Dublin. Te job requirements call for
successful applicants to have resided
in the city of interest for at least fve
years, have some experience evaluat-
ing map quality, and strong English
language skills.
Courtesy: Mashable
9 Geospatial World | September 2013
Americas
NEWS
MISCELLANEOUS
Far Out knows where youll
be on a precise date in future
Researchers from Microsoft and
Google have developed new track-
ing software that can predict future
location of a person. Te programme
called Far Out tracks people using a
GPS device and learns their routine. It
then makes predictions about where
that person will be in future years. It
is capable of reacting to changes in
jobs, relationships and moving house.
Far Out software uses an algorithm to
predict where a person will be in the
future, based on where they have been
in the past. It does this by accurately
learning a persons routine. .
Report calls for sustained
Landsat programme
Despite being essential to the US
national security, the future of Landsat
satellites is in jeopardy, warns a new
report from the National Research
Council. Te committee that pre-
pared the report warned that while
the US pioneered frequent-repeat
global imaging, other nations are now
A screenshot from the Far Out
mapping software
developing systems whose capabil-
ity rivals or exceeds US systems. Te
committees primary recommenda-
tion is that the federal government
establishes a sustained and enhanced
land imaging programme with an
overarching national strategy and long-
term commitment, including clearly
defned programme requirements,
management responsibilities, and
continued funding.
Skybox Imaging to launch
24 satellites by 2018
Skybox Imaging plans to launch 24 sat-
ellites into orbit by 2018. Most of these
satellites will focus on earth observa-
tion. With $91 million in venture-capi-
tal funding, Skybox Imaging is focusing
on low-cost satellites. Te company
says their satellites cost under $50 mil-
lion a piece. Skybox focuses on the use
of less expensive cameras and using
its software to stitch together strings of
lower resolution images intone visu-
alisation. At roughly the dimensions
of a mini-fridge, Skyboxs 200-pound
satellites are also far smaller than
conventional models.
BRAZIL
Mobile mapping to create
road map
In view of the upcoming major sport-
ing events in Brazil, TomTom has de-
ployed its advanced Mobile Mapping
(MoMa) technology in the country.
Te phased MoMa programme aims to
provide road users with the most ac-
curate maps of over 85,000 kilometres
of the countrys road network by early
2014. It is the frst time the advanced
Mobile Mapping vehicle units have
been used in Brazil and as a result,
combined with input from road-users
via TomToms MapShare programme,
the company is able to provide the as-
surance of a more secure, precise trip
for drivers across the country.
Students fake GPS signals to hijack $80-million yacht
A team of GPS experts at the
University of Texas used a
laptop, a small antenna and an
electronic GPS spoofer built
for $3,000 to take control of the
sophisticated navigation system
aboard an $80 million, 210-foot
super-yacht in the Mediterra-
nean Sea. By feeding counter-
feit radio signals to the yacht,
GPS expert Todd Humphreys
and his team at the University
of Texas were able to drive the
ship far of course, steer it left and right, potentially take it into treacherous waters,
even put it on a collision course with another ship. All the time, the ships GPS system
reported the vessel was calmly moving in a straight line, along its intended course.
Te experiment highlighted how vulnerable the worlds GPS system is to hackers.
Te 213-foot White Rose whose GPS navigational
system was spoofed
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10 Geospatial World | September 2013
Europe
NEWS
FRANCE
Astrium, Thales Alenia bag
UAE spy satellite contract
After a decade-long negotiation, the
United Arab Emirates Armed Forces
fnally contracted with Astrium Satel-
lites and Tales Alenia Space of France
to provide the two-satellite Falcon Eye
high-resolution optical reconnaissance
system. Te contract is valued at 800
million, (approximately $1.1 billion).
Te contract includes the construc-
tion of two satellites weighing less than
1,500 kg each;
their separate
launches in
late 2017 and
early 2018
likely aboard
European Vega rockets; two ground
facilities for satellite control and image
reception; and training of UAE person-
nel in France.
CryoSat maps largest-ever
ood beneath Antarctica
ESAs CryoSat satellite has found a vast
crater in Antarcticas icy surface. Scien-
tists believe the crater was left behind
when a lake lying under about 3 km of
ice suddenly drained of. By combin-
ing new measurements acquired by
CryoSat with older data from NASAs
ICESat satellite, the team has mapped
the large crater left behind by a lake,
and even determined the scale of the
food that formed it.
EC permits free access to
earth observation data
Te European Commission has agreed
to permit free access to data from its
$1.1 bn
contract from UAE
armed forces
UK
UN-GGIM endorses future
trends in geo-information
Te third session of the UN Commit-
tee of Experts on Global Geospatial
Information Management (UN-GGIM)
took place in Cambridge, UK. Te ses-
sion was convened back-to-back with
the Cambridge Conference, and made
considerable progress in fulflling the
GGIMs mandate to enhance collabo-
ration and support the use of geospa-
tial information to promote sustainable
development globally. Te Co-Chair
of the Committee, Vanessa Lawrence
(United Kingdom), opened the session.
It was attended by 238 participants,
among them 173 representatives from
66 Member States and 1 Non-Member
State. Te Committee of Experts
endorsed the frst edition of the report
Future trends in geospatial informa-
tion management: the fve to ten year
vision and noted that this report was
meant to be a living document and
will be revised from time to time to
refect changes in the technology and
environment. Te Committee also con-
sidered the trends in national insti-
tutional arrangements in geospatial
information management; developing
a global map for sustainable develop-
ment; legal and policy frameworks,
including critical issues related to
authoritative data; establishing and
implementing
standards for the
global geospatial
information com-
munity. Recognis-
ing the growing
demand for more
precise positioning
services and the
economic impor-
tance of a global
geodetic reference
frame, the Com-
mittee welcomed
the report prepared by the Geodetic
Reference Framework for Sustainable
Development Working Group of UN-
GGIM Asia-Pacifc, in collaboration
with the International Association of
Geodesy (IAG).
One-reference geoinfo
service for Europe
Ordnance Survey, which reports to the
Department for Business Innovation
& Skills (BIS), UK, has signed the con-
sortium agreement and grant agree-
ment to participate in the European
Sentinel series of earth observation
satellites, concluding that any harm to
private-sector satellite operators will
be outweighed by the expected growth
in value-added services derived from
the data. After a long process of evalu-
ation that included input from the Eu-
ropean Association of Remote Sensing
Companies (EARSC), the commission
has agreed to align itself with a policy
already adopted by the 20-nation Euro-
pean Space Agency (ESA).
11 Geospatial World | September 2013
Europe
NEWS
and other dangerous materials. Te
new explosives detector was created
by Damien Weidmann and his team at
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Te
researchers believe that the fexibility
and range of the Active Coherent Laser
Spectrometer (ACLaS) makes it ideal
for all kinds of hazardous or undercover
gaseous-phase sampling, including
detecting toxic leaks, chemical-warfare
agents, illegal drugs manufacture or
highly localised industrial air pollution.
Radar gun spots illegal GPS
jammers in vehicles
Te battle against truckers and motor-
ists who jam GPS signals has moved up
a gear. UK-based Chronos Technology
has developed new handheld radar to
identify which vehicles are illegally using
the GPS signal jammers. Tis new device
can identify where a jammer-using ve-
hicle is in a multi-storey car park and
can pinpoint portable devices in drivers
pockets when they have left their cars.
Chronos has not revealed how the device
Location Framework (ELF) project.
Te EU-funded project will provide
the platform for a global standard of
geographic information to enhance
business without barriers across Eu-
rope. Te three-year project, consisting
of three phases, is supported by
a consortium of 30 partners across
Europe, whose work is co-funded by
the European Commission.
Tool locates any spot on
Earth using three-word code
A new mapping service could spell
the end of the modern-day postcode.
Te what3words app has divided
the globe into 57 trillion 3X3 metre
squares and labelled each area with
just a three-word address to help
make fnding locations more accurate
and memorable. Te w3w pin can be
moved around the Google Map and
it will show the code for the precise
point where the pin has been placed.
Alternatively, users can search the
site for landmarks or addresses to fnd
that locations code. Or three random
words can be entered, each separated
by a full stop, to fnd surprise location.
Once a location has been identifed
it can be shared by email, Facebook,
Twitter or GPS systems. What3words
is available on Web browsers as well as
through Android and iOS apps.
Earth observation sensor
to hunt for explosives
Satellite technology intended for earth
observation has been adapted to cre-
ate an instrument that can recognise
explosives remotely. Developed by
a team of scientists in the UK, the
system uses an infrared laser to detect
volatile compounds in explosives
ACLaS was adapted from satellite
sensing technology
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works, but it is likely that it triangulates
signal strength to work out exactly where
the 1.5 gigahertz signal that a GPS jam-
mer emits is coming from.
FINLAND
HERE brings real-time
trafc to Esri
HERE, a Nokia business, has an-
nounced that it is bringing its real- time
trafc information to Esri. With HERE
Trafc, Esri will enhance its Web and
Cloud location platform with more pre-
cise location data for intelligent routing.
Fleet operators will be able to better
manage problems as they occur in
real time, re-routing feets when trafc
unexpectedly hits, and providing alerts
when pickup or delivery delays occur.
With congestion in the top 100 highway
bottlenecks getting worse real-time traf-
fc information helps feets avoid trafc
hotspots so that they get can get to their
destinations faster and more safely.
NORWAY
Norway says no to Apples
3D mapping of Oslo
Norway is barring Apple from taking 3D
images of Oslo buildings out of fear for
national security. Te countrys National
Security Authority told the Cupertino
company that it is not allowed to fy over
Oslo to take 3D images, a feature now
available in Apples Maps App. Na-
tional Security Authority director Oyvind
Mandt said he was concerned Apple
would inadvertently reveal sensitive
security features associated with critical
buildings in the city. A 3D representation
could also show diferent weaknesses in
the countrys safety measures.
12 Geospatial World | September 2013
Asia
NEWS
PHILIPPINES
Massive regional literacy
mapping to boost education
Te Department of Education,
Cordillera Administrative Region
(DepEd-CAR), will conduct a massive
regional literacy mapping to survey all
indigenous peoples (IP) and non-IP
learners, out-of-school youths and
adults in all the Barangays of the
region. A Memorandum issued by
DepEd-CAR Regional Director Ellen
B. Donato stated that the RLM was a
locally initiated project that aimed to
support the attainment of the univer-
salisation of the basic education and
the objectives of the education for all
(EFA) and would involve participation
of all Barangay ofcials to assist in the
conduct of the mapping.
INDONESIA
GIS to assist economic
growth in Indonesia
Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC), Indonesia is currently look-
ing for establishing a GIS capacity in
its ofces for collecting, managing,
analysing and presenting geographic
information in support of the Green
Prosperity Project. Tis is part of the
large cooperation where the MCC
and the Government of the Republic
of Indonesia have entered into an
agreement of Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) assistance to help
facilitate poverty reduction through
economic growth in Indonesia. Te
MCC funding is in the range of $600
million. MCA-Indonesia intends to
use a portion of the funds towards
implementation of GIS. Te larger
Chinas new 10-dash line map irks Philippines
Sinomap, the Chinese
state mapping author-
ity, recently published a
new 10-dash line map
that shows the Philip-
pines ofshore territo-
ries within Chinese na-
tional boundaries . Te
Philippines, along with
several other countries,
have protested against
this development. Te
map was published in
January and it features
a line with 10 dashes
instead of nine to mark a
huge strip of the South China Sea in encirclement as Chinese territory. Nine dashes in
the new Chinese map are in the South China Sea and a 10th dash has been placed near
Taiwan, to signify that territorys status as a Chinese province. Te Philippines Depart-
ment of Foreign Afairs (DFA) handed over a confdential note to the Chinese Embassy
in Manila in the month of June. Te note said it protests the reference to those dash
lines as Chinas national boundaries.
Chinas 10-dash line map
aim of the current project is to help
in participatory village boundary
setting and mapping, creation of sub-
district level land-use inventories and
integration of land and other natural
resource information, capacity build-
ing for spatial planning and resource
management at the provincial and
district government level enhance-
ment of district spatial plans.
INDIA
GPS nds Indo-Nepal
border is 117 km longer
Precise measurement using GPS
has revealed that the Indo-Nepal
border is 117 km longer than previ-
ously believed. Te latest survey has
estimated the Indo-Nepal border was
closer to 1,868 km, 117 km more than
the ofcial length of 1,751 km. An
ofcial emphasised it was technol-
ogy and not a change in the location
of border pillars that stretched the
Indo-Nepal borders. When you use
modern technology, precision cer-
tainly improves. Tere is no change in
the borders, Major General Ramesh
Chandra Padhi, Additional Surveyor
General of India said.
SINGAPORE
Tapping billion-dollar space
industry with small satellites
Singapore is planning to foray into the
$300 billion-a-year space industry.
13 Geospatial World | September 2013
Asia
NEWS
Te push announced earlier this year,
will initially focus on small satellites to
meet growing demand for top-speed
Internet connections as well as high-
resolution images commonly used
in surveillance, forestry and energy
exploration. Singapore Technologies
Electronics, a unit of defence con-
glomerate Singapore Technologies
Engineering, has already set up a unit
to build and operate observation satel-
lites with help from two local state-
funded universities.
Government introduces
geospatial scholarship
Te Singapore government has
introduced the Singapore Geospatial
Scholarship, the frst of its kind in the
island nation. Te scholarship will
be jointly conferred by several public
agencies, and is expected to encourage
geospatial professionals. Te move
aims to meet the increasing demand
for geospatial professionals in
the industry.
MALAYSIA
Transforming knowledge into
sustainable practice
Te 8th International Symposium on
Digital Earth held recently in Sarawak,
Malaysia saw participation from the
members of International Society
of Digital Earth and various institu-
tions of higher learning in Asia. John
Richards, President of International
Society of Digital Earth, appealed for
interaction between crowdsourcing
and digital data for knowledge devel-
opment. Since social media and the
Internet provide immediate access of
data and information, he stressed that
the involvement of masses in the Digi-
tal Earth movement is very signifcant.
Renowned speakers like Alessandro
Annoni from Joint Research Centre,
Italy; Barbara Ryan of Group on Earth
Observations (GEO), Switzerland; Guo
Huadong from Chinese Academy of
Sciences, China; and many others were
also present at four-day conference
cum exhibition. Te conference was
held for the frst time in South
East Asia.
UAE
Bayanat to develop water
quality monitoring tool
Te Masdar Institute of Science and
Technology, in collaboration with
Bayanat, will develop high-tech water
quality monitoring tools to support
desalination plants and utilities in
the Gulf. Te Ocean Color Research
Group at the Earth Observation and
Hydro-Climatology Lab at Masdar
Institute is leading this project with
Bayanat.Te project also covers water
turbidity mapping, red-tide detection
monitoring and forecasting, oil spills
detection and monitoring, in-house
atmospheric correction algorithm
adapted to the regional climate,
impact assessment of the discharge
of desalination plants on the coastal
ecosystem of the UAE.
14 Geospatial World | September 2013
Africa
NEWS
UGANDA
GPS to monitor rail cargo
movement
Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the opera-
tor of the Kenya-Uganda railway, has
launched a KSh 800 million (over
$9.3 million) technology upgrade that
includes a GPS-based software that
centrally controls the movement of
trains and cargo along the railway line.
Te automated train warrant software
allows online visualisation from an
operations control centre in Nairobi of
the precise location of trains along the
railway. Te introduction of satel-
lite navigation technology to this core
component of our operations means
we will eliminate a lot of waiting time
at stations by giving priority track ac-
Value proposition of g-tech highlighted at Africa Geospatial Forum 2013
Geospatial professionals from across the
African continent congregated at Cape Town
for the two-day Africa Geospatial Forum
2013. Based on the theme, Transforming
geospatial knowledge into action, the event
saw experts discussing and deliberating
upon the usage of geospatial technologies
in various verticals across Africa. Addressing
the gathering, Aida Opoku Mensah, Special
Adviser, Post 2015 Development Agenda, UN
Economic Commission for Africa, described
the mission and goals of the Agenda and
also highlighted the tremendous role that
geospatial technologies are playing in ensuring the efective implementation of these goals. Jim Steiner, Vice President, Product
Management, Oracle Server Technologies, pointed out that the diference between geospatial and information technologies is fast
diminishing. He also explained how geospatial technologies can play a key role in the integration of various big data sources using
geocoding, geographic hierarchies and geospatial analysis for query and aggregation. Giving the industry address, Juergen Dold,
President, Hexagon Geosystems, said the world needed knowledge and not just data and hence there was a need to move from
traditional GIS to dynamic GIS.
SOUTH AFRICA
cess to trains carrying cargo and also
allow us to handle larger feets, said
Darlan De David, RVR group CEO.
FAO mapping techniques to
ll gaps in forest data
Te Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation (FAO) has introduced new
mapping technologies in Uganda to
help generate better forestry statistics
and land cover maps. Forests and
forest products are important to the
livelihoods of many communities in
Uganda. Te new tools and informa-
tion will help the government monitor
national forest resources and make
informed decisions regarding long-
term forestry and investment policies,
as well as avoid unintended forest
conversion and degradation.
MALAWI
Airborne survey to explore
mining potential
Te Malawi Ministry of Mining will
conduct an airborne geophysical
survey with the aim of highlighting
the mineral potential that sev-
eral areas in the country possess
as a part of the Mining Growth and
Governance Support Project. Min-
ister of mining John Bande said, In
addition to the airborne geospatial
exploration, geological mapping and
geochemical exploration covering the
whole country have been lined up.
After all these activities, the whole
country will be mapped and we will
know the full mineral potential of
the country.
From left: Juergen Dold, President, Hexagon Geosystems; Pali Cahola,
Statistician General, Statistics South Africa; Dr Derek Clarke, Chief
Director, NGI DRDLR, South Africa at the inaugural of the Forum
15 Geospatial World | September 2013
Australia
/
Oceania
NEWS
AUSTRALIA
IGARSS focus on building
sustainable earth through RS
Scientists, engineers and educators
from all over the world gathered at the
33rd International Geoscience and
Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
in Melbourne. Based on the theme,
Building a sustainable Earth through
remote sensing, the event drew more
than 1,300 delegates from across 66
countries to identify research trends
and share updates on applied pro-
grammes. Mike Goodchild, Professor
of Geography at the University of Cali-
fornia, talked about actively involving
and trusting citizen-science. Crowd-
sourcing can add signifcant value to
remote sensing products, he said. An
example of this is GeoWiki, a crowd-
sourced mapping tool for validating
remote sensing data. Te researchers
behind the tool found non-experts
were as good as experts when identify-
ing human impact.
Personal banking back on
the map in Australia
A new mapping tool is set to revive
and reshape personalised banking
by giving fnancial institutions the
foresight to accurately anticipate their
customers needs. Te new innovation,
launched by leading digital mapping
specialist MapData Services (MDS), al-
lows banks to create a mega customer
profle which contains standard client
data, as well as insight into the type
of home best suited to them; the time
it takes them to commute to work or
even how likely they are to be afected
by food or fre.
NEW ZEALAND
Open mapping information
for developers
Mapping information showing the
locations of publicly accessible land
across the country has been released
by the New Zealand Walking Access
Commission to enable researchers,
government agencies and app devel-
opers embark on their own mapping
projects. Te mapping information
released includes locations of public
reserves, conservation land, crown
land, legal roads, marginal strips and
esplanade strips.
C
o
u
r
t
e
s
y
:

N
Z
W
A
Main sponsor Hosts Lead collaborators Collaborators Endorser
AfricaGIS 2013 / GSDI World Conference (GSDI14)
4-8 November 2013 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
AfricaGIS is the largest regularly occurring GIS conference in Africa with
participants from the entirety of the continent. The GSDI World Conference
has built a reputation for excellence in content and moves across the globe
to offer geospatial specialists in all parts of the world opportunities to
better exchange ideas and learn from global peers in building spatial data
infrastructure.
The joint AfricaGIS 2013 and GSDI World Conference (GSDI 14) theme is
Spatial Enablement in Support of Economic Development and Poverty
Reduction.
More information at: http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14
16 Geospatial World | September 2013
Product
WATCH
Trimble Tablet PC for surveying
Trimble has unveiled its next generation Trimble Tablet PC for
surveying. The Trimble Tablet is a lightweight, rugged and highly
mobile feld computer that can operate with Trimbles suite of
receivers and total stations to provide a complete surveying solution.
With Trimble Access feld software onboard, it streamlines the fow
of information between the feld and offce while also allowing
surveyors to run the applications they need to perform offce work
directly from the feld.
Key features
7-inch capacitive touch dual technology display system delivers
enhanced, sunlight readability
Windows 7 Operating system brings the offce to the feld
Built-in 5 MP camera for unprecedented image documentation
Integrated communication technology provides increased
connectivity
Optimised for Trimble Access feld software workfow support
Integrated GPS provides geo-tag photograph functionality
iOne n-Oblique sensor for
3D market
Visual Intelligence has released a new geoimaging solution for the
rapidly growing oblique and 3D sensing market. The iOne n-Oblique is a
multipurpose, high-performance sensor that allows companies of all sizes
to take advantage of new business opportunities related to oblique and
3D imagery.
Key features
Multipurpose reconfgurable to an iOne Stereo large area collection
system with industrys only engineering accuracy of .6 b/h
Can be fown with or without a gyro stabilising mount and is designed
to integrate with Flight Management process
Enables fullyautomated workfow for virtual frame generation readily
ingestible by photogrammetric suites such as Dat/EM
Captures 3D cities with 100% oblique coverage
Able to capture 2.0 inch resolution at nadir and 2.5 inch resolution on
the oblique cameras at an altitude of 2,500 feet
17 Geospatial World | September 2013
Product
WATCH
3D OView for 3D GIS
platform
PilotGaea Technologies has released 3D OView platform
which provides quick landscape display with virtual reality
scenes, shows virtual world in line with some analysis.
Key features
Display Mega GeoData: The computer process of 3D
OView can reach TB level of images and elevation data
or even more. Besides, it also can read huge 3D laser
scanning digital archive of high-density point clouds
Realistic effect for Natural Landscapes: It uses a
number of advanced virtual reality technologies in
order to provide better visual experiences such as
lighting changes, diverse clouds and fogs, refection and
refraction on water surface, etc
Display Underground GeoData: It can sneak into the
subsurface to display GeoData such as water pipelines,
power lines, gas pipelines etc.
VIC100 Series antenna for timing
and synchronisation
The VIC100 Series antenna
by Panasonic is an active L1
GPS antenna designed for
timing and synchronisation.
It offers immunity to noise
and interference, and secure
performance by attenuating
noise and interference
near the GPS L1 frequency
through triple-fltering
design.
The VIC100 Series is housed
in a waterproof enclosure
designed for excellent
performance under severe
environmental conditions.
Its shape prevents
accumulation of snow and ice, eliminating problems with bird perching and
enhanced immunity to lightning surge.
Phoenix AL-2 for cost-effective
micro-mapping
Phoenix Aerial Systems has demonstrated the worlds smallest and lightest
UAV LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) platform. Weighing less than
10kg, the new LiDAR platform, called the Phoenix AL-2, combines the latest
UAV, LiDAR and GNSS technology into a cost-effective, accurate and safe
micro-mapping solution.
Key features
It has Velodyne HDL-32E sensor, which features up to 32 lasers and
generates 700,000 distance points per second
The HDL-32E rotates 360 degree up to 20 times per second and provides
measurement and intensity information over a range of 1 metre to 100
metres
It delivers a real-time, high defnition 3D point cloud for speedy mapping
of diffcult to reach areas without the expense of hiring a
commercial plane
Corner Ofce | Bert Turner
18 Geospatial World | September 2013
It has been almost seven months since the combination
with GeoEye closed. How is the combined entity placed in
terms of capabilities it has to serve the US market?
We are incredibly pleased with our progress in the last seven
months and are actually ahead of our planned schedule.
Te integration is complex and involves enormous amount
of human capital and investment to make the combination
successful. What is particularly exciting about the combi-
nation is the fact that many of our legacy capabilities are
complementary rather than overlapping.
We think about our business in three ways. One is data or
imagery. Second is information adding value to the core
imagery layer. And the third is insight, where we take the
data and information and add some form of human intelli-
gence on top of it to conduct analysis and derive an answer.
Te capabilities of the combined company have signifcantly
enhanced all the three areas of our business.
DigitalGlobe has registered impressive growth in terms of
Internet-based geospatial services. Could you elaborate?
We deal with big data, which is often difcult to manage and
make available to the end users. When we talk about Inter-
net-based services, it is often centred on cloud platforms,
which allows easier access of big data. We have partnerships
with most of the major global location-based service provid-
ers, which enable us to deliver our imagery and capabilities
to the end users and consumers in a scalable fashion.
For the past seven months, DigitalGlobe has been pro-
We want to be
partners, not vendors
to our customers
Speaking for the first time after the DigitalGlobe-GeoEye merger,
Bert Turner, Senior Vice President, Sales, DigitalGlobe, explains
how the combined company has benefitted in terms of upgrading its
processes, expertise and technology
19 Geospatial World | September 2013
actively interacting with a broad set of
end users. We have started to better
understand end-user workfows by
discovering what users do a minute
before and a minute after they analyse
our imagery. We also understand
workfows of various personas within
our targeted industries.
In the days of increasing accura-
cies, reducing turnaround times and
increasing bandwidths, what can a
user expect from DigitalGlobe?
Te integration of GeoEye has been
intense over the last seven months.
During this time, we have signifcantly
upgraded our expertise, processes and
technology. Tis investment will allow
us to deliver incremental value to our
customers.
As stated in our annual report, we
experienced incredible growth in 2012.
In reference to our partnership with
the National Geospatial Intelligence
Agency (NGA) we are laser focused on
fulflling our commitments as part of
EnhancedView. Tere is no doubt that
we see opportunities to improve how
we deliver on the contract as well as
how we expand our relationship with
the NGA.

Going beyond the US markets,
which are the regions where you see
business potential?
Over the past few years, we have seen
growth in the broader geospatial
market. Countries and regions such as
Russia, Latin America, Africa and India
are where we are seeing the greatest
potential. We are especially excited
about India and believe the timing is
right for exponential growth in this
country.
In many of these markets, Digital-
Globe is going through partners or
distributors. What kind of business
models will you follow in nurturing
such markets?
We are very comfortable with how we
are going into these markets now and
we are leveraging our global ecosys-
tem, which involves partners and
resellers. We are going to partner with
companies that understand the vision
of being an information company ver-
sus a data or imagery provider. Part of
this approach, is to invest more aggres-
sively with certain partners that can
help propel us into being the indis-
Te integration of GeoEye has been intense over
the last six months. During this time, we have
signifcantly upgraded our expertise, processes
and technology. Tis investment will allow us to
deliver incremental value to our customers
DigitalGlobe satellite image of an outpost
with fortifcation and towed artillery
near Kharassana, South Kordofan,
Sudan in 2011. Te image was part of the
Satellite Sentinel Project report Evidence
of SAF Deployment in South Kordofan,
produced by the DigitalGlobe-Harvard
Humanitarian Initiative collaboration
Courtesy: Enough Project (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Corner Ofce | Bert Turner
20 Geospatial World | September 2013
pensible source of information about our
changing planet.
We are a company that believes in
focus. Tis year we are focusing heav-
ily on the integration and realisation of
synergies. We also have a focus on select
markets and applications that will allow
us to execute on our vision of the indis-
pensable source of information about our
changing planet.
As a leader in the commercial remote
sensing industry, what kind of responsi-
bilities is DigitalGlobe taking to nurture
the industry?
We take great pride in being a pioneer in
this industry as well as a thought leader.
Our purpose, vision and values are taken
very seriously by our entire DigitalGlobe
team and we will continue to fulfll our
purpose to save lives, resources and time.
One of the surprise acquisitions in the
recent past by DigitalGlobe is Tomnod.
What was the rationale behind the Tom-
nod acquisition?
Tomnod was an important acquisition
for us. Tomnod facilitates the crowd to
do rapid, large-scale analysis of satellite
imagery, particularly in cases of natural
and man-made disasters. As an example,
using the Tomnod capabilities, Digital-
Globe was able to help quickly assess the
detailed damage of the recent tornado in
Oklahoma and turn that information into
actionable insight.
DigitalGlobes forthcoming launch is
WorldView-3. What can we expect from
this satellite in terms of the product?
WorldView-3 will be a game changer
in the industry with a panchromatic
resolution of 31-cm, short-wave infrared
capabilities. Te unique capabilities of
WorldView-3 will create new applica-
tions across a variety of industries, giving
our customers new insight to complex
problems.
WorldView-3 will be a game changer with 31 cm
resolution, shortwave infrared capabilities and
the most spectral diversity available in the world.
Tis will create new applications across industries,
giving us new insights to complex problems
A DigitalGlobe imagery of Hurricane Sandy damage in
Seaside Heights in 2012
6 Geospatial World | April 2013
22 Geospatial World | September 2013
TRANSFORMING
THE WORLD
Cover Story
...Te biggest concern doubts about whether the De-
fense Department would allow the industry regular access
to the positioning system signals vanished in early April,
when the Clinton Administration committed the Govern-
ment to free public access... How can one invest in this mar-
ket? Te possibilities are as simple as the Global Position-
ing System is complex. Only one publicly traded company
focuses solely on producing the equipment: Trimble Navi-
gation Ltd... From many angles, Trimble looks like a good
investment. It is the industrys worldwide leader, with 20
percent of the market. With sales in more than 60 countries,
the company gets about half its revenues from overseas...
Trimble also controls about 60 percent of the most profta-
ble part of the market, surveying and mapping equipment.
New York Times, April 28, 1996
TRIMBLE
Steven W. Berglund,
President and Chief Executive Ofcer
23 Geospatial World | September 2013
T
he possibilities of investing in a trusted technology
company are as simple today as they were in 1996 as
Trimble continues to be the leader in not just GPS but
in the entire positioning market, with sales in 141 countries and
over 1,000 patents. With an advanced and broadest positioning
solutions portfolio in the industry, Trimble has revolutionised
multiple industries construction and engineering, agricul-
ture, surveying, feet and feld service management to name a
few by providing products and solutions that signifcantly
decrease costs and enhance the quality, accuracy and efcien-
cy of projects, leading the industry by its own example.
The rise of a GPS company
In 1978, when Charlie Trimble, and two of his associates from
Hewlett-Packard, founded Trimble the same year the US
government launched the frst NAVSTAR GPS satellite little
did he envision that the company would one day transform the
way the world works! A practical visionary that he was, Charlie
Trimble recognised early on the potential of space-based GPS
technology in revolutionising a wide range of commercial
and business applications even as GPS was being developed
exclusively for military purposes at that time. From that point,
he set himself to fully develop the immature GPS technology
purchased from Hewlett-Packard.
In 1984, Trimble launched the frst GPS-based geodectic-
survey product. Te next two years were explosive growth
years, with Trimble signifcantly increasing its product base
and continuing to lead the development of military, com-
mercial, and consumer applications using GPS. During this
period Trimble received several patents for developments
in GPS technology and soon there was a point when it held
more patents that the US government. Te company soon
added the capabilities of diferential GPS (DGPS) technolo-
gies, survey and mapping software to its product line through
acquisitions. By 1992, Trimble had developed RTK technology
to enable continual GPS updating while on the move. Tis
enabled surveyors to perform topographic mapping, stakeout,
GIS data acquisition, and as-built surveys in real-time.
Earlier in 1990, in a $30-million ofering, Trimble became
the frst GPS company to go public. Te Operation Desert
TRANSFORMING
THE WORLD
Trimble Rockies campus in Westminster, Colorado, USA
24 Geospatial World | September 2013
Cover Story | Trimble
Storm (August 1990-February 1991) brought the company into
limelight as it received admirable reviews from the US military
for the portable standard positioning service receivers it provid-
ed to the troops. Tis prompted several mainstream companies
like Motorola and Honeywell to enter the GPS market.
However, the direction, focus and business philosophy of
the company started changing after Steve Berglund, previ-
ously of Spectra Precision Group, took over as President and
CEO in 1999. Trimble, which defned itself as a GPS company
thus far, started realising the defnition was actually acting as
a constraint. Internally, the transformation has been to move
away from defning ourselves in terms of the technology and
re-defning ourselves in terms of our customer/market. We
started focusing on horizontal construction, vertical buildings,
agriculture, and transportation & logistics, pursued a much
wider range of technologies to cater to these markets and
over a period of time, we have become agnostic relative to the
technology, recollects Steve Berglund.
Trimble, thy name is transformation
With a mission to support the chosen markets, Trimble, since
1999, has started building its solutions portfolio, either by de-
veloping in-house or by acquiring the necessary technologies.
Te next big move came with the $280 million-acquisition of
Berglunds previous employer, Spectra Precision Group in 2000,
adding laser and other optical devices complementary to Trim-
bles GPS solutions for the construction, surveying and agricul-
tural markets. Tis was soon followed by Tripod Data Systems
(TDS), a developer of data collection software and hardware.
Both these acquisitions were part of Trimbles strategic mission
to defne and transform the way position-centric information
is used. A series of joint ventures followed, frst with Caterpillar
to develop machine control products and then with Nikon to
broaden its survey and construction portfolio and provide ac-
cess to emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia.
Meanwhile, Trimble continued to augment its business
by acquiring companies that established entry points to
emerging markets, flled product line gaps, or added new
applications to its solutions portfolio. Te acquisitions of Ap-
planix, INPHO, Callidus, Defniens Earth Sciences Business,
TingMagic, OMNISTAR, Gatewing, SketchUp etc expanded
Trimbles core technology portfolio tremendously even as it
simultaneously built its capacities to provide end-to-end solu-
tions in the vertical markets.
Considering the number of acquisitions Trimble has done
(85 and counting) in just over a decade, one may feetingly
conclude that the companys strategy is driven by inorganic
growth. Berglund is quick to deny that as he insists that Trim-
bles growth has been defnitely and overwhelmingly organic.
Building on the
construction boom
I
n the construction segment, the mainstay of its
business, Trimbles solutions are used across the
entire project lifecycle to improve productivity, re-
duce waste and re-work, and enable decision making
through better situational awareness, data ow and
project collaboration. Trimbles suite of integrated
products and technologies in this area includes
software for optimised route selection and design,
systems to automatically guide and control construc-
tion equipment, systems to monitor, track and man-
age assets, equipment and workers, and software
to facilitate the sharing and communication of data
in real time. Together, these solutions can transform
how work is done within the civil engineering indus-
try. Trimble has complete software and hardware
tools, which are sold as solutions or as a complete
service that goes through the entire workow. Our
solutions also have a worldwide view, they can build
a road, be it from Delhi to Chennai, Frankfurt to Mu-
nich, Washington DC to Pittsburgh or Paris to Nice,
emphasises Bryn Fosburgh, Vice President.
Trimbles portfolio of products for the commercial,
industrial and residential building industry spans
the entire Design-Build-Operate life cycle. The suite
of technologies and solutions used in the building
industry include software for 3D conceptual design
and modelling, BIM software, advanced integrated
site layout and measurement systems, applications
for sub-contractors and traders such as MEP and
HVAC, together with a suite of software applica-
tions for construction project management, project
coordination/collaboration, project cost estimation
and for capital programme and facility manage-
ment. These improve productivity, data sharing and
collaboration across teams and help keep projects
within cost targets and time schedules.
The demands of the AEC industry is
encouraging the integration of BIM
and geospatial. However, traditionally
BIM has been model-centric and not
GIS-centric. To cater to this need of
integration, Trimble acquired SketchUp
to merge the modelling aspects with GIS
attributes. One of the key ideas
behind the SketchUp acquisition
was to help the merger of geo-
metric model with GIS. It gives a
more real-time view of what the
assets look like, says Fosburgh.
25 Geospatial World | September 2013
Te acquisitions have generally been small in size with the inten-
tion of bringing technology or product into the company. Tere
have been only a couple of acquisitions that brought $50 million
revenue, such as Tekla in 2011, and @Road in 2007. Over the last 14
years (1999 as a reference point), 80% growth has been organic and
20% through acquisitions, Berglund says and adds that acquisitions
have actually supported Trimbles strategy.
We ask ourselves what technology would beneft the users, and if
we do not have that, we invent it, buy it or co-develop it. But essential-
ly, our goal is to provide customers with technology that adds value to
their businesses, he emphasises. In that sense, there has been trans-
formation within the company in terms of fundamental orientation
and also in terms of our ambition to provide solutions for the entire
work processes, potentially at the enterprise level, he adds.
Surprisingly, Trimbles experience with about 85 acquisitions has
been quite positive. Tere have been no disasters, we did not have
any intermittent write-ofs. So, in general against the standards that
exist, we have done very well, assures Berglund. In categories such as
the model-oriented world, the acquisitions Trimble made, includ-
ing Tekla, Plancal, SketchUp and Vico Software, have come together
very well and users have already started seeing the benefts. However,
it might take another two years to fully realise the synergistic pos-
sibilities of these companies. In transportation and logistics as well,
Trimble created a unique set of capabilities that no one else has with
the technologies it has developed internally and the ones it acquired.
Tis radical transformation is visible in Trimbles fnancials as well.
Since 1999, when Berglund took over the reins, Trimbles revenues
have grown from approximately $270 million to touch a whopping
$2.04 billion in 2012. During this time, the companys mix of busi-
nesses has progressively moved away from a box product mental-
ity towards a portfolio of products and solutions that contribute
signifcantly to the ROI of specifc vertical industry users by increasing
productivity, lowering operational costs, improving quality, enhanc-
Reaping with farm solutions
A
griculture, which started as an extension of
mapping and GIS business 15 years ago,
is a full-edged franchise for Trimble today.
What looked like a start-up within the company to
map farm sites, the division added machine guid-
ance, precise planting and precise fertilising capa-
bilities, yield monitoring, water management, infor-
mation management through the Connected Farm
concept and integrating it with nancial information
from Farmworks. Its precision agriculture solutions
can assist farmers through every step of their farm-
ing process beginning with land preparation and
throughout the planting, nutrient and pest manage-
ment, and harvesting phases of a crop cycle. We
aim to provide the farmer with the best possible
outcome for himself, his family, his investors, and
indirectly for the customers and the environment.
The idea is to provide analysis, optimise farming
practices, increase productivity and make
the best use of available resources, says
Mark Harrington, Vice President.
However, the adoption of these technol-
ogies is saturating in traditional markets
such as North America, Australia, Brazil
and parts of Western Europe requiring rein-
vention of solutions, says Harrington. In
non-traditional and new markets,
Trimble is condent of its unique
position in terms of its technol-
ogy offerings and is guring out
ways to deploy the technologies
in a manner that is better suited
for the local conditions.
Total revenue in 2012: $2.040 billion
Billion Dollar Pie
Revenue by region (in %) Revenue break-up (in %) Revenue by segment (in %)
USA
Product
Engineering & Construction
Europe
Subscription
Field Solutions
Asia Pacic
Other regions
Services
Advanced Devices Mobile Solutions
15
16
47
22
17
24
53
6
77
13
10
26 Geospatial World | September 2013
Cover Story | Trimble
The Intel of surveying
T
rimble offers a slew of solutions for surveyors. So its
not a surprise when lesser cousins often push their
brands saying they have Trimble Inside!
There are many functions of Trimble solutions to streamline
workow, replacing less productive conventional methods
of surveying, mapping, 2D or 3D modelling, measurement,
reporting and analysis. Trimbles suite of solutions include
eld-based data collection systems and eld software, real-
time communications systems and back-ofce software for
data processing, modelling, reporting and analysis. Field-
based technologies are used in handheld, land, mobile and
airborne applications and incorporate technologies such as
mobile application software, high precision GNSS, robotic
measurement systems, inertial positioning, 3D
laser scanning, digital imaging, optical or
laser measurement, and UAVs.
Ofce-based products include software
for planning, data processing and editing,
quality control, 3D modelling, data analysis,
project reporting and data export. We
position Trimble as a company that
can provide complete solutions
to customers, tighter integration
with other sensor technologies
around total stations, scanning,
photogrammetry using our soft-
ware capabilities, says Chris
Gibson, Vice President.
ing safety and compliance and reducing
environmental impact.
Geospatial the underpinning enabler
Te ability to collect position/location in-
formation has been at the core of Trimbles
capabilities for many years. Today, in terms
of geospatial, Trimble provides the capability
to collect data around the world in 3D mode,
going beyond the traditional methods of
using optical instruments, migrating to RTK
to GNSS instruments etc. It also focuses on
scanning, photogrammetry, data analysis etc.
Again, Trimble keeps the users needs in the
forefront while innovating. Citing an example,
Chris Gibson, Vice President says, Geospatial
is migrating from data acquisition and data
processing into modelling and analytics. Once
data is collected and processed, for example,
SketchUp can be used to generate 3D models
for customers. We are also looking at other
capabilities, analytics that can be layered over
the data based on the customers needs.
Also, from a corporate perspective, Trim-
ble sees geospatial more as a supporting tech-
nology used across the verticals. Geospatial
is not necessary an industry but an enabling
capability applicable to most industries.
Organisations use geospatial data to help im-
prove their businesses and workfows. Tere
are multiple industries where geospatial data
is becoming more core to business enterprise
to make informed decisions, reasons Gibson.
In fact, geospatial is adding lot of value to
Trimbles core franchise verticals construc-
tion and building, agriculture, transportation
and logistics. We are trying to provide solu-
tions to help the verticals become more proft-
able and at the same time help them integrate
into the industry workfow they are focussing
on, explains Gibson. Berglund adds: We are
focussing on the applications and not pursu-
ing geospatial technology as an end in itself. In
the last 5-6 years, we have used geospatial as
a supporting tool for vertical market develop-
ment but not as a market in itself.
Apart from the major franchise verticals
which are the growth engines for the com-
pany, Trimble is also focusing on some of
the emerging businesses like water utilities,
electrical utilities, forestry, mining, rail, envi-
ronmental and land administration. Gibson
believes there are additional market opportu-
nities in all these industries and sees Trimble
expanding into these areas.
Business strategy
Trimble designs, develops and markets its own
products. A true multinational, the California-
headquartered Trimble has a vast global opera-
tion, including major development, manufac-
turing or logistics centres in the United States,
Sweden, Finland, Germany, New Zealand,
Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands,
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Growing & How!
Revenue in billion $
27 Geospatial World | September 2013
Riding on smart
transportation
T
o help the commercial vehicle
industry achieve greater overall
eet performance and to smartly
manage the logistics, Trimble provides
innovative and integrated solutions,
stitching together the different aspects
of transportation and logistics workow
enterprise, mobile and analytics. The
transportation and logistics industry
is struggling to nd the connection
between these three aspects. We are
fundamentally acquiring solutions to
support each of these aspects and con-
necting all the pieces together to make
a seamless solution for smart transporta-
tion and logistics management, says Jim
Veneziano, Vice President.
On the enterprise side, Trimbles trans-
portation software platform serves as a
hub from which the core operations like
routing, mileage and mapping are man-
aged, data is stored and analysed, and
mission-critical business processes are
automated. In addition, its service can be
directly integrated into the customers
IT infrastructure, giving them improved
control of their information. On the mobile
side, Trimble provides eets with software
and hardware solutions that help manage
regulatory compliance, fuel costs, driver
safety, and customer visibility. On the ana-
lytics side, Trimbles software helps eets
make better, more predictive
decisions, leading to overall
protability.
Each of these solutions
give a return. When we
can connect all the
three, we get even
higher value. Today very
few enterprises (just
about 30%) are actu-
ally connecting these
sectors together, and
so there is a huge
opportunity, says
Veneziano.
China, and India. Te company sells products through distribution partners,
representatives, joint ventures, and other channels throughout the world, in
more than 100 countries. Tese channels are supported by its own ofces in 34
countries around the world. Te channels are supplemented by relationships that
create additional channel breadth including the JVs with Caterpillar, Nikon and
Hilti, partnerships with companies like Bentley, direct strategic account relation-
ships, as well as private branding arrangements with other companies.
Tese arrangements have facilitated a much larger infuence of the com-
pany than its revenues support. Acknowledging this Berglund says, Trimbles
signifcant advantage in the market place is the quality of its distribution.
Trimble distributors/ dealers, or third party channels, are the frst to make the
concept sale. When market conditions got difcult, like in 2009 and early 2010,
these channels used creative mechanisms that got us through difcult days
very successfully. He goes on to add that the competency of its distribution
channels will be the real determinant of Trimbles success in the next 10 years,
apart from its technology and products.
Another key business strategy Trimble has adopted is its focus on under-
served markets that ofer a potential for revenue growth, proftability and mar-
ket leadership. Trimble promises to continue focus on expansion initiatives in
Africa, China, India, the Middle-East, Russia, South America and South East
Asia. Also, Trimble maintains its competitive edge in technology and products
through investing heavily into research and development. It aims to invest
about 12% of its turnover into developing new product technology.
Trimble has posted double-digit growth year after year, generating sus-
tained results on both top and bottom lines. In fscal 2012, the total revenue
increased 24%, of which 15% was organic and 9% inorganic. Trimble attributes
its sustained performance to the dynamic technology environment and its
ability to integrate its technology capabilities to extend solutions that provide
signifcant value to both traditional and emerging users. In efect, Trimble has
grown by embracing the dual beliefs that technology has the potential to trans-
form entire industries and that it can be central to the change.
A thousand small steps
At the core of Trimbles philosophy are two aspects that appear to be inconsist-
ent with each other. While on the one hand, the company has been thinking
big and has been intellectually ambitious, on the other, the execution has been
quite humble. As a company, we have pursued an approach to think big, not
necessarily talk much, and execute through a thousand small steps. It has been
persistent, patient and has always been focussed on continued improvement.
Big and small represent the core philosophy of the company, says Berglund.
Te market defnition Trimble is pursuing at this time ofers it a signif-
cantly larger addressable market than it has historically engaged with. Going
further, Trimble is eying several markets that it is confdent would soon be in
its existing market defnition or adjacent to it. Te continual focus on trends,
and the ability to transform itself to adapt to the changing market dynamics
much ahead of its competitors, has ensured that it remains a market leader,
leading the change it wants to see in the industry.
Bhanu Rekha, Executive Editor, bhanu@geospatialmedia.net
28 Geospatial World | September 2013
Big Story | Agriculture
The Geo-Green
revolution
A
robotic device on the ground, UAVs in action, remotely
controlled high-tech machines, and a room full of high-
ly trained people to keep an eye on all the activities...
Its not a war-room scene or a post-disaster situation in any
part of the world. Tis could very well be the future of agricul-
ture. As the threats of climate change, erosion of land and water
resources, and an emerging food crisis loom large, traditional
practices of farming are fast changing as scientists are rigor-
ously experimenting with new ideas to revolutionise mankinds
age-old vocation even in developing/underdeveloped nations
in a view to feed the ever-increasing global population.
If the idea of experimentation with traditional farming
methods strives to improve socio-economic condition, it is also
needed to meet the demand of 70% more food by 2050 (a FAO
projection in 2005-06). World population is expected to grow by
over a third, or 2.3 billion, between 2005 and 2050. Moreover,
a revised version of the FAO report in 2012 observed that the
world has made signifcant progress in raising per capita food
consumption, which increased from an average of 2,370 kcal per
person per day to 2,770 kcal per person per day in the last three
and a half decades. Simply put, this means more food intake per
head. However, our already overburdened planet has apparent-
ly no more arable land or fresh water to spare. Te OECD-FAO
Agricultural Outlook 2013 warns that growth rate in agricultural
production is likely to slow in the medium term with limited
slower area expansion and slower productivity growth.
In such a situation, even as scientists look to experimenting
with farming in the sub-zero environs of Antarctica or explor-
ing the depths of the oceans, boosting crop yields on existing
farmlands by embracing modern technologies like GIS, remote
sensing and GNSS to meet the rising demands is but a natural
and simpler solution. Te reason is not difcult to guess. Ac-
From determining land-use and crop patterns to optimising
resources, automated farming to use of UAVs, technological
advances could change the face of agriculture, which is under
tremendous pressure given the growing population,
urbanisation and climate change
29 Geospatial World | September 2013
cording to a report by the Institute of Electrical and Electron-
ics Engineers, modern technology enabled farmers in North
America to get the highest outputs in the world. Tere, a farm
worker produces about $90,000 of crops and livestock per year,
compared to the global average of about $2,000. A recent sur-
vey of soybean growers conducted by US-based PrecisionAg In-
stitute in cooperation with the American Soybean Association
(ASA) reported an average savings of about 15% with precision
farming on crop inputs such as seed, fertiliser and chemicals.
It is not without a reason that Raymond OConnor, Presi-
dent, Topcon Positioning Systems, counts agriculture as the
one of two largest manufacturing industries in the world,
representing between $8 to 10 trillion a year, but as the least
automated and having the biggest potential for embracing
geospatial technologies. In 2000, the agriculture industrys use
of precision measurement equipment was probably less than
$100 million; in 2012, it was more than $1 billion. Trimble,
the no. 1 player in this area, has carved out a separate vertical
for agriculture as its agri business crossed a hundred million
dollars from less than $10-million in 1999. Realising the utility
and potential of spatial information, John Deere, the US-based
agriculture machinery giant, has set up a complete geospatial
division as also an automated crop reporting service.
Driving factors of agriculture
Te food crises of 2008, 2010, and 2012 as well as the continu-
ous volatility in commodity prices underscore the vulnerability
of the global food system. Now, more than ever, the world
needs to increase investment in agriculture, which is two to
four times more efective in raising incomes among the very
poor compared to other sectors, according to the World Bank.
Te FAO estimates that private sector investment in agriculture
alone must rise nearly 50% (from $142 billion a year to $209
billion a year) to meet the current requirements. Like in other
businesses, population growth and urbanisation are the prima-
ry driving factors for agriculture too. Add climate change and
degrading soil quality, and we have a lethal cocktail in hand.
Population growth: According to a FAO projection, feeding
the global population of 9.1 billion in 2050 would require raising
food production by around 70% between 2005-07 and 2050.
Annual cereal production, for instance, would have to grow by
almost 1 billion tonne while meat production has to rise by over
200 million tonne to a total of 470 million tonne in 2050. Tis
leads to the need for improved resource management, which
would increase crop yields, preventing land degradation and
providing sustainable livelihoods for millions of rural poor.
Urbanisation: Te world population is expected to be 69%
urban by 2050, according to a UN estimate. Negative impacts
of urbanisation on food and nutrition security without plan-
ning for both urban and rural food and agriculture systems
include reduced land for agriculture, changing of food con-
sumption habits with increased demand for processed foods,
high literacy rate and subsequent lack of farm labour.
Urbanisation is also leading to problems of agricultural
land management. In 1960, when the world population
numbered only 3 billion, approximately 0.5 hectare of crop-
land was available per capita, the minimum area considered
essential for the production of a diverse, healthy, nutritious
diet of plant and animal products. With more than 7 billion
population to feed, the per capita available cropland today
has come down to 0.23 hectare.
Food losses: Roughly one-third of the food produced in the
world for human consumption every year, or approximately
1.3 billion tonne, gets lost or wasted, amounting to roughly
$680 billion in industrialised countries and $310 billion in de-
veloping nations, says a FAO report. In medium- and high-in-
come countries, food is wasted and lost mainly at later stages
in the supply chain, which is the result of lack of coordination
between actors in the supply chain.
Climatic conditions: Agriculture and climate change are
interrelated. Increases in temperature and CO2 can be benef-
cial for some crops in some places. To realise these benefts,
nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability, and other
conditions must also be met. Changes in the frequency and
severity of droughts and foods too pose great challenges.
Climate change: Optimisation of resources is essential to
pursue sustainable production in agriculture and livestock
to preserve the environment and, consequently, forests
and biodiversity. High-yield agriculture with optimisation
processes will help slow the pace of global warming by cutting
the amount of biomass burned when forests or grasslands are
cleared for farming, says Claudio Simo, President, Hexagon,
South America & Asia Pacifc.
Technological intervention in crop cycle
Te Farmers Almanac has been replaced with geospatial
analysis and predictive modelling and got a new name,
Precision Agriculture. It is a farming concept that utilises the
30 Geospatial World | September 2013
whole gamut of geospatial technologies and information to
determine feld variability for ensuring optimal use of inputs
and maximising outputs from a farm. Modern technologies
like UAVs (embedded with innovative sensors), GIS, GNSS,
remote sensing and associated technologies enable farmers
to visualise their land, crops and management practices in
unprecedented ways while empowering community plan-
ners, economists and agronomists to research and devise
practices towards sustainable food production. Tese tools
are increasing productivity and return on investment and also
driving the demand for tailored applications.
Farm site evaluation: To evaluate the farm in its whole, it
is necessary to draw a map indicating the farms topography,
boundaries as well as soil and water resources. Site evaluation
is important to ensure minimum cost and correct drainage and
for this agricultural bodies use soil and terrain data, climate
data for the given land type and climate zone, land type inven-
tory and description of soil, depth and the presence or absence
of structures that efect the infltration of water. A typical
example here is the Web Soil Survey, launched by the USDAs
Natural Resources Conservation Service in August 2005.
Laser levelling: Te feld is levelled with a certain degree of
slope using a guided laser beam. Unevenness of the soil sur-
face has a signifcant impact on the germination, stand and
yield of crops. On laser-levelled land, farmers save up to 30%
of water, reduce weed problems, improve uniformity of crop
maturity, reduce the irrigation time and efort required to
manage crop, improve crop establishment and improve yield.
Te laser levelling technology is promoted in developing
regions through a number of ADB-funded projects. Although
the adoption of such smart technologies is still in its infancy
amongst small private farms in Asia, they have seen a great
demand among the growing number of custom applicators
and contractors that serve these small farms, with the result
that these technologies are fnding their way into some of the
smallest farms in the world, says Martinez.
Precision seeding: It involves placing of the exact number
of seeds at precise depth and spacing. Some of the advantages
of precision seeding include reduced seed costs, greater crop
uniformity leading to uniform and high-quality produce, fewer
harvests, and 20-50% increased yield.
Crop monitoring: Geospatial technology facilitates real-
time crop vegetation index monitoring via spectral analysis of
high resolution satellite images for diferent felds and crops.
Te diference in vegetation index informs about single crop
development disproportions that speak for the necessity of
additional agriculture works on particular feld zones. While
satellite imagery has for years been used by various national
governments for monitoring crops, the growing demand for
such services has seen the proliferation of private service
providers like Astrium-Geo, Cropio, eLeaf, GMV, Precision
Agriculture, Skybox Imaging and Vega.
Precision harvesting: GNSS-based harvesting technology
can be used on vehicle guidance, which is a hands-free device
attached with grain carts, and supports the entire operational
hours of harvesting. In integration with modern communica-
tion tools, GNSS enabled vehicle-to-vehicle information shar-
ing of yield and moisture layers, wireless transfer of guidance
lines and coverage maps between multiple, spotting vehicle
locations throughout the feld for efcient route management
for harvesters and grain carts, and calculating how much feld
area has been harvested.
Precision weather forecasting: According to the US De-
partment of Agriculture (USDA), weather-related incidents
cause 90% of all crop losses. To deal with weather issues and
get the best price from the market, weather-modelling ser-
vices use Big Data analytics technology. For instance, IBMs
Deep Tunder gathers data from sensors placed throughout
felds that measure temperature and moisture levels in soil
and surrounding air. Tat information is combined with
multispectral satellite or aerial images of felds. Te system
then combines the feld data with a diversity of public data
Expansion of
agricultural production
is likely to slow in the
medium term with
limited slower area
expansion and slower
productivity growth
OECD-FAO
Average annual growth rate in agriculture (%)
Thought for Food
Big Story | Agriculture
2013-2022
31 Geospatial World | September 2013
from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration and the US Geological Survey, and private data from
companies like Earth Networks. A supercomputer processes
the combined data and generates a 4D mathematical model.
Deep Tunder can deliver hyperlocalised weather conditions
up to three days in advance.
From applications as simple as improved water manage-
ment through the use of laser technology for land levelling or
GNSS-powered auto steering to improve productivity of the
equipment or variable rate application of seeds or fertilisers to
improve crop health and yield, precision agriculture is realis-
ing adoption across a wide range of farm sizes and economies
of scale, observes Albert Zahalka, President, Topcon Precision
Agriculture.
Geospatial technology can provide up to 30% RoI, de-
pending on seasons and solutions, says Michael Martinez,
Market Manager, Trimble Agriculture, as he points out Trim-
bles GreenSeeker system enabled the University of Kentucky
to calculate an RoI of $15 to $95 per acre on its plantation.
Agrees Zahalka: Today equipment efciency drives signif-
cant adoption of technologies such as auto steering, Variable
Rate Application and automatic on/of for sprayer or planters.
On the other hand, in developing countries like India, where
farm sizes are typically small, precision agriculture is yet to take
of since the machinery are not afordable. However,
Michael Martinez, Market Manager, Trimble Agriculture, insists
that it is a big misconception that precision farming cannot be
used in small farms. Precision farming is being used across
many small Asian rice felds, including India, China, Vietnam,
Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia.
Roughly one third of
the food produced in
the world for human
consumption every year,
approximately 1.3 billion
tonnes, gets lost
or wasted.
OECD-FAO
G-powered initiatives in agriculture
Historically the application of geospatial information was
reserved to concrete application areas, such as disaster reduc-
tion. Specialised agencies like FAO made use of geospatial
information, particularly earth observation (EO), for general
surveys. Te global land cover and forest resources assess-
ments are some examples. However, for most initiatives, the
broader context of the integration of geoinformation used for
and generated by the project was left to countries.
More recently, multilateral agencies have adopted a more
strategic approach towards geoinformation for mapping of
their own activities and advice to partner countries. Te map-
ping for results initiative of the World Bank and the United
Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative are examples.
Geoinformation also plays a role in developing agriculture
insurance schemes supported by multilateral agencies. Tis
also applies to monitoring of food security. Te UN Ofce for
Drugs and Crime has made use of EO for a long time to detect
coca and poppy plantations.
Although not technically a multilateral agency, the Group
on Earth Observations (GEO) has invested substantially in the
GEONETCast programme, where free satellite imagery ob-
tained through low-cost receiving stations is used for detection
of agricultural pests, among others. Its GEO Global Agricultural
Monitoring (GEO GLAM) initiative, part of the G20 Action Plan
on Food Price Volatility, uses EO satellite data and validates this
using in situ measurements. Te aim is to deliver reliable, ac-
curate, timely and sustained crop monitoring information, and
yield and weather forecasts.
World Bank: Te Water Partnership Programme (WPP) of
Precision seeding
32
the World Bank in its planning document for the
next few years has identifed remote sensing as a
technology to be explored further. Te World Bank
is also experimenting with community participa-
tory mapping. As part of its new policy, Access to
Information, and building on the success of the
Open Data Initiative, the World Bank developed
the interactive Mapping for Results platform in
October 2010 to visualise the locations of Bank-f-
nanced projects and international aid programmes
(including food security and hunger eradication) at
the sub-national level. In addition, with the entire
Bank portfolio now geo-coded, the World Bank
and other donors established an Open Aid Partner-
ship to improve coordination and efectiveness of
aid worldwide.
FAO: FAO, of course, embraced e-agriculture
long ago to bridge the rural digital divide. It has
a successful programme on early detection and
eradication of locust plagues that can devastate
crops, based on low-cost satellite imagery. FAO has
collaborated with the International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI) and SAGE to form a con-
sortium called Agri-MAPS, which aims to provide a
global spatial database based-on selected sub-
national agricultural statistics.
FAO is establishing GIS guidelines and spatial
standards and norms for internal use in order to
rationalise, harmonise and advance its GIS and
cartographic activities and to support GeoNetwork,
which has interactive maps, satellite imagery and
related spatial databases to provide a GIS gateway
to farmers.
Established in the wake of the world food crisis
of the early 1970s, FAOs Global Information and
Early Warning System (GIEWS) remains the lead-
ing source of information on food production and
food security for every country in the world. In the
past 25 years, the system has become a worldwide
network which includes 115 governments, 61
NGOs and numerous trade, research and media
organisations.
WFP: Te World Food Programme (WFP) uses
geoinformation for vulnerability assessments,
making use of local expertise and relatively low-
cost handheld GPS-devices. Similarly, geoinforma-
tion plays a key role in the national comprehensive
food security vulnerability assessments that WFP
carries out regularly.
Asian Development Bank: ADB prominently uses
geospatial technology for collecting food security
information. Food security information includes
estimating cultivated area, crop production of paddy,
precipitation data, soil moisture, drought index,
vegetation index and land cover/land use map. ADB
sees remote sensing technology as a cost-efective
and efcient tool as it enables periodic observation
of a wide area with the ease of integration with maps,
By 1990, less
than 40% of the
population lived
in cities, but as
of 2010, more
than half of all
people live in
urban areas. By
2030, 6 out of
every 10 people
will live in cites
and by 2050,
this proportion
will increase
to 7 out of 10
people.
WHO
Big Story | Agriculture
Remote sensing images showing agriculture
patterns in diferent countries
Geospatial World | September 2013
33 Geospatial World | September 2013
says Yusuke Muraki, Space Technology Specialist
with the organisation. In many countries, latest
and reliable information about crop growth and
agricultural weather conditions are insufcient,
or impossible to obtain. Satellite data is often the
only available data for such regions, he adds.
ADBs Global Precipitation Map (GsMAP) ofers
free hourly global rainfall map from various
satellite data.
European Commission: Te MARS Unit
Mission of the European Commission has been
conducting several agriculture-based activities
with satellite data. Some of its initiatives in-
clude AGRI4CAST, GeoCAP and FOODSEC. Te
AGRI4CAST system, also known as the MARS
Crop Yield Forecasting System, is made by re-
mote sensing and meteorological observations,
agro-meteorological modelling (Crop Growth
Monitoring System) and statistical analysis
tools. Te GeoCAP Action addresses the new in-
formation needs for policies related to agricul-
ture and regional development, such as cross
compliance, farm advisory system, food quality
and product origin traceability in Europe. Te
FOODSEC action was developed in 2001, in
cooperation with the MARS STAT action and in
the framework of the Global Monitoring for En-
vironment and Security initiative, a system for
regional monitoring and forecasting in various
parts of the world.
A two-speed world
Typically, most national and agricultural poli-
cies were formulated way before the geospatial
revolution took of. Interestingly, one of the frst
concrete applications of EO is related to agricul-
ture. In the early 70s NASA ofcials realised that
with satellite images they could predict a bad
grain harvest in what was then the Soviet Union,
and that the US could have obtained a higher
price for the annual grain sales to the USSR.
Geospatial information was used to support agri-
cultural policy and only later it was realised that
this enabled new and innovative ways towards a
more holistic agricultural policy.
Realising the urgency and proftability, both
developed and developing nations have started
using geoinformation and advanced technologies
like automation and precision farming to improve
G-players in agriculture
Trimble: From GNSS-powered automated guidance and steering systems,
yield monitoring and water management systems to connected farm apps for
smartphone, Trimble has solutions for every step of the farming process.
Hexagon: Leica offers solutions in machine control, feld automation via guid-
ance systems. Intergraphs GIS and imagery analysis are refning the process.
Z/Is airborne photogrammetry enables access to sophisticated maps.
DigitalGlobe: Helps quantify crop status, soil conditions and crop change. By
quickly locating problem areas and tracking the effectiveness of the solution,
AgroWatch can boost feld productivity and crop quality.
Astrium: Offers precision agriculture, agricultural business intelligence, and
agricultural information system. Its agricultural intelligence combines satellite
imagery processing, agronomic and meteorological models for stable and
consistent information.
Topcon: Provides agriculture hardware which utilises GPS and GLONASS
constellations for higher accuracy. Application control solution provides exact
applications of seed, fertilisers etc, while the agronomy solution provides real-
time integrated crop monitoring and application.
Blackbridge (previously RapidEye): Offers satellite image products,
including RapidEye, the frst commercial satellite constellation to include the
Red Edge band, which is sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content. Assists
in monitoring vegetation health, improve species separation and measuring
protein and nitrogen content in biomass.
Hemisphere GPS (aka AgJunction): Provides hardware and software appli-
cations for precision agriculture worldwide. Products support advanced farming
practices and enables seamless data connectivity.
ProGIS: Offers applications for agriculture, forestry, ecology and rural area
management. Included are tools for logistics, community management, utility
management, precision farming and virtual farming.
eLEAF: Aims to become the global reference in daily supply of data on water
and vegetation of any land surface to support sustainable use of water, increase
food production and protect environmental systems.
John Deere: Primarily an agriculture machinery leader, it has solutions for
the entire crop cycle. Deeres agricultural tractors and farm machines are also
g-powered. The company is also in crop insurance business.
34 Geospatial World | September 2013
yields and reduce costs. Tere are many factors that infuence
technology acceptance, from its awareness, reliance, infrastruc-
ture availability or even application ft. Tis clearly varies from
region to region, as well as application, says Simo. He adds that
it will be a good idea to identify high-yield farming in emerging
and mature markets and then justify more complex solutions.
However, till then the state of agriculture practices is
clearly moving at two speeds in the two markets, a fact neces-
sitated by local compulsions and requirements.
Developed regions: Developed countries such as Canada,
US, Australia, New Zealand and those in Europe have been the
early adopters of new technologies. While the governments
here woke up to evolving technologies and the need for clear-
cut policies for an agri revolution, large farm sizes and scarcity
of labours compelled local farmers to the use of remotely con-
trolled high-tech machines, sensors and EO satellite data.
A very clear example is the EUs Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP), supported by the European Commissions Geo-
CAP Action, renamed as of January 2008 from the previous
MARS PAC action, which also indirectly provides assistance
to policies linked to it such as the implementation of the
Water Framework Directive and the Herbicide & Herbicide
Directive. Among the main examples, one can cite the Con-
trol with Remote Sensing [which is now legally accepted as
an on-the-spot check method] and the development of digital
Land Parcel Identifcation Systems based on ortho imagery,
says Loudjani. GeoCAP also provides recommendation on
how to validate and use GNSS devices in the frame of parcel
area measurements for the CAP.
GeoCAP also addresses new information needs for policies
related to agriculture and regional development, such as cross
compliance, farm advisory system, food quality and product
origin traceability in the continent. Further, it has a number of
ongoing activities (low carbon farming practices, soil carbon
preservation and sequestration etc.) to analyse how change
in agriculture practices or land protection could help mitigate
the impacts of climate change. Once we reach specifc
recommendations to mitigate efects, geospatial technologies
can be of great importance to implement some of them such
as precision farming, says Philippe Loudjani, Head, GeoCAP,
MARS unit, Institute of Environment and Sustainability.
Europe is also developing precision agriculture databases
and standardising data exchange (AgroXML). ISO Bus im-
plementation (and further development) is also in process to
overcome compatibility problems.
Land use monitoring has long been one of the main geo-
spatial activities for agricultural policy monitoring and impact
measurement. Te US Department of Agriculture uses geo-
information to support the national policy on commodities,
conservation, agricultural trade, nutrition programmes, rural
development, agricultural research, education and extension,
forestry, biofuels, sustainable agriculture etc. More specifcal-
ly, the National Integrated Drought Information System pro-
vides forecasts and other information to farmers on droughts,
such as the ones that hampered agricultural production in the
Western and SouthWestern US in the last few years.
In most of the developed countries, crop canopy sensors
are being used to detect light refectance or laser induced
chlorophyll fuorescence. Tey use sensors as electronic nos-
es, measuring volatile organic compounds produced by fungi,
for early and species-specifc pest detection. Unmanned
ground vehicles and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are in-
creasingly carrying sensors for feld monitoring. In addition,
these countries are using autonomous feld robots for crop
monitoring and crop treatment. For instance, researchers at
the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies,
University of Sydney, developed robotic systems, sensors and
intelligent devices for automated agriculture. Te robots can
move through an orchard gathering data and develop com-
prehensive in-ground and out-of-ground model. Tey will be
also equipped to perform many agricultural operations such
as fertilising, watering, sweeping and mowing.
A Helping Hand
Global bodies have pledged to ensure food security in developing
countries through g-powered initiatives.
The EU annually contributes
approximately EUR 500 million for
food security in the regions through
g-powered technological knowhow
Global Monitoring for Food Security,
a geo-enabled food security initiative
sponsored by ESA and the European
Commission, aims to provide EO-
based services in Africa for informa-
tion on precipitation, crop yield, soil
moisture, vegetation index, etc.
USAIDs Famine Early Warning Sys-
tems Network, developed mainly for
Africa, uses satellite data for precipi-
tation, snow cover and snow water
equivalent, vegetation, and yield
forecasting information.
The ADB and ASEAN+3 is developing
the ASEAN Food Security Information
System to provide rice-related statis-
tics from satellite data to strengthen
food security in the region.
Precision drainage
35 Geospatial World | September 2013
Te commercial agriculture market has been identifed as
the largest segment for potential use of UAS by the American As-
sociation of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI),
which is upbeat about its use for precision application of crop
protection agents or nutrients. However, though the use of UAS
is subject to country-specifc legislations and the US has banned
use of commercial UAS fights till 2015, Tamme Van Der Wal,
Geomatics Expert at Aerovision, says a number of countries
such as Japan are opening up to this new technology. AUVSI
also expects a favourable decision from the US government.
Developing regions: Developing and poorer countries host
a majority of the worlds 815 million chronically food-insecure
people, according to FAO. Agriculture remains the largest em-
ployment sector in these countries, which typically have small
farm holdings and lack technological knowhow and funds
for modern agriculture. However, the use of satellite data for
weather and crop forecast, monitoring soil quality, irrigation
sources etc have taken of well even in these countries.
In Asia, using geospatial information for predicting mon-
soons and extreme events has become a part of the agricul-
tural policies. In Africa, the MESA programme, a cooperation
between the African Union and the EU, has a similar aim.
In Brazil, the Canasat project, for establishing and moni-
toring areas under sugarcane cultivation, is an example of a
geo-application supporting national agricultural policy. In fact,
Brazil is an exception among the developing countries. Te
Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) has
made the country a pioneer in precision farming. EMBRAPA
has also developed Observation and Monitoring System for
Agriculture (SOMABRASIL). Te project organises, integrates
and makes geospatial databases available on the Web, thus
contributing to the understanding of land use and land cover
changes. points out Mateus Batistella, Director, EMBRAPA
Satellite Monitoring.
Agriculture has been the thrust area in the remote sensing
application programme in India and crop forecasting using re-
mote sensing data by the Indian Space Research Organisation
started in the late 80s, says Dr Shibendu Shankar Ray, Director,
Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre. He adds that
satellite-based remote sensing data is being used for a manifold
applications in agriculture, including crop production forecast-
ing, sustainable agricultural development, irrigation manage-
ment, site suitability for infrastructure development, watershed
development, drought assessment, soil resources mapping and
so on. Satellite data also has a great role in many allied felds of
agriculture, including potential fshing zone forecast.
Geospatial tools and techniques were used under the Na-
tional Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture programme
that was launched in February 2011 for identifying agricultur-
ally vulnerable regions in the country, points out Dr Kaush-
alya Ramachandran, Principal Scientist, CRIDA.
Recently, the Indian government recommended remote
sensing and GPS-based support system for land rejuvena-
tion, while pilot studies are being planned to perfect such
techniques for land-use planning and precision farming.
Te Indian Council of Agricultural Research has launched a
$250-million World Bank-funded initiative called the National
Agricultural Innovation Project which extensively uses geo-
spatial data for innovative ways of farming.
In Malaysia, the Planning, Information Technology and
Communications Division of the Department of Agriculture
developed and maintains the GIS base Agriculture Infor-
mation Portal System (AgrIS GeoPortal). In addition, the
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute
(MARDI) is pushing precision technology in rice farming.
Vietnam has used geospatial data and technologies for
land evaluation on national, regional, provincial and district
scales for suitable land-use planning/agricultural develop-
ment. It has developed applications for explicit assessment of
nutrient demands for promoting efcient regional fertiliser-
use management; using Webmap for transferring fertiliser
recommendation to farmers, traders, fertiliser producers
Global bodies have pledged to ensure food security in developing
countries through g-powered initiatives.
Agriculture production has risen
by almost 6% in Indias Karnataka
following implementation of the
Bhoochetana project led by the Inter-
national Crops Research Institute for
the Semi-Arid Tropics in 2008. In 2011,
3 million farm families experienced
yield gains of 35-66%.
Two centres supported by the
Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research the Interna-
tional Center for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT) and International Livestock
Research Institute (ILRI) have used
GIS to predict an overall 10% decline
in maize productivity by 2055 (in the
US), equivalent to crops losses worth
an estimated $2 billion per year.
International Center for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas and its
partners used a GIS model adapted
to data-poor environments to pro-
duce a suitability map of Eritreas
Zoba Debub area. The map enabled
them to assess the potential of dif-
ferent macro- and micro-catchment
water harvesting techniques and
indicated that 70% of the area
is suitable for at least one of the
approaches.
The Arab Spatial Development and
Food Security Atlas is a start-up initia-
tive by the International Fund of Agri-
cultural Development and the Policies,
Markets, and Institutions Program of
the Consultative Group of International
Agricultural Research Centres
. Over the last 20 years, the Interna-
tional Livestock Research Institute has
collected and generated an extensive
range of spatial data layers.
36 Geospatial World | September 2013
and administrators. It is also using remote sensing and
geostatistics for identifying geographic hotspots of human-
induced land degradation and their social-ecological types.
Tere have been a number of policies to mandate the use
of geospatial technology in agriculture for transfer of spatial
information in a faster and productive way, says Nguyen Van
Bo, President, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Geospatial technology is used in a big way in rice production,
leading to an increase in production by 1 million tonne a year.
Chile has been using remote sensing data for various uses
in agriculture for many years now. Te National Resources
Information Centre (CIREN) has convinced the Ministry of
Agriculture to set up a spatial data infrastructure, IDE-Miniagri,
discloses Dr Eugenio Gonzalvez Aquilo, Executive Director,
CIREN. Te Foundation for Agricultural Innovation, a public
agency to promote and fnancially support agricultural research,
development and innovation, collaborated with the World Bank
in 2009 to prepare a vision document for agriculture in Chile for
2030 which has proposed an extensive usage of modern technol-
ogy for natural resource and farm management.
Since land is the mainstay of agriculture, more often than
not policies in this sector are often aligned to land manage-
ment issues. For instance, geospatial technology helped in
land elevation study and agricultural infrastructure devel-
opment in Philippines. Te true value of this technology
Reaping the benets of g-tech
Agriculture
Application
Geospatial technologies
Earth
observation
GNSS
Hydro & soil
sensor
Lasers
G-powered
mobile apps
GIS
Soil
Water level
Weather
Seeding & ploughing
Irrigation
Pest & weed control
Monitoring
Harvesting
Storage & distribution
Market intelligence
was realised during the World Bank-supported geo-tagging
project which helped validate and monitor the area under
agriculture, says Arnel de Mesa, Deputy Programme Director,
Mindanao Rural Development Programme, Department of
Agriculture. It helped in eradication of corruption, especially
in agricultural tendering process, he says. Te department is
now looking at the use of UAVs for airborne monitoring and
survey of farms.
Russias System of State Land Monitoring is another good
example. It comprises two subsystems. Te Federal Geo-
graphic Information System Agricultural Lands Atlas was
created to provide up-to-date information about agricultural
lands to government bodies and local authorities, legal enti-
ties and individuals. Te Remote Sensing Monitoring System
uses RS data for information related to planning, control
and management of agricultural lands, explains Michael
Bolsunovsky, First Deputy Director General, Sovzond, which
collaborated with the Russian Ministry of Agriculture on the
project. Further, for optimum utilisation of available land,
several countries like China and Vietnam are converting all
small farms into big farms.
The future
Te increased attention agriculture is getting from interna-
tional policy makers as shown by the decision at the G8
Big Story | Agriculture Big Story | Agriculture
37 Geospatial World | September 2013
Summit in LAquila, Italy to mobilise $20 billion into the sector
over the next three years is timely. Most importantly, access
to land and fnance is a big challenge for many, which is es-
sential for farming and agricultural entrepreneurship.
Te worlds 1 billion-plus farmers should be at the centre of
new investment strategies, because they are, by far, the largest
investors in agriculture, after public and private players. Farm-
ers in 76 low- and middle-income countries invest almost $170
billion a year in their farms about $150 per farmer, according
to FAO estimates. Tis is a big source that needs to be tapped,
but will not be easy given the economics involved.
We [the developing world] need modern technologies,
both software and hardware, and satellite data for bringing
innovation in agricultural practices. Cost of technologies
is high, especially the cost of remote sensing satellite data,
underlines Nguyen Van Bo of Vietnam.
Hexagons Simo thinks aligning the products and applica-
tions portfolio to the specifc requirements of the emerging
markets is the way to address the needs. Tis also will enable
us to help farmers adopt solutions that can improve their per-
formance in their environment and, consequently, expedite
the stages of utilisation of the precision farming technologies
in these particular markets, he points out.
Te new buzzword in agriculture is real-time information,
but that remains a challenge for farmers in both developed
and developing regions, even though the industry is bullish
about big business prospect in this new application area. Te
agriculture industry is beginning to shift from equipment
efciency to valuing the data, more importantly the informa-
tion that can be obtained during the operational processes of
planting and growing the crop, says Topcons Zahalka.
Bolsunovsky sees Web-based services by subscription and
mobile applications as the best solutions for small agricultural
producers who cant pay signifcant money for ready-to-use
multifunctional soft/hardware solutions. Agrees Dr. Bernhard
Schmitz, Commercial Manager, ATS Products EAME, AGCO
International GmbH: Mobile and real-time information is
defnitely an important element of what farmers are looking
for. Dr Roy thinks involving the end-users in GIS application
processes, capacity building, developing simpler GIS tools for
better use of geospatial technology is required. We also need
to generate outputs in real-time. And for that, we need tools
and technologies which are more user-oriented, he adds.
Whatever the new development, two signifcant challenges
with respect to agricultural policy and geospatial information
will have to be addressed. Te frst is delivery of the informa-
tion to the target group, be it the policymaker or the farmer, at
the right time and in the right format. Usually, the technical
aspects of systems are well developed and the knowledge is
available to the experts concerned, but communication with
ofcials who have to act on the information and with other
target groups presents problems in terms of timing and the
way messages are formulated. Te second challenge concerns
the gap that exists between the local and national/interna-
tional levels. Usually information is provided separately to
these levels, complying with the diferent requirements, but
information at the in-between level that is so important for
district or provincial policy making and/or implementation, is
lacking. Integration of diferent levels of information is of key
importance to improve strategic decision-making in agricul-
tural policy.
Mark Noort, Editor-Agriculture
mark@geospatialmedia.net
Anand Kashyap, Research Fellow
anand@geospatialmedia.net
Go Mobile
World Banks Website lists 92 mobile apps that are being
used for agriculture. Some of the best ones are:
Mobile Farm Manager by John Deere gives producers
easier access to important farm and feld information through
their mobile device.
Connected Farm by Trimble allows farmers and agrono-
mists to map feld boundaries, enter scouting attributes for pests
(weeds, insects, diseases), and take geo-referenced photos and
manage collected data online.
AGCOMMAND by AGCO features the ability to show turn-
by-turn directions, history of machine status and data, compare
performance of multiple machines and user-defned alerts.
ArcGIS by ESRI extends the reach of a GIS from the offce to
the feld. Users can query the map, search and fnd interesting
information.
FieldNET Mobile from Lindsay allows users to control and
monitor their irrigation pivots from anywhere.
PureSense Irrigation Manager allows users to monitor
their real-time feld conditions and irrigation activity from their
phones.
SoilWeb provides GPS-based, real-time access to USDA-NRCS
soil survey data.
My-Cast from Garmin displays animated radar, predicted
storm paths and watches/warnings from the National Weather
Service.
Agriculture | Policy
G-tech supports a Common
Agriculture Policy in Europe
Europes Common
Agriculture Policy
has moved towards
accomodating
geo-referenced,
online information
supported by
up-to-date nation-wide
image datasets. Tis
has largely been
facilitated by technical
innovations within the
geospatial domain
S
ince its creation in the late 1950s,
the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) has shaped European agri-
culture. Te CAP is defned at EU level
by the governments of member states
and implemented through regulations
issued by the European Commission,
rather than through the implementa-
tion of directives by member states.
Te CAP has evolved through a series
of reforms in order to adapt to the
changing needs of both agriculture and
society as a whole. Today, rural areas
constitute 90% of the EU territory, of
which more than half is farmed. Also,
the CAP is one of the most signifcant
policy instruments in fnancial terms.
In order to ensure that these funds are
spent appropriately, Member State Au-
thorities and the Commission services
have to establish and apply appropriate
management and control mechanisms.
During the past decade, CAP legislative
requirements have evolved towards
geo-referenced, online information that
is supported by up-to-date nation-wide
image datasets, and consolidated in the
Integrated Administration and Control
System (IACS). Tis evolution has been
facilitated and pushed by technical in-
novations within the geospatial domain.
Major developments
Since the late 90s, the Monitoring Agri-
culture Resources (MARS Unit) of the
European Commissions Joint Research
Centre has addressed new information
needs for European policies related to
agriculture and regional development,
such as Cross Compliance, farm advi-
sory system, food quality and product
origin traceability. It has developed
standardised and sustainable control
methods in a variety of agriculture-re-
lated areas. It has also supported the de-
velopment of multipurpose large scale
mapping approaches, common speci-
fcations, standardised measurements
and validated methods to reinforce the
consistency of land parcel identifcation
and measurement across the Union and
in candidate countries.
To date, the control with remote
sensing (CwRS), Digital Land Parcel
Identifcation System (LPIS) and parcel
area measurement using GNSS devices
have become the keystones of the ef-
cient administration and control of CAP
subsidies.
Te Control with Remote Sensing
(CwRS): Initiated with some pilot stud-
ies in the 90s, the CwRS have now be-
come an ofcial method (equivalent to
a physical farm visit) for member states
administrations or their CwRS con-
tractors to carry out part or all of their
Fig.1: Examples of reference parcels super-imposed
on aerial orthoimagery (colours correspond to
diferent land cover types as explained in Fig.2 )
39 Geospatial World | September 2013
on-the-spot checks (OTS) of EU farms.
In most of the cases, very high resolu-
tion (VHR) satellite images (<1 m pixel
resolution) are used to perform parcel
measurements and provide elements of
identifcation of land cover type and/or
checks of Good Agricultural and Envi-
ronmental Conditions (GAECs) aspects.
High resolution satellite imagery is
used to provide further elements for
the diagnosis of land cover type and/or
checks of the GAECs. To date, the CwRS
methods are used to control more than
400,000 farmers for their area-aid ap-
plications in EU27. Tis represents ap-
proximately 70% of the total EU 27 OTS
checks. To do so, some 700 HR images
(e.g. SPOT, IRS, Rapid Eye, Landsat,
etc.) and more than 230,000 sq km of
VHR resolution data (e.g. Worldview,
GeoEye, Ikonos, Quickbird, etc) are
fnanced annually by the European
Commission and made available to
member states.
Digital Land Parcel Identifcation
System: In 1992, as a result of the evo-
lution of CAP legislative requirements,
the EU Commission asked the member
states to establish an Integrated Admin-
istration and Control System in order
to administer and control farmers
declarations. In the subsequent years,
it was found that a high percentage of
declared areas were incorrect. Tere-
fore, the process of declaration had to
be improved by the establishment of
a Land Parcel Identifcation System
(LPIS) to identify and quantify the land
eligible for payments.
Tese identifcation systems have
been mainly established on the basis
of aerial or satellite orthoimages. Tese
orthoimages, together with attribute
information concerning land use, form
the basic set of components of LPIS.
Diferent approaches have been used
by the member states to develop their
LPIS. Today, 45 diferent land parcel
information systems exist across the
EU, which sees more than 135 million
detailed land parcels declared annually
by its 8 million farmers.

Parcel area measurement: In the
frame of CAP direct payments and
associated on-the-spot checks, agricul-
tural parcel areas are determined with
measurement tools that are proven to
assure measurements of quality. Te
uncertainty specifc to any measure-
ment tool is characterised by a number
of parameters such as its bias, precision
and accuracy or technical tolerance. As
of January 1, 2008, only the perimeter
bufer tolerance is applied to agricultural
parcels. Tis bufer tolerance, which
cannot exceed 1.0 ha, is calculated by
Digital land parcel
identifcation systems
have been established
on the basis of
aerial or satellite
orthoimages. Today,
45 diferent land
parcel information
systems exist across
EU, which has a total
of over 135 million
detailed land parcels
declared by its 8
million farmers
Representations of reference parcels: Agricultural parcel (blue) one single crop group from a single farmer; farmers block/plot (red) one
single or several crop groups from a single farmer; and physical block (yellow) one single or several crop groups from one or several farmers.
40 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Policy
multiplying the parcel perimeter by a
(bufer) width of maximum 1.5 metre. In
the context of on-the-spot checks, toler-
ances are applied to the assessment of
the diference between the declared and
measured areas of the claimed agricul-
tural parcel in order to come with a deci-
sion on the accepted area for payment.
With the development of technolo-
gies, GNSS devices and VHR ortho-
images have become the tools that
are used to perform almost 100% of
parcel area measurements for the CAP
management. In order to determine the
measurement accuracy of these tools,
member states are requested to system-
atically perform an area measurement
validation test that has been set up by
the MARS Unit. Today some 80 diferent
combinations of GNSS receivers and
measurements methods are used in
EU, representing a total of around 6,400
GNSS receivers.
Future directions
Towards 2020, CAP foresees the con-
tinuation of the IACS, LPIS maintenance
and CwRS (as part of the OTS checks).
Furthermore, the new CAP reinforces
the eforts on sustainable rural develop-
ment (the second pillar), on environ-
mental, sanitarian and societal require-
ments (cross-compliance) and on
environment as a whole (the greening).
Tis will require the detailed charac-
terisation of rural landscape (landscape
features such as location, type, area
length; land cover; land use) based on
the development of technical solutions
which will be more than ever based on
geomatics and geospatial data.
Tese new requirements will force ag-
ricultural GIS systems to store additional
data and to interoperate with environ-
mental and other databases. It becomes
evident that the LPIS data, rather than
being solely dedicated to support the aid
declaration and subsequent controls,
could also be broadly used by other
external users to evolve toward the
establishment of Land Management
Information Systems for rural areas.
Philippe Loudjani, Project Leader,
GeoCAP, Joint Research Centre, Institute
for Environment and Sustainability
Monitoring Agricultural Resources Unit,
European Commission
Te author would like to acknowledge all
those who, in the history of MARS Unit,
have contributed in some manner or
another to works quoted in this article
GNSS devices and
VHR orthoimages are
tools used to perform
almost 100% of parcel
area measurements for
the CAP management.
Today some 80
diferent combinations
of GNSS receivers
and measurements
methods are used in
EU, representing a
total of around 6,400
GNSS receivers
Area of very high resolution images
for the CwRS campaigns 2003-2013
A
r
e
a

i
n

s
q

k
m
Number of high resolution images acquired
for the CwRS campaigns 2003-2012
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

i
m
a
g
e
s
EVOLUTION OF IMAGERY USED FOR THE CAP CWRS THROUGH THE YEARS
6 Geospatial World | April 2013
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Agriculture | Insurance
A
griculture is set to play an
important role in achieving the
goals set by developing econo-
mies in the next few decades. Provid-
ing food, raw materials and energy in
sufcient quantity for a burgeoning
population will be a major challenge.
Food security will be an increasingly
important element of agricultural policy
for every country.
According to the projections, climate
change may increase the variability of
weather patterns in many regions, with
consequences such as rising frequency
and severity of extreme climate events.
Against this backdrop, managing
agricultural risks is a key challenge.
Crop insurance systems will play an
increasing role in this task. Tis was
clearly demonstrated by the US drought
in 2012, which afected the most impor-
tant agricultural region in the USA, the
Midwest, with the corn and soybean
crops getting afected. Total crop losses
in the USA in 2012 amounted to around
$20 billion, of which $16.99 billion was
indemnifed to farmers by the National
Crop Insurance System. Historically,
this is the highest amount ever in-
demnifed by a crop insurance system
worldwide.
In recent decades, crop insurance
systems have been designed and im-
plemented in several countries (Figure
1). Te most promising and sustainable
approach is that of insurance systems
within the framework of a public-
private partnership between the state,
the agricultural sector and the (re)
insurance industry (depicted as green
and blue). It can be assumed that crop
insurance systems will be developed
and implemented as public-private
partnerships more and more in devel-
Despite advances in the
use of remote sensing
technology in the feld
of agriculture, data
analysis & developing
applications for
agricultural risk
management have
proved to be more
complex and expensive
than anticipated
oping economies. Advances in remote
sensing technology will certainly fuel
this trend.
Current applications
Most agriculture-related applications of
remote sensing technology are focused
on monitoring the vegetation status by
using signals collected in the visible and
near infrared regions by special space-
based sensors and by mathematically
combining these signals to vegetation
indices. One of the most prominent
vegetation indices is the NDVI (Normal-
ised Diference Vegetation Index). Te
advantage of this index is that data are
recorded daily by diferent sensors, and
time-series of up to 30 years are availa-
ble. Tese are the reasons that the NDVI
is widely used, also for crop insurance
purposes. However, according to Joint
Research Centre (Meroni et.al, 2013) due
to inaccuracies as a consequence of fac-
tors such as background refectance and
the three dimensional structure of the
canopy, alternative indices are currently
being developed.
Te disadvantage of optical sensors is
that they provide useful data only when
there is no cloud cover. Tis is a major
constraint because the cropping season
is relatively short, and for many applica-
tions, data in specifc growing stages are
needed with a good spatial resolution.
By contrast, radar sensors can be used
even in case cloud cover. Teir area of
application in agriculture is currently
restricted, but with the availability of
new bands and more research, advances
can be expected in future. At present,
radar sensors are used for information
on cultivated area, soil moisture analysis
and food monitoring, often in combina-
tion with optical sensors.
RS technology for crop insurance
42 Geospatial World | September 2013
Potential applications
Remote sensing technology can bring
innovations to the process of developing
and operating crop insurance systems.
Innovations will be seen especially in
the following areas:
Plot identifcation: Identifying produc-
tive agricultural plots and distinguishing
them from other land use is an essential
element in any agricultural information
system. Determining the boundaries
and the size of individual plots is another
requirement for operating any crop
insurance scheme. In Germany, a feld
reference system has been established to
identify individual plots for administra-
tion and control of European agricultural
subsidies; according to GAF AG remote
sensing data combined with GIS and
aerial photographs have been used.
Crop identifcation: Another important
piece of information is which crop or crop
type is being cultivated where during a
specifc cropping season. Tis is not an
easy task as the appearances of the wide
variety of crops being cultivated are often
difcult to distinguish on satellite images.
However, signifcant advances have been
made using multi-temporal datasets dur-
ing the vegetation period.
Crop monitoring: Monitoring the crop
cycle from planting to harvesting is im-
portant for identifying potential problems
at an early stage. For crop insurance
purposes, it is important to know if crops
have really emerged since the insurance
cover often starts only with the emer-
gence of a viable crop stand. Reliable
remote sensing data can reduce time-
consuming and costly feld inspections.
Yield estimations: Estimations based
on crop monitoring are still in the early
stages of development, and consider-
able work is required to arrive at reli-
able estimates. Te work is costly, as it
requires not only analytical work but
also reliable ground truth data, i.e. yield
data collected in the feld, for calibra-
tion and testing the results. With the fast
spreading of automatic yield recording
and harvesters producing yield maps of
individual plots, however, more reliable
ground truth yield data will be available
in future.
Diferent approaches to forecast
yields are used at present:
Satellite information as the primary
source: Te NDVI is the classical exam-
ple. What is measured is the refection
of the plant canopy using diferent
wave lengths. Depending on the crop
type, biomass is more or less corre-
lated with yield. Tere is a relatively
good correlation in grassland but a low
correlation can result for arable crops
under particular circumstances.
Using crop growth models as the pri-
mary tool, based on satellite informa-
tion on the biomass as the input factor
besides others like soil type, weather
conditions (e.g. precipitation, tempera-
ture) and management factors: Tis ap-
proach is more promising when deal-
ing with arable crops, as more accurate
yield estimations can be obtained.
Regional yield estimates for cere-
als, oilseeds and tuber crops can be
expected in the near future. However,
it will be much more difcult to assess
yields on individual plots. Te currently
available spatial and temporal resolu-
tion (both being required simultane-
ously in high defnition) is not suf-
cient, especially when we are dealing
with average sized plots.
43 Geospatial World | September 2013
Worldmap of Agricultural Insurance
Characteristics of Agricultural
Insurance Systems
Class
Comprehensive system
System with premium subsidies
Purely private Insurance
No sizeable
Crop insurance systems
will be developed
and implemented
as public-private
partnerships more and
more in developing
economies as advances
in remote sensing
technology fuels
this trend
44 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Insurance
Loss event monitoring: Tis is a very important application
not only for crop insurance but also for state authorities in
managing crop disasters in an efcient and timely manner.
Early loss estimations and catagorising the regions according
to the degree afected are required. In the case of foods, ac-
cording to GAF AG radar sensors are very efcient in addition
to optical sensors, as they also provide information if there is
a cloud cover (Relin, 2013). Te extent of crop losses can be
assessed with the information about the duration and height
of the food, together with the information about the planted
crop types which react diferently to water submergence and
water logging.
Risk assessment and underwriting: Te two essential
elements of any crop insurance operation can be supported
by digital elevation models elaborated with remote sensing
technology. Tese models can be used to assess food and
frost risk and derive underwriting criteria.
Insurance products: Insurance products based on the NDVI
have been ofered to cover grasslands. However, these prod-
ucts, introduced in the US and Spain have only limited market
penetration. One of the obstacles is the lack of acceptance and
trust among clients with regard to a satellite index which is
neither transparent nor easy to understand. With the develop-
ment of reliable regional yield estimates by remote sensing
technology, corresponding area yield insurance products will
come. Yield insurance at farm level, however, is still a distant
prospect.
Outlook
Tough still in its infancy, satellite technology has consider-
able potential to develop and enhance crop insurance and
the disaster response of state authorities after major losses.
Te heterogeneous structure in crop production poses a
major challenge for the technology, which works best with big
plots and homogenous crops. Furthermore, the temporally
limited availability of optical methods because of cloud cover
is a major constraint; especially after loss events, images are
needed at defned points of time, and it is not possible to wait
for weeks for a cloud-free period. Advances in the area of
radar data might supplement optical data, thus easing these
constraints. Additionally or alternatively to remote sens-
ing information, aerial photographs taken from unmanned
airplanes will play an increasingly important role, especially
when dealing with specifc issues of loss adjustment in the
feld, like determining areas of damaged crops in big felds.
Dr Joachim Herbold
Senior Underwriter, Agricultural business unit, Munich
Reinsurance Company, jherbold@munichre.com
Flood on the River Elbe in the agricultural area around Breitenha-
gen in Germany in June 2013. Te fooded area is shown in light
blue, and the reference water level in dark blue
Pre-food situation in the agricultural area around Breitenhagen,
Germany
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6 Geospatial World | April 2013
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46 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Interview
Geo-technology is a great tool for
agriculture market regulation
What is the mandate of the German
Federal Ofce for Agriculture and
Food (BLE) and what are its core
activities?
Te Federal Ofce of Agriculture and
Food is responsible for all the tasks
which fall within the scope of the
German Federal Ministry of Food,
Agriculture and Consumer Protection
(BMELV). In particular, the Federal Of-
fce, an agency of the Common Market
Organisations within the European
Union, regulates the German markets
for a number of crops and agricultural
products. Te ofce issues licences for
In times of high commodity prices and high
price volatility, surveillance of the agricultural
production process is important for all countries
cross-border trade of goods and services
produced by the food, agricultural and
forest industries. Te BLE supports the
BMELV in issues related to international
cooperation on global food security.
Recently, we have started coordinating
with the German Federal States for the
implementation of Integrated Admin-
istration and Control System (IACS) for
the surveillance of the EU agricultural
subsidies. We are also involved in set-
ting up a centre for geoinformatics and
remote sensing.
How does the BLE use geospatial
technologies such as GIS and remote
sensing?
Te amount of EU agricultural aid pay-
ments is mostly based on the size of the
area for which the aid is claimed, often
in combination with other commit-
ments or compliance requirements, for
The Federal Office for Agriculture and
Food (BLE) regulates the agricultural
products market in Germany. BLE
President Dr Hanns-Christoph
Eiden explains how geoinformatics
helps in effective surveillance of
the EU agricultural subsidies, and
in managing the volatility in
commodity prices
47 Geospatial World | September 2013
example, concerning the use of the land,
the preservation of certain landscape
features and so on. Te determination of
area size is done by using GNSS-devices
for measurements or by aerial-based or
space-based remote sensing.
Our new centre for geoinformatics
and remote sensing is currently engaged
with the implementation of the INSPIRE-
Directive, an initiative of the European
Commission which aims at establishing
an infrastructure for spatial informa-
tion in Europe. Te implementation of
INSPIRE has a welcome side efect: the
evaluation of our existing geodata and
the possible extension of their use and
visualisation.
Te geodata infrastructure for Ger-
many (GDI DE) revolves around our
Web-based portal GDI BMELV (www.
gdi.bmelv.de), and we plan to put the
INSPIRE metadata on this to make it
available to all concerned. We also plan
to equip our Web portals with dynamic
map viewers. Te new centre is develop-
ing ideas to integrate the use of remote
sensing into the work of the BLE.
Market regulating agencies in devel-
oping countries are slowly gaining
strength but awareness about the
benefts of location technology is still
lacking in these parts of the world.
Your comments.
In times of high commodity prices and
volatility, surveillance of the agricultural
production process is important for all
countries. Location technology, like GIS
and aerial-based or space-based remote
sensing techniques, are helpful tools for
achieving food and nutrition security and
a sustainable agricultural production for
all countries, whether developed, emerg-
ing or developing.
I think the application of GIS and re-
mote sensing technologies in develop-
ing countries is continuously evolving.
In recent years, the dissemination of
GIS and remote sensing techniques in
developing countries has been pro-
moted widely by various international
aid projects. Te Famine Early Warning
Systems Network (FEWS Net) supported
by USAID and the Global Food Security
Service (GMFS) initiated by European
Space Agency (ESA) are two good exam-
ples. Programmes such as GEOGLAM,
an international initiative for global
agricultural monitoring, and Asia-Rice
Crop Estimation and Monitoring, a rice
monitoring project in diferent Asian
countries, have proved to be helpful.
Te use of remote sensing techniques in
developing countries will increase with
the improvement in technology transfer
and easy access to satellite imagery.
You have served in the Ministry of Food
and Agriculture. How, in your opinion,
can precision farming meet the grow-
ing demand for food production?
On the one hand, there is a demand for
an increased agricultural production.
On the other, essential resources like
fossil energy, water and biodiversity are
becoming rare. It clearly means that the
agricultural production has to become
sustainable and resource-saving. Preci-
sion farming could help in achieving
this goal. With precision farming the
inherent heterogeneity of agricultural
felds is recognised and the specifc crop
requirements, such as the need for water,
fertilisers or agrochemicals, become easy
and cost efective. It promises to beneft
both farmers and the consumer.
Screenshot of geoportal developed by BLE,
which will have the INSPIRE metadata and
dynamic map viewers
Our new centre
for geoinformatics
and remote
sensing is currently
engaged with the
implementation
of the INSPIRE-
Directive, an
initiative of
the European
Commission which
aims at establishing
an infrastructure for
spatial information
in Europe
48 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Unmanned Aerial Systems
T
he uptake of geospatial tech-
nology creates many new
opportunities for improving
farming. One of these opportunities is
the variable rate application or VRA,
where farmers can apply diferent rates
(nutrients, water crop protection agent
etc) depending on the local situation.
In contrast to current practices, VRA
responds to the spatially varied needs of
the crop, or simply put, apply only what
is needed. For instance, based on the
mapped nitrogen defciency in the crop,
fertilisation can be done only on areas
where it is required. VRA is an opportu-
nity for farmers to reduce environmen-
UAS to monitor crop
health status
UAS is a fexible and agile way of collecting imagery
to monitor crops and for mapping out diferences in
crop growth and health status
tal impact while improving on their own
fnancial margin.
Sowing new seeds
Unmanned Aerial Systems or UAS are
a fexible and agile way of collecting
imagery, compared to alternatives like
satellites, manned aerial photography or
terrestrial sensors (e.g. vehicle mounted
or handheld). UAS fies a pattern of
parallel paths covering the whole feld,
taking multiple images that are later
stitched together.
It uses multispectral camera payload
to measure sunlight refectance in the
visible and near-infrared spectrum to
determine specifc vegetation indices.
An image of a whole feld provides
insight in the subfeld diferences. Based
on these diferences, management zones
could be determined, each with their
own intensity for spraying. Tis could
then be fed into agricultural machinery
with GNSS location to apply the right
dose at the right place.
Te UAS used in agricultural moni-
toring are small, light-weight platforms.
Around the world, diferent univer-
sities, extension organisations and
service providers experiment with small
multi-rotors, helicopters and fxed-wing
aircrafts. Each has its own benefts and
drawbacks. Depending on the type
of usage and service, most important
diferentiators are the space needed for
take-of and landing, the endurance of
the platform and the payload capacity.
Te use of UAS is subject to legisla-
tion as many countries are still defning
the regulations for airspace use. Safety
is the main issue for integrated use of
manned and unmanned aircrafts. Use
of commercial UAS fights are banned
in the US till 2015 but the American As-
sociation of Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International (AUVSI), which in its
latest economic report had identifed
the commercial agriculture market (for
UAS) as by far the largest segment,
Te FieldCopter consortium is using the Sarah platform, a very advanced
helicopter platform also used in flm industry. Te gyrostabilised head
guarantees the right camera angle
Courtesy: Aerovision
49 Geospatial World | September 2013
dwarfng all others, expects a posi-
tive decision from the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) on opening the
US airspace for UAS use. AUVSI foresees
that besides remote sensing, unmanned
systems could also be used for precision
application of crop protection agents or
nutrients. Tis is already taking place
in places like Japan where felds are
sprayed using unmanned helicopters.
Reaping the benets
In Europe, a consortium called Field-
Copter is investigating the use of UAS
for crop state monitoring and how to set
up a reliable service. FieldCopter is a
EU-funded project and a consortium of
SMEs TerraSphere, Aurea Imaging, Fly-
ing Cam and AeroVision, and research
institutes National Research Council
(CSIC) and Centre for Advanced Aero-
space Technologies CATEC of Spain.
FieldCopter is using an autopilot to
guide the UAS on a pre-programmed
fight path. It is using the European
Geostationary Navigation Overlay Sys-
tem (EGNOS) for accurate positioning.
EGNOS is only available in Europe, and
similar augmentation systems could be
deployed in other parts of the world.
Te consortium has developed a light-
weight board computer that integrates
the EGNOS receiver with gyroscopes
and accellerometers for optimal
autonomous fight control. Te board
computer also controls the on-board
camera to make sure that the right im-
age is taken at the right spot. FieldCop-
ter uses two diferent camera systems
multispectral and thermal infrared. Te
multispectral camera is confgurable, in
which bands could be measured both
in terms of the central wavelength and
bandwidth. It could therefore mimic
the bands from any satellite sensor cur-
rently available.
Te multispectral imagery is used
to determine crop vigour, biomass
growth and crop nitrogen status. Te
thermal infrared camera measures
the emitted long-wave radiation that
is directly linked to the temperature of
the emitting body. For crops, canopy
or leaf temperature could be related to
evapo-transpiration status. FieldCopter
is using thermal camera to determine
irrigation performance and crop water
needs in irrigated agriculture.
Conclusion
Cloud cover is a major showstopper for
many satellite applications in agricul-
ture since the opportunity window for
image acquisition could be as small as a
5- or 10-day period and farmers want to
use the imagery in near real time. Field-
Copter investigated the weather condi-
tions in the Netherlands and concluded
that the use of UAS (standalone, or in
combination with satellite imagery)
could increase the service performance
to an acceptable level.
Besides multispectral and thermal
cameras, hyperspectral cameras are also
being made available for UAS platforms,
thus increasing their performance.
Given the increasing autonomy of the
UAS platform, it may not be long before
every farmer posseses his UAS. Tis will
create a wealth of remote sensing data
on crops and felds, paving the path for
more resource-efcient farming. Tis
is good news for the environment, the
farmer and the consumer.
Tamme Van Der Wal,
Geomatics Expert, Aerovision
A vineyard in Spain monitored with
FieldCopter using a thermal infrared
camera shows diferences in vine
temperature. Te red colour refects higher
temperature and thus higher crop
water requirement
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Besides multispectral
and thermal cameras,
hyperspectral cameras
are also being made
available for UAS
platforms. Given the
increasing autonomy
of the UAS platform, it
may not be long before
every farmer posseses
his UAS
Agriculture | Data Integration
T
he Brazilian Agricultural
Research Corporation (Em-
brapa) aims to provide feasible
solutions for the sustainable develop-
ment of Brazilian agribusiness through
knowledge and technology generation
and transfer. One of its many research
centres is Embrapa Satellite Monitoring
Centre, a thematic unit focused on geo-
technologies, which houses qualifed
staf, monitoring agricultural expansion,
land use change, and their implica-
tions on environmental and economic
sustainability of agribusiness.
Te Centre has provided support in
many research felds such as land use
and cover dynamics in the Amazon
region and its relation to socio-economic
drivers, land-use zoning based on
biophysical and human characteristics
for distinct Brazilian states, land-use
Brazil, one of the worlds main agricultural powers, utilises geotechnologies to
integrate datasets from several sources for sustainable agribusiness
and cover change studies on agricultural
frontiers, carbon storage estimates in
forest and agricultural systems, among
others. Te Centre also conducts studies
for the identifcation and monitoring of
degraded pastures in Brazilian biomes,
the control of animal diseases on the
countrys borders, improving the knowl-
edge of how agricultural activities afect
the environmental quality such as green-
house gas emissions, sustainable use of
water resources, and dynamic mapping.
Increasing agricultural production
Brazil is blessed with favourable
biophysical conditions, which places
it among the worlds main agricultural
powers. Since 2004, the Amazon defor-
estation rate has dropped 80% and the
agricultural production has increased
consistently year after year. Diferent
productive chains are responsible for
27% of the countrys GDP, 36% of the
exports, and 39% of the jobs. Recent
assessments based on satellite imagery
have shown that more than 60% of the
country is still covered by its pristine
land cover, approximately 5 million sq
km or 10 times the size of France.
Te use of geotechnologies has
fostered great innovations in rural areas
in Brazil. Rural planning, infrastruc-
ture and logistic issues, environmental
impacts, crop forecast, expansion and
intensifcation of agricultural systems,
and even cattle traceability systems can
make use of geospatial information.
Brazil shows the way in use of
GIS for sustainable agriculture
50 Geospatial World | September 2013
Embrapa Satellite Monitoring facility in Campinas, Brazil
Geospatial knowledge is the basis for
promoting a new development model in
order to minimise the negative environ-
mental and social impacts resulting from
human activity. Organising and integrat-
ing census variables and remote sensing
information in one geospatial database
in order to enable studies and analysis for
the characterisation and monitoring of
agricultural activities, the preservation of
natural resources, and the production of
maps and zones is essential.
In this context, Embrapa Satel-
lite Monitoring Centre developed the
System for Agriculture Observation
and Monitoring (SOMABRASIL), which
integrates geographic databases from
several sources and allows the perfor-
mance of interactive queries based on
diferent access levels.
SOMABRASIL organises, integrates
and makes geospatial databases avail-
able on the Web by means of tools for
spatially explicit analysis and dynamic
visualisation, thus contributing to the
understanding of land use and land cov-
er changes. Te WebGIS interface allows
the user perform basic and advanced
queries and generate useful information
for land zonings, agricultural monitoring
and for detecting priorities for research
and policy making.
Te system is entirely based on open
source software (i.e., PostgreSQL, Post-
GIS, and GeoServer) and has been used
by several organisations as a valuable tool
for the dissemination of products and
results obtained through geospatial anal-
ysis. Te system has thousands of reg-
istered users, ranging from government
agencies, universities, research institutes,
banks, agricultural private companies,
and the civil society in general.
SOMABRASIL is a WebGIS that
includes tools for access, display, and
manipulation of geospatial informa-
tion. Te user can display several layers
and control their transparency, besides
selecting diferent types of background
information, such as Google, Virtual
Earth and Yahoo. Te system structure is
divided in three sections:
Tematic maps: In this, geospatial
data include administrative boundaries
for states, meso-regions, micro-regions,
and municipalities; cartographic indi-
ces; path and row for diferent satellites
providing free data; physical layers
(topography, hydrography, basins,
biomes, soils, and agricultural aptitude);
protected areas (conservation units of
sustainable use, integral protection, and
indigenous lands); logistics (waterways,
railroads, and roads); and climate.
Diagnostics: Tis includes land-use and
land cover satellite-derived information
from the Project of Deforestation Moni-
toring of Brazilian Biomes (PMDBBS)
and Project for Deforestation Monitoring
of the Brazilian Amazon . Tere are also
layers generated by users from queries to
the ofcial statistics on Municipal Agri-
cultural Production and Animal Produc-
tion. Depending on the user access level,
other advanced databases and queries
are available, using the SQL syntax.
Monitoring: Dynamic information
derived from satellite data is available,
such as vegetation indices and large
scale agriculture mapping for the entire
country. Examples are the maps indicat-
ing areas of severe drought or precipita-
tion, polygons of agriculture based on
one or two crops per year, and maps
showing pasture degradation levels,
all produced using MODIS (Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)
and SPOT Vegetation time series.
SOMABRASIL is updated regularly
with new information layers and data-
bases generated by Embrapa Satellite
Monitoring or other organisations,
creating new possibilities for the obser-
vation and monitoring of the Brazilian
agriculture.
Mateus Batistella,
Embrapa Satellite Monitoring
51 Geospatial World | September 2013
SOMABRASIL WebGIS interface showing a
query example for municipalities with cat-
tle herds larger than 100,000 heads in 2011
(above) and levels of pasture degradation
(below) in the state of Gois, central Brazil
SOMABRASIL
organises, integrates
and makes geospatial
databases available on
the Web for spatially
explicit analysis and
dynamic visualisation,
thus contributing to
the understanding
of land use and land
cover changes
52 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Case Study
C
limate change, water scarcity
and food security are becoming
increasingly important topics
for the growing population of Africa.
Due to a general lack of water resourc-
es and/or development in the semi-ar-
id and arid zones, water is generally the
limiting factor for agricultural produc-
tion. Smart and afordable technolo-
gies need to be adapted to customise
farm management for farmers with
limited water resources. Te general
challenge is to produce more food with
less water while improving the income
and livelihoods of millions of farmers.
Against this backdrop, Netherlands-
based e-LEAF has developed and
tested innovative technology and
application
services to
supply farm-
ers in Africa
with infor-
mation on
their crops
via mobile
phones and
other smart
ICT modes.
Tis way, the
information
access bar-
rier in rural
Africa can be
lowered and
informed
Smart ICT for weather
and water information
Geospatial technology enables provision of timely and detailed feld-
and crop-specifc information throughout the growing season to
farmers in Africa via mobiles and other smart ICT channels
decision making by smallholder farmer
is enabled regarding the management
of their land and water resources, and
farmers negotiation capacity with
water- and farm-related service provid-
ers enhanced. Rather than providing
general statements on crop growth,
these applications provide timely and
detailed feld- and crop-specifc infor-
mation throughout the growing season,
which supports the farmers in improv-
ing their crop production and their
economic returns/income.
eLEAF supplies reliable, quantitative
data on water and vegetation on any
land surface to support sustainable wa-
ter use, increase food production, and
protect environmental systems.
For the implementation of the Smart
ICT project, four pilot areas located
in West-Noubaria (Egypt), the Arata
Chufa irrigation scheme in Oromiya
(Ethiopia), the spate irrigation area of
the Gash Delta (Sudan) and Ofce du
Niger (Mali) were selected. Information
delivery to the farmers is based on the
conclusions of a user need assessment
which identifed the preferred and most
efective methods of communication
and desired type of information to be
received by the small African farmers.
FieldLook platform and
irrigation planner
Te eLEAF data gives information
about the status of vegetation (crop-
eLEAFs Fieldlook platform enables farmers
to zoom into their crops
53 Geospatial World | September 2013
specifc) at the land surface every week.
During the pilot period, farmers get free
access to information that is com-
puted for their own felds. Tey need to
subscribe to this service by specifying
the digital boundaries of their felds.
Local partners/extensions ofcers
are enhanced to collect the relevant
information from farmers and enter
this in the system. As many farmers in
the pilot areas do not have direct access
to the Internet, the local partner plays
an important role in supporting the in-
dividual farmers to access and interpret
the data.
Te eLEAF FieldLook website
contains an Irrigation Planner ap-
plication, in which farmers can enter
their irrigation amounts on the day of
irrigation. Subsequently, a soil water
balance model is run using weather
forecast data. Tis provides the farmers
with tailormade advice on when they
will have to irrigate next to prevent crop
water stress and avoid wasting water at
the same time.
SMS service
Within each pilot area, 60 pilot farmers
have received a free mobile phone and
instructions on how to use these devic-
es and applications. Tese farmers are
subscribed to the Smart ICT SMS ser-
vice, which was identifed as the most
direct way to get information to the
farmers. Te content of the messages is
based on the FieldLook and Irrigation
Planner information, but converted
into simple text messages to farmers
related to irrigation and fertilisation of
crops. Te messages tell farmers in the
local language about crop water needs,
crop water stress, crop nutrient status,
biomass production and food forecasts
for spate irrigation.
Te service delivers weekly informa-
tion on crop growth and water use ef-
ciency indicating whether those param-
eters are (a) below average, (b) average
and (c) above average
when compared to
neighbouring felds.
Tis allows farmers to
assess the performance
of their felds and crops
in relation to the felds
of their colleagues. In
addition, the system is
highly interactive and
provides on-demand
information, rather
than forcing the mes-
sages upon the farmers.
Farmers can request
irrigation advice from
the Irrigation Planner
by SMS while in the
feld, and can feed the
Irrigation Planner with
data on their irrigated
amount to receive up-
dated advice.
Future perspectives
Te feedback from the
farmers and local partners (agricul-
tural staf) in the pilot areas in the four
African countries is encouraging, which
is a clear indication that there is a great
potential for continuing the agricultural
advisory services in the current pilot
areas and in other African countries.
During the pilot, farmers have become
acquainted with eLEAF-enabled appli-
cations and services and local partners
have learned to interpret the data,
translate it into improved farm man-
agement practices, which has shown to
have positive impact on crop produc-
tion and efciency of water use.
As eLEAF data can provide valuable
insights in a wide variety of crop spe-
cifc information and is not restricted
by political borders, it is a suitable basis
for developing mobile agricultural ap-
plications throughout Africa.
Courtesy: eLEAF
Te eLEAF FieldLook
Website contains an
Irrigation Planner
application which
provides the farmer
with tailor-made
advice on when he
will have to irrigate
next to prevent crop
water stress and avoid
wasting water at the
same time
Te eLEAF SMS service delivers weekly
information to farmers on crop growth
and water use efciency
54 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Case Study
I
ndia is a vast country with total
geographical area of 328 million
hectares (Mha) and a net sown
area of 142 Mha. Out of this, over 85
Mha is under rainfed cultivation which
is the domain of Central Research
Institute for Dryland Agriculture
(CRIDA), a constituent of ICAR,
Ministry of Agriculture, Government
of India. Te government has assigned
top priority for developing rainfed
agriculture under the XII Five Year
Plan through the use of biotechnology
and declaring a National Mission on
Sustainable Agriculture.
CRIDA has research programmes
to address various issues, including
soil and water conservation through
watershed development projects,
water harvesting structures, study of
agro-climatic situation, development
of crops to withstand drought and
shorter length of growing windows,
soil fertility improvement, increas-
ing carbon sequestration, increasing
biomass availability for incorporation
in soils, pest management and a host
of others. Geospatial tools are used in a
host of these research programmes.
Watershed-based development
Te Watershed Development Pro-
gramme is a major strategy for soil and
water conservation in rainfed regions
and is implemented across major agro-
climatic or agro-ecological regions in
the country. Changes in land use and
land cover cause degradation, which
requires restoration through interven-
tions. Geospatial tools help in carrying
out these tasks through land-use plan-
ning based on land capability and suit-
ability, watershed-based development,
soil and water conservation, locating
water harvesting structures and farm
ponds to improve water supply for rain-
fed agriculture, use of vegetation index
to study crop condition, plant vigour,
pest and diseases, soil fertility status,
yield estimation etc, in addition to cli-
mate change studies and modelling.
Watershed-based development is
critical for the fragile rainfed agro-
ecosystems and hence a number of
projects have been implemented since
1980s. During the XI Five Year Plan
(2002-2007), it was felt that the guide-
lines for implementation of watershed
projects required to be revised. Tis
prompted a geomatics-based research
study to develop methodology for
assessing sustainability of watershed
projects in rainfed agro-ecological-sub-
regions in India. Te CRIDA project
undertook to develop a procedure for
monitoring and evaluation of wa-
tershed projects using sustainability
indicators to be measured by geospatial
tools. Eight treated and untreated wa-
tersheds in Rangareddy and Nalgonda
districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh
were selected for monitoring and evalu-
ation. While the usage of GIS, satellite
data and GPS are routine features in
Geospatial tools for
rainfed agriculture
Indias Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture uses geospatial data and
tools to identify and establish trends to promote rainfed agriculture
55 Geospatial World | September 2013
delineation of watersheds and their
development, their use for carrying out
an objective post-facto monitoring and
evaluation by a third-party after exit by a
project implementing agency was new.
Te study helped to identify 12 critical
indicators for sustainable development
of watershed projects. Spatial evaluation
of the watershed projects indicated that
in the selected districts, sustainable ag-
riculture was being practised on 29-43%
of the land in treated micro-watersheds.
Rainfed agriculture in the untreated
watersheds was found to be lagging, un-
derlining the utility of watershed projects.
Use of geomatics helped in developing an
objective evaluation procedure in addi-
tion to measuring sustainability .
Effects of climate change
Sustainability of rainfed agriculture is
threatened by climate change. ICAR car-
ried out a study for assessing agricultural
vulnerability at the agro-eco-sub-region
and district level in the country using
a vegetation index. An analysis of the
Normalized Diference Vegetation Index
(NDVI) time-series data showed varia-
tions, indicating the impact of climate
change on vegetation growth and vigour.
Vulnerable districts were identifed for
developing climate-resilient technolo-
gies. Variations in NDVI were correlated
to standard precipitation index instead
of the actual daily rainfall to study the
impact of extreme weather events like
drought, food, heat and cold waves,
cyclone, untimely rain, etc.
National Agricultural Statistics per-
taining to agricultural production, yield
and net sown area were analysed to
corroborate results obtained from study
of NDVI variations. All these information
helped to identify agriculturally vulnera-
ble regions in rainfed areas. It was found
that over 92.98 Mha area in India expe-
rienced decreasing trend in NDVI while
there was no change on 25.2 Mha. An
increasing trend of NDVI was recorded
on 183.96 Mha. Geographically
decreasing trends in NDVI was
noticed in the Western Ghats,
Orissa and Chattisgarh regions
of the country, the Northeast
states and in lower Himala-
yas in Himachal Pradesh and
southern Kashmir.
Overall there was an im-
provement in vegetation cover
in the country. In 56 districts
covering 30.93 Mha, a de-
crease in vegetative cover was
registered, while in 41 districts
with 22.25 Mha, there was no
perceptible change in NDVI. In
457 districts accounting for over
249 Mha, a positive trend in
NDVI was registered. An analy-
sis of the Standard Precipitation
Index indicated that while the
regions of Deccan, West Bengal,
Bihar, parts of northeast states,
western Rajasthan and western J&K
were receiving more rainfall, large parts
such as the Indo-Gangetic Plain and
Arunachal Pradesh were receiving less
than normal precipitation.
Conclusion
Geospatial data and tools were funda-
mental in the above studies and helped
identify and establish certain trends for
the beneft of rainfed agriculture in In-
dia. At present, commercial software like
ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine are being
used while an increasing need is being
felt for the use of open-source GIS soft-
ware and improved access to global and
national datasets. While the National
Remote Sensing Centre under ISRO is
committed to supply free archived data,
there is a need to develop tailored data
like the GIMMS and MODIS datasets for
public use in the country.
Dr Kausalya Ramachandran, Principal
Scientist & ICAR National Fellow,
CRIDA- ICAR, kausalya@crida.in
Irrigated & Rainfed Districts In India
Irrigated
Rainfed
Data not available
Snow-clad mountain
Source: Dept of Stat & DoA (GoI 2001-2007)
56 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Case Study
T
he Rural Transformation
Centre (RTC) is an initiative of
the Malaysian government to
optimise the potential of rural areas
and streamline development activities
for the beneft of the people. RTC is a
mechanism under the Rural Transfor-
mation Programme which was initiated
in 2011. Te objective was nationwide
establishment of RTCs to expand
economic activities that were previ-
ously concentrated in urban areas such
as the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor
further into rural areas.
RTCs had the aim to serve as centres
of logistics integration, processing
and distribution of agricultural
products, and were
equipped with
facilities such
as banking and
insurance, training
centres, clinics and retail
space. Tis programme was
implemented through eight initia-
tives: skills training for rural people,
setting up of information kiosks,
encouraging value-added agriculture,
processing of agro-
foods, managing the
agricultural supply chain,
providing fnancing facilities,
food safety and pharmaceutical
services, and cooperation of higher
education institutions.
Profling agricultural
activities through GIS
Te Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority of Malaysia uses GIS
to understand the needs of the rural population and ascertain
the number of agricultural producers and the volume of
produce near rural centres
Proling the players through GIS
In order to understand the needs of
the rural population and have out-
reach programmes for their benefts,
it was necessary to gather data about
the current situation and the expected
outcomes.
Accordingly, a study carried out
by the Federal Agricultural Market-
ing Authority (FAMA) of Malaysia in
2012, sought to obtain the locations
and profles of various target groups
within a radius of 15 km from the Perak
RTC. Among the information that
needed to be mapped were locations
of agricultural produce areas, FAMA
marketing infrastructure, government
departments/agencies, local authori-
ties, fnancial institutions, marketing
institutions, higher learning institutions
and demographics.
Tis mapping would facilitate gov-
ernment departments and agencies in
reaching the specifc target groups that
needed their assistance.
During the process of determining
the research framework, it was decided
that GIS tools would be utilised as GIS
has the capability to synchronise the
information from spatial databases with
attribute databases. Tis would enable
the visualisation of the information col-
lected in an easy-to-understand format
and provide all the details required by
policymakers.
Receiving satellite information via
hand-held devices
57 Geospatial World | September 2013
Tis study was carried out from Jan-
uary 6 to February 10, 2012, involving
12 ofcers divided into four groups.
Te division of labour was instru-
mental in ensuring that all the impor-
tant areas were covered in the lowest
possible time and costs.
Te methodology involved mapping
in the areas identifed. Handheld GPS
devices were used to plot the coordi-
nates of locations of the activities as set
out earlier in the scope of the study.
Data processing ow of GIS
Te data plotted were divided into a few
categories:
Producers such as individual farms,
cluster farms, contract farms and
small and medium enterprises
FAMA marketing infrastructure such
as farmers markets and fresh fruit
stalls
Ofces of government departments/
agencies and local authorities
Financial and banking institutions
Marketing institutions such as hy-
permarkets, markets, night markets,
day markets, retail outlets, wholesale
outlets, restaurants and eateries, bak-
eries, mini markets, catering services,
fruit shops and nurseries
Demographics such as housing areas
and villages
Basic background data of the re-
spondents such as names, telephone
numbers and addresses were also col-
lected and entered into the devices for
records and future reference.
Conclusions
After the location coordinates were
collected, the relevant data were
transferred from the GPS devices to
computers and then processed, which
involved diferential corrections on
distance estimations. Maps were then
produced to assist in disseminating
the information to would-be-users and
decision makers.
From this study, FAMA was able to
successfully map 949 plots, covering a
radius of 15 km from RTC Gopeng in
Perak region.
Out of this total, the biggest number
consisted of marketing institutions with
a total plot number of 510. Tere were
123 learning institutions, 108 ofces of
government departments/agencies/
local authorities, 18 fnancial/banking
institutions, 31 demographics (hous-
ing areas and villages), 154 agricultural
producers and 5 FAMA marketing
infrastructures.
As a result of this study, FAMA was
able to identify the activities in the
surrounding areas and devise strate-
gies to reach out to these target groups
in order to hasten economic growth
in the vicinity of the RTC. It was also
possible to ascertain the number of
agricultural producers and the volume
of produce which may be tapped to
establish supply linkages with the RTC.
In addition, the data was shared with
other government departments and
agencies which were involved with the
RTC programme.
Bisant Kaur, Mohd Hafz Mohd Adnan,
Azian Abd. Rahim
Market Information Division, Federal
Agricultural Marketing Authority,
Malaysia
Map of plot locations from profling study
carried out within a radius of 15 km from
RTC Gopeng, Perak
Te study enabled
FAMA to identify
agricultural activities
in specifc areas and
devise strategies to
reach out to target
groups for hastening
economic growth
58 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Case Study
A
griculture is the key to Indo-
nesias economy, contributing
around 15% to the GDP while
farm labour accounts for up to 43% of
total national employment. To facilitate
sustainable development in agriculture,
the government in Indonesia has in-
vested more than $7 million annually in
launching diverse grant-in-aid projects.
In addition to agriculture policies,
the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is
responsible for developing a fair trading
system in agricultural commodities and
enhancing production through provid-
ing agriculturists with proper funding,
seeds, insecticide, etc.
To obtain and manage spatial in-
formation of each farmland correctly,
GIS feld survey for agri
planning & development
Indonesias Ministry of Agriculture has developed an Agriculture Field Survey
System using GIS solutions to efectively operate agriculture and funding
schemes to precisely record, measure and publish data
the MoA developed an Agriculture Field
Survey System with mapping solutions
that are available in mobile devices,
desktop, and server applications to help
maximise feld productivity, perform
data editing and analysis, as well as
integrate and share the latest spatial data
and GIS services across the sector.
Te Agriculture Field Survey System
allows the MoA to overcome the disad-
vantages of the traditional paper-and-
pencil survey mode, complete data
collection of crop types and conditions,
and perform precise measurement of
farmland size in each district. As a result,
the agency can efectively manage
farmlands and crops, reduce the cost
of unnecessary waste of resources, and
formulate feasible funding and agricul-
tural development plans with accurate
and up-to-date data.
Te desktop GIS software helps
the MoA easily visualise and analyse
feld data, ensuring that the integrated
agricultural data is updated and man-
aged through enterprise geodatabase.
Besides, server GIS also serves as a full-
function platform for data synchronisa-
tion, management, and sharing. Tere-
fore, the cost of data duplication and
storage could be signifcantly reduced.
For data capture, the Agriculture
Field Survey System enables survey-
ors throughout the country to smartly
measure farmland areas, add attributes,
and take pictures for crops using mobile
Stretches of rice felds in Indonesia
C
o
u
r
t
e
s
y
:

w
w
w
.
t
h
e
d
r
i
f
t
i
n
g
w
i
n
e
m
a
k
e
r
.
c
o
m
59 Geospatial World | September 2013
GIS and GPS tools. It also ensures that
newly collected agricultural data can be
uploaded and well managed on server,
bringing MoA the real situation of felds,
crops, and pesticides in order to make
better decisions in encouraging the
domestic farming community.
Custom GIS solutions for
data management
Te Agriculture Field Survey System
is built on mobile, desktop, and server
software to fulfll diverse project require-
ments. In addition to overlaying layers,
editing features, and geo-tagging photos
in the feld, mobile GIS technology of-
fers an easy-to-use manipulation mode,
localised user-interface for Indonesian
users to reduce labour costs and increase
feld productivity.
Te mobile application also en-
hances the connection with the server,
so the ofcers in central ofce in Jakarta
can view the surveyed data uploaded
from mobile to server side via Internet
connection. A customised website is
also developed for the central ofcers
to examine the data reliability in real
time, facilitating decision making more
promptly and accurately.
In addition, the desktop application
is used to visualise, manage, and process
agricultural data of each province. Te
integrated layers can be published as
map services through the server to be
the base-referenced maps once feld
workers update the collected data. Te
desktop GIS software supports MS SQL
Server and Oracle Spatial, ensuring that
multiple users are able to access and
edit the data simultaneously.
Te custom server GIS platform in-
creases the MoAs ability to systematical-
ly monitor and manage felds and crops
by accessing dynamic vector data and
raster data and using various front-end
applications such as customised Super-
Pad, SuperGIS Desktop, Web applica-
tions to view, query, and update data
and maps online with ease. Diferent
GIS platforms are combined together to
assist in policy-making.
Conclusion
With growing population and food
demand around the world, sustainable
agriculture becomes crucial to increase
food production and reduce environ-
ment degradation. Good decision
making and management is the key to
agricultural productivity. Te goal of
the project is not only to support MoAs
eforts using GIS solutions to efectively
monitor farmland situation but also to
yield agricultural and environmental
improvement in Indonesia.
Te comprehensive GIS solutions
enables the government to take wise
decisions on granting funds as well
as promote efciency in developing
subsidy policies for development
in agriculture.
Courtesy: Supergeo Technologies
Te workfow of agriculture feld survey system
Performance measurement of polygons via browsers
Te goal of the project
is not only to support
the governments
eforts in using GIS
to efectively monitor
farmland situation
but also to facilitate
agricultural and
environmental
sustainability in
the country
60 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Case Study
Monitoring agricultural
lands via remote sensing
A Russian company automates the process of data collection to improve the
management of agricultural lands and decrease the cost for land monitoring
I
n a bid to allow the government,
enterprises and farmers to get most
credible information about agricul-
tural lands in Russia, Sovzond Company
enabled FSUE, the main computer
centre of Ministry of Agriculture of Rus-
sia, implement the system of state land
monitoring in 2011-2012. Te system
consists of two subsystems; the agricul-
tural lands atlas and the remote sensing
monitoring system of agricultural lands.
Agricultural Lands Atlas (ALA)
Federal GIS Agricultural Lands Atlas
(Federal GIS ALA) was created for the
Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian
Federation in order to provide govern-
ment bodies and local authorities, legal
entities and individuals with up-to-date
information about agricultural lands.
Te ALA consists of four main parts:
Survey feld data
collection system
based on GNSS re-
ceivers and Mobile
GIS platform: Mo-
bile GIS is used for
vegetation survey
and agrochemical
inspections. Te
Topcon GRS-1 was
purchased for agro-
chemical special-
ists. Te specialists
go to the felds
every year to collect
data and fll in the
form using these receivers. After this the
specialists in the ofce only have to enter
the collected data into the geodatabase
without any additional processing.
Storage of remote sensing data:
Satellite images serve as the basis for ag-
ricultural land mapping and automated
interpretation of vegetation condition.
Remote sensing data is downloaded as
map services in ArcGIS (or other GIS
clients/applications) or as geotif fles
using the portal download instruments.
Agricultural lands geodatabase: It is
used for automatic update of the central
storage by exchanging data with agro-
chemists. Specialists digitise the felds
borders using satellite images and fll in
attribute data using rich client of ArcGIS
Desktop and extra module for data quality
control. Tis module prevents errors in at-
tribute data. Tis kind of data is collected
by 110 agrochemical service ofces over
the whole territory of Russia.
Web-interface (geoportal): It is
designed for data publication. Having
logged in, all interested users can ac-
cess the data which is stored in central
geodatabase. It is also possible to make
reports about the area of interest.
Up-to-date remote sensing data,
spanning across the area of 580,000 sq
km, was provided by RapidEye satellites
for the purpose of agricultural lands
inventorying and monitoring of local
agrochemical services.
Te following features are provided
for web application users:
Web-based interface of agricultural lands
61 Geospatial World | September 2013
Viewing satellite imagery data, special
and thematic agricultural maps
of diferent detail levels (types of
agricultural lands, cultivated crops,
reclaimed lands, degraded agricul-
tural lands, etc.).
Map navigation and scaling.
Viewing information about the sites
depicted on maps.
Searching for sites according to
desired search conditions: name of
a settlement, district, region or geo-
graphic coordinates.
Creating reports on the condition of
agricultural lands at all detail levels
(from a feld to a federal district).
Field flter based on diferent criteria.
Te ALA operates on ArcGIS for
Server software platform as well as
ArcGIS for Desktop with an additional
module agrochemical service tool.
Remote Sensing Monitoring Sys-
tem of Agricultural Lands (SDMZ)
Te Remote Sensing Monitoring System
is developed to provide important
information for planning, control and
management of agro-industrial com-
plex of Russia on the basis of advanced
remote sensing data. Te frst stage of
the Remote Sensing Monitoring System
implementation was presented in three
regions; Volgograd Oblast, Voronezh
Oblast and Tambov Oblast.
Te Remote Sensing Monitoring Sys-
tem includes 5 cycles of remote sensing
of all agricultural lands (the period from
April till November) and fnally will cover
about 4,000,000 sq km of agricultural
areas of the Russian Federation.
Te received information is extracted
from satellite data (UK-DMC-2, Dei-
mos-1, Nigeriasat-X, RapidEye) along
with data from other sources. It allows
identifying valuable crop features used
for the statistical assessment at all levels
of the system: winter and spring crop
land areas evaluation, germination rate
and maturity estimation, evaluation of
total area of arable lands,
harvesting rate estimation,
identifcation of abandoned
and overgrown felds, deter-
mination of soil moisture and
identifcation of eroded soils.
Remote sensing system is
operated fve times a season
according to the main stages in the
growing period:
Te early-spring vegetation stage -
estimation of winter crops state after
overwintering.
Te late spring vegetation stage - esti-
mation of winter crops state, assess-
ment of spring crops germination.
Te middle summer vegetation stage
monitoring of winter crops harvest-
ing, estimation of spring crops state.
Te autumn vegetation stage moni-
toring of spring crops harvesting.
Te pre-winter vegetation stage as-
sessment of winter crops germination.
Te Remote Sensing Monitoring
System of Agricultural Lands includes
the following subsystems:
Automated RS data supply.
Automated RS data processing.
Creation of statistic reports.
Field data input and data processing
for detection of crops characteristics.
Automated crops type detection.
Automated determination of results of
winter and spring crops harvesting.
A geoportal has been created with
user-friendly interface for experts and
specialists of the Ministry of Agriculture,
as well as for farmers and agronomists,
with diferent levels of network access
to the information. Automation of data
collection and processing allows increas-
ing the rates of vegetation and soil data
collection as well as the quality of the
acquired data. It also decreases the cost
for land monitoring and improves the ef-
fectiveness of agricultural lands manage-
ment in Russia.
Courtesy: Sovzond
Detailed feld information
Te Remote Sensing
Monitoring System
includes 5 cycles of
remotely sensing of
all agricultural lands
and covers about
4,000,000
sq km of agricultural
areas of the Russian
Federation
62 Geospatial World | September 2013
Agriculture | Case Study
B
razil is the largest sugarcane
producer in the world. Most of
its farms are located in the city
of So Paulo, where processing plants
produce sugar and ethanol. One of
them is Guara Sugar Mill, an award
winning mill and electricity producer.
Founded in 1981, Guara distillers
started out producing 120,000 litres of
ethanol a day. Today, 2,700 workers pro-
duce 480,000 litres and 1,000 tonnes of
sugar per day. Te produce is supplied
across the Brazilian, European, African,
Smart agriculture is helping ethanol and sugar producers in Brazil
increase crop yields and optimise the performance of workers and
machines through improved production logistics and plantation
designs based on available land, topography and ideal planting time
Middle Eastern, Chinese and Russian
markets. Te processing ensures every
part of the cane is used. Te wet waste
of the distillery is returned to the feld
to be used as composite fertiliser, while
the dry waste fuels an electric power
generator. Te generator makes the mill
self-sufcient in, and its surplus is sold
to the electric grid.
The challenge
A typical cane stalk is approximately
3-metre high and is 70% water. Its stems
Optimising sugarcane
crops with precision
agriculture
63 Geospatial World | September 2013
can be harvested for fve to six years, if
managed correctly. However, harvest
productivity can be quite a challenge
without proper irrigation or preci-
sion agriculture. Maximising harvest
potential also means keeping harvest-
ing machines from running over the
plant lines and killing the cane stems.
Te use of an autopilot in the machines
can reduce this loss, but without proper
interpretation and handling of the line
information, this beneft is limited.
The solution
Te growing demand for ethanol in a
highly competitive market has created a
perfect opportunity for the early adop-
tion of precision agriculture. Hexagons
Smart Agriculture solution not only op-
timises the utilisation of land and water,
but also ensures maximum benefts of
fertilisers, pesticides, seeds and other
farming resources.
Utilising geo-processing software
from Intergraph and steering solutions
from Leica Geosystems two of Hexa-
gons leading brands Guara Sugar
Mill kept abreast of crop management
and production through digital work-
fows created from geo-enabled data.
With the analysed information, action
could be taken to optimise processes
and increase efciencies, thereby im-
proving crop yields and saving costs. Te
Intergraph GeoMedia software helped
Guara Sugar Mill map all its land in a
geo-referenced database with precise
representation of feld limits, water
resources, roads and infrastructure for
electricity and waste management. Te
topography of the land was optimised to
create manageable farming areas.
Initially, planting lines should fol-
low the topography of the terrain to
guarantee a proper water supply for the
sugarcane. Smart Agriculture helped
the mills designer in creating multiple
line alternatives and selecting the best
set of lines to be sent to the autopilots.
Te system could estimate the time and
fuel needed for each feld operation and
provided better precision and reliability
for planting, harvesting and pulverisa-
tion. By integrating with the automatic
pilot, Guara Sugar Mill was able to
increase the number of lines for crop
rows, increasing the amount of sugar-
cane produced.
Te process for automatically
generating crop row lines has improved
dramatically, says Alfredo Barbosa
Neto, coordinator of geo-technology at
Rosrio Farm, a branch of Guara Sugar
Mill. We used to waste a lot of time on
each project. Now, we take only a few
minutes. Te planting team has more
time to analyse all the projects and
check for accuracy.
Benets
Smart Agriculture maximised the use
of land by increasing the number of
lines per hectare with a rational design.
It enabled faster decision making with
ease of access to geographic plantation
information. Te lines could be stored
for reuse in future harvesting, fertilising
and pest control.
During the 2011-12 harvest, Guara
Sugar Mill achieved an average produc-
tivity of 82.4 tonne per hectare on a four-
year-old plantation. Tis was 23% higher
than 68.29 tonne per hectare, the average
Brazilian productivity in sugarcane for
the same period.
With Smart Agriculture, it is now
possible to have a geospatial view of the
entire plot area before initialising the
work, saving both time and fuel, said
Neto. By using this new technology, we
have already projected more than 2,000
hectare of planting area. Imagine the
number of additional plants this software
will generate for all the farms owned by
Guara Sugar Mill.
Dr Jos Eduardo Deboni, R&D
Manager, Sisgraph
Smart agriculture
maximised the
use of land by
increasing the
number of lines
per hectare with
a rational design.
It enabled faster
decision making
with ease of access
to geographic
plantation
information
64 Geospatial World | September 2013
Geospatial technology is
integral to Latin Americas
slow yet steady growth
process in the face of
a global slowdown. As
the region gears up
for the next level in
terms of infrastructure,
industrial growth and
competitiveness, the
g-factor is fast becoming
a big factor
Special Feature | Latin America
I
n a frst common spatial initiative for the developing
world, 32 countries in Latin America and Caribbean
have joined hands to develop a joint Spatial Data
Infrastructure (SDI) for the entire region. Te multi-
million dollar project, funded by the Development Bank
of Latin America and various governments, is being seen
as an efective mechanism to support decision-making,
regional integration and a fundamental support for infra-
structure and sustainable development in the region.
Economic growth
Latin America has steered clear of the global slowdown and
recorded a growth rate of 3% for 2012 and 2013 compared to
the global GDP growth rate of 2.3%. However, global factors
like global slowdown and fuctuating commodity prices have
been spoilers. Tere are other homegrown factors too. For
instance, export of manufactured goods in 2011 from Europe
and US, respectively, were 80% and 76% of the total exports.
In South America, this rate was 24%, not much better than the
African average of 19%, establishing a clear weakness of the
region in manufactured goods. Experts feel there needs to be
more coordination in policies for improved fnancing condi-
tions and more support for training of workforce.
In such a back-
ground, quick, reliable
and transparent informa-
tion about resources for
demographic growth, and
further analysis and decisions
can optimise processes. Geospa-
tial is known to be great enabler be
it for the private sector in reading
the trends or for governments efective
planning. Geospatial technologies today
encompasses virtually all felds of eco-
nomic activity, and is therefore the key in
the promotion of sustainable economic
development, says Alexandre Derani,
Director, Digibase, a Brazilian company
providing solutions in surveying
and delivery of custom maps. Concurs
Maurcio Aveiro, President, OrbiSat, a Brazil-based
company specialising in radars: Geotechnology is responsi-
ble for the initial information needed to analyse the feasibility
of a project. A country that needs development shall provide
accurate geographic information to enable new investments.
LatAm calling
65 Geospatial World | September 2013
The G factor
Geospatial experts agree the region has
huge business potential and ofers a
large number of opportunities for the
development of infrastructure, applica-
tions and consolidation of spatial infor-
mation. Te use of modern positioning
technologies based on navigation satel-
lites is a reality in many countries. So is
the use of remote sensing data com-
bined with processing and analysis for
decision making, underlines Luiz Paulo
Souto Fortes, President of CP-IDEA,
the Standing Committee that operates
under the UN guidance for establishing
policies and standards for developing a
regional cartographic model.
Tanks mainly to their space pro-
grammes, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico
have recorded signifcant development
in geospatial programmes. Colombia
and Venezuela are moving in the same
direction. Major industry players esti-
mate the growth of the geospatial sector
in Latin America is around 20% against
a global growth rate of 10%.
Te reasons are not difcult to
guess. Te steady economic growth in
the region and a growing awareness of
the importance of geography are at-
tracting huge investments from global
geospatial players. Latin America is a
very diverse marketplace with difering
cultures and economies, says Fernando
Schmiegelow, Marketing Director,
South America, Hexagon. Te company
sees excellent possibilities for growth
and has diferent business models and
commercial channels throughout the
continent.
In 2012, Trimble invested $3 million
to set up its frst unit at Campinas in
Brazil. After selling its products in the
country for the last 10 years, with its
own unit, Trimble now looks to partner
with local players for developing inte-
grated projects.
Te increasing value of land informa-
tion in all countries is driving the devel-
opment of small and medium domestic
industries to create [geospatial] products
and services tailored to the habits and
customs of each place, adds Claudio
Brunini, President of SIRGAS, the main
articulator of geodesic activity performed
over 50 institutions on the region.
Spatial Data Infrastructure
Advances in survey and mapping in
several countries highlight the maturity
of the geospatial community here. De-
cision makers now hesitate to imagine
spatial information as a sheet of paper
fxed in time. Tey want to view it as an
entity made up of digital layers which
are constantly changing, says Brunini,
from SIRGAS.
All big countries have launched their
National SDI initiatives, with the most
recent one being Map Viewer Digital
Chile, which publishes data and maps
for decision makers. Tis is the frst
Web platform with land information of
the entire country led by the Territorial
Characterization Project and the Na-
tional Land Information System (SNIT).
Georeferencing is essential [for devel-
opment and policy implementation]. It
is a huge industry that involves around
$200-billion business. Te platform has
to be fed constantly and we hope it will
be of great help, says Rodrigo Perez, the
minister in-charge of the project.
Colombia released Version 2.0 of
the Portal Maps of Bogota in June. Te
portal has over 700 layers including
building information, health, educa-
tion, planning, roadways and public
areas, points out Gustavo Petro, Mayor
of Bogota.
Peru is also working on developing
a geoportal to make available all such
data online. Te use of geospatial tools
in Peru has been rapidly increasing in
various public and private institutions
as well the academic world, says Jess
Vargas, Cartographic Chief of the Na-
tional Geographic Institute (IGN) Peru.
No. of countries: 20
Population: 590 mn
% of Urban population: 80
Growth rate in 2012: 3%
GDP invested in infrastructure:
2.1%
This means an investment of $511
bn by 2015
Investment of $185 bn a year
needed to meet current demand
Fact File
66 Geospatial World | September 2013
Similarly, Venezuela is working on maps for
major urban areas of the country (at 1:1,000 and
1:2,500 scale). Till date, mapping has been done
for 51 towns, informs Jonathan Ochoa, General
Manager of the Venezuelan Institute of Geo-
graphic Simon Bolva (IGVSB). Te institute is
also working on updating maps at 1:25,000 in 21
states, part of a plan to address the demand for
planialtimtric information update. Te project
combines data from Satellite Miranda, radar
technology and photogrammetry.
Both Brazil and Mexico are the biggest users
of geospatial technology and have Websites with
open data about their territory. Te Brazilian
SDI was set up in 2008 and ofers a number of
services, including an online map viewer that
allows developing interactive maps in raster
and vector formats. Mexicos National Institute
of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) is also the
coordinator of the National System on Geo-
graphic and Statistic Information (SNIEG) since
2006. Te portal focuses on providing qualitative
information that is relevant, accurate and timely,
in order to contribute to national development.
Te El Salvador National Geographic Insti-
tute (NGI) is one of the frst agencies in the re-
gion to launch a cloud-based map service. It is
making available only a selected set of national
base maps in the frst phase, but plans to add
many more datasets in near future.
Many of these institutes have completed
global map datasets and are planning to switch
to global standards and higher resolution data.
Terefore, the next logical step is to coordinate
data integration across international bounda-
ries, build regional applications, and develop
higher resolution datasets at 1:250,000 and
1:50,000 scale, say experts. Participatory region-
al coordination of mapping activities is essential
to ensure long-term data compatibility.
Regional SDI
Te common SDI project has come at an op-
portune time. While advanced countries like
Brazil and Mexico have their own SDI to facili-
tate data and information sharing, some are in
the beginning stage. Te common SDI will host
current and accurate geoinformation for all.
We are setting the foundations for a com-
mon SDI for the Latin America and Caribbean
region, says Eric van Praag, Regional Coordi-
nator of GeoSUR. Te process is on to identify
successful initiatives and the joint plan will
look at putting together all such eforts.
Launched in November 2012, the Joint Ac-
tion Plan 2013-2015 to accelerate the Devel-
opment of Spatial Data Infrastructure for the
Americas aims to consolidate the activities of
Pan American Institute of Geography and His-
tory (IPGH), Geocentric Reference System for
the Americas (SIRGAS), Permanent Committee
for Geospatial Data Infrastructure for the Ameri-
cas (CP-IDEA) and Geospatial Network Latin
America and the Caribbean (GeoSUR). While
IPGH will act in cartographic capacity, SIRGAS
will work with the geodesic framework; CP-
IDEA will act as the political regional manager
and the GEOSUR will develop applications.
Tese entities are already contributing to
the UNGGIM initiative in the Americas. Its
better if we work together in pursuing the de-
velopment of SDI to support the use of spatial
information for sustainable development, says
Santiago Borrero, General Secretary of IPGH.
Te goal is to maximise the economic, social
and environmental impacts from the use of geo-
spatial information, starting from the knowledge
and exchange of experiences and technologies,
and based on common standards, says Luiz
Paulo Souto Fortes, president of CP-IDEA.
Land & cadastre
Te turn of the millennium was characterised
by great social, economic and political changes
in Latin America. Among others, these led to the
conceptualisation of the territory as a must for
economic and social development and political
sustainability. Te concept multiplied the need
for information required by governments to
implement social and economic policies.
With nearly 80% of its population in cities,
Latin America is one of the most urbanised
regions in the world. However, the collective
defcit of around 51 million housing units is one
of the main problems to be overcome, according
to a UN-Habitat report State of the Cities of Latin
America and the Caribbean 2012 .
Several bottlenecks need to be overcome to

Geotechnology is
responsible for the
initial information
needed to analyse
the feasibility
of a project. A
country that needs
development shall
provide accurate
geographic
information
to enable new
investments
Mauricio Aveiro,
President, Orbisat

Its better if
we pursue the
development of
an SDI as our
main objective, to
support the use of
spatial information
in the context
of sustainable
development
Santiago Borrero,
General Secretary, IPGH
Special Feature | Latin America
67 Geospatial World | September 2013
build the land administration system for better urban plan-
ning. Tese include archaic property identifcation systems,
inappropriate policies, lack of technical knowhow and inad-
equate capacities.
In Mexico, the government is working on a $1.7-million
Programme for Modernisation and Linking Property Public
Records and Cadastre. Te Congress is also discussing a law
that addresses the issue of public real estate records and
municipal land registers to provide the basis for generat-
ing a detailed and transparent digital list of properties.
Proponents agree that such a law, if enacted, will have a
far-reaching impact on public fnances, particularly in the
collection of taxes, ensuring legal certainties, attracting
investments and fghting crime. It has the same impact of
structural reform without being one, notes Manuel Nunez
Velasco, Economic Adviser to the Mexican Senate.
Brazil has a mature cadastre system. Te National
Institute for Agrarian Colonisation (INCRA) is responsible
for maintaining rural property records. Te Land Manage-
ment System (SIGEF) receives information in an automated
form. Until mid 2012, an average of 20 certifed property
registrations were issued per day, which has risen up to 140.
SIGEF is an electronic tool designed to welcome, validate,
organise and provide georeferenced data of rural proper-
ties. Te challenge now is to ofer a service that not only
keeps the record, but also plans for the future, says Carlos
Guedes, president of INCRA.
Another project, the Rural Environmental Cadastre
(CAR), involves the use of high-resolution satellite im-
ages to mark the perimeter of the farms across the country
and their online registration. A total of $28.9 million was
invested in 2012 for acquiring high-resolution satellite
images of up to 5-metre resolution for the entire country,
which is used as a basis for CAR. It was the largest acquisi-
tion of satellite images from Brazil and one of the largest
in the world, provides for the registration of more than 5
million farms, and when implemented will be the largest
programme of carbon sequestration on the planet, empha-
sises George Porto Ferreira, Coordinator of Environmental
Monitoring at IBAMA, the Brazilian agency to combat
deforestation.
Venezuelas National Land Programme is almost to-
wards the end of its frst phase and has consolidated much
of the target areas in the form of cartographic, geodetic, ca-
dastral and collateral impact of social actions. Te next step
is to establish a period of review and analysis of the results,
procedures and strategies adopted during the initial phase
to perform the necessary adjustments based on
past lessons.
B
razil will invest around 4% of its GDP, totalling $250 billion, over the period
of ve years, in infrastructural development for 2014 World Cup and 2016
Olympics Games. The Ministry of Sports, Brazil has already spent around $14
billion to upgrade the public resources for the upcoming grand events. The invest-
ment is scattered over 51 projects across 12 cities which will host the games.
Out of these, 35 are infrastructure projects for transportation and urban mobility.
According to the government, this expenditure is within the overall budget for the
World Cup. It is estimated that around $22 billion of $17 billion will be invested
in the city of Rio de Janeiro alone for the major sporting events. The organisers
of both the games explain that the government investments are planned mainly
for the countrys infrastructure, urban mobility, stadiums, airports, transporta-
tion and communications, among other areas directly connected to the events.
Private investments are more concentrated towards the tourism sector, especially
construction of new hotels.
According to a study by Ita Unibanco, on the economic benets realised
with the help of these major sporting events, a positive impact of 1.5% to the
GDP of Brazil is predicted in the next three years, with the creation of at least
250,000 direct jobs in various sectors. The direct impact of investments in
infrastructure, both by government and the private sector, is adding 1% to
the GDP. Preparations for the World Cup is giving a multiplier effect to the
economy, says Ilan Goldfajn, President, Itau bank.
Astrium is providing satellite images of the construction and renovation works
being carried out at various stadiums in Brazil, in an initiative of its own.
The population needs to monitor the management of these resources. The
government buys some images to monitor the progress of work being done but
do not have a regular supply. The great demand is still to come, says Pierre
Duquesne, President, Astrium company.
Besides infrastructure, 14 Command and Control Centres will be set up (two
national and 12 in the World Cup host cities). These centres will offer modern
technology solutions like air imaging devices and observation decks providing real
time updates. After the events, these centres will be linked to support technological
and telecommunication integration to police, which is highlighted as one of the
most important legacy that will be left for the country.
Brazil on a roll with mega sporting events
68 Geospatial World | September 2013
Infrastructure
Latin America has a long way to go in terms of
putting in world class infrastructure. Accord-
ing to a report, Designing the infrastructure in
Latin America: the Next Five Years, by CG/LA
Infrastructure, 2.1% of Latin Americas GDP
is invested in infrastructure, which means an
investment of $511 billion by 2015. Tis is just
enough to operate and maintain the old matrix.
Tere must be an investment of $185 billion a
year to meet current infrastructure demand. Te
biggest demand in 2015 will be transportation,
mainly highways (40% of investments), followed
by the generation and transmission of energy
(25%) and telecommunications. Also, Te Five
Powerful Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and
Chile represent 70% of total infrastructure
investments in the region.
Geotechnologies are generally funda-
mental to all phases of infrastructure, i.e., it
is present in diferent forms in preliminary
and feasibility studies, execution, overseeing,
monitoring and fnally during operation.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the backbone of the regions
economy. Several initiatives in this sphere
demonstrate the advances geospatial technol-
ogy has made in this sector.
In Brazil agribusiness is vital, accounting
for around 25% of the GDP. Te Territorial
Management unit of the Brazilian Agricultural
Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) has a mis-
sion to propose, coordinate and implement
services of territorial management of agricul-
ture at strategic levels, and develop technolo-
gies and innovative solutions. Brazil has in fact
been a pioneer in the use of various advanced
technologies in agriculture.
Tis is also underlined by the fact that in
the last 10 years, more than a hundred small
to medium industries involved in developing
and marketing precision agriculture products
have come up in neighbouring Argentina. Te
machines are exported especially to Brazil, and
to developed countries like the US.
Te future of agriculture and livestock lies
in the accuracy of the process and that requires
programming and control, says Mario Braga-
chini, Coordinator, Network of Precision Agri-
culture Project and Machines Accurate National
Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA).
Other successful examples are the pro-
jects coordinated by Mexicos Secretariat of
Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development,
Fisheries and Food to promote research plans
for increased productivity in agriculture. Te
priority lines of research focus on improving the
quality of seeds and plants to make them more
resistant to climatic, pests and diseases. In April,
the Secretariat signed a $4.2-millon agreement
with 32 states to activate projects for agriculture,
livestock, fsheries and productive assets.
In Chile, the SDI project of the Ministry of
Agriculture arises from the need to have a uni-
fed system that allows access to all geospatial
information from government institutions.
One of the fundamental principles of the IDE
is interoperability. Te project is currently
in its second version and operates a portal
wherein users can access the geo-catalogue
from the ministry, news, miscellaneous docu-
ments and display of maps. Eugenio Gonza-
lez, President, Centre for Natural Resource
Information (CIREN) emphasises, We have a
very important work to kind of evangelise
about the use of these technologies at the
public level. We have been working very hard
to demonstrate to the world of agriculture that
this is such an essential tool.

Mining
Latin America and the Caribbean together has
around 65% of the worlds lithium reserves,
42% of silver, 38% of copper, 33% of tin, 21% of
iron, 18% of bauxite and 14% nickel. Accord-
ing to a report by the Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Carribean (ECLAC),
the four UNASUR countries (Argentina, Brazil,
Chile and Peru) account for 62% of the region-
al investments in mining exploration for 2010.
Adding Mexico takes this fgure up at 84%. In
2011, Brazil, Chile and Peru were among the
top 10 countries in terms of attracting mining
investments (36% of the worlds total), up from
26% in 2000.
Te current focus in Brazil is to discuss
a new regulatory framework to expand and

Brazils Land
Management System
is an electronic
tool designed
to welcome,
validate, organise
and provide
georeferenced data
of rural properties.
The challenge now
is to offer a service
that not only keeps
the record, but also
plans for the future
Carlos Guedes,
President, INCRA

We have to
maximise the
economic, social
and environmental
impacts from the
use of geospatial
information,
starting from
the knowledge
and exchange of
experiences and
technologies in
different countries,
based on common
standards
Luis Fortes,
President, CP-IDEA
Special Feature | Latin America
69 Geospatial World | September 2013
strengthen the participation of mining in the
national economy. Mining contributes 23.5%
to Brazils total exports. Another highlight is
the creation of a new regulatory organisation
to implement a new management model,
regulate mining activity, mitigate market
imperfections, among others.
Similarly in Peru, mining comprises around
30% of the national budget and provides jobs
to about 10 million citizens. Peru is working at
reducing the time taken to issue new mining
exploration licences. Te licences took be-
tween 300 and 500 days, but with the new rules
this will come down to less than 200 days. Tis
will help us deliver faster permits for explora-
tion in Latin America, says Peruvian Minister
of Mines and Energy, Jorge Merino Tafur.
Te mining sector is driven by data and ad-
vanced technologies. From exploration to pro-
duction to transportation, an integrated dataset
and a wide array of technologies is imperative
in all the stages. Also, as more and more mines
opt for automation for better productivity
and safety, geospatial technology has almost
become a backbone of the sector. Te demand
for such services has been growing with rising
awareness about this technology, says Marcelo
Moraes, Technical Manager of Globalgeo, a
Brazilian company that sells satellite images
and geo-based software and services.
After the infamous incident in 2010 when
33 miners were trapped underground for
over two months in Chiles San Jose mine, the
government made the use of GPS mandatory
in all mines besides investing in technologies
to ensure safety. Technologies like LiDAR are
important from the safety aspect as it allows us
to look at the operations area without anybody
physically entering unsafe zones, notes Rod-
rigo Soto, Business Director of Fugro Geospatial
Service, one of the pioneers in the use of LiDAR
technology in Chile.

The satellite images are


coordinated by INPE
and published openly
so that neighbouring
countries can also
benefit from the data.
Publishing open data is
a global trend and INPE
has adopted this policy
since 2005
Carlos Alexandre Wuensche de
Souza, Chief of Ofce Direction,
INPE
www.amskepler.com
www.facebook.com/AMSKepler
www.twitter.com/AMSKepler
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
+55 21 3622-3652
Any tool you need.
Software for ingestion, recording, cataloging, processing, distribution,
evaluation, analysis and orthorectication for all satellite images.
The most complete Ground Station System.
S YSTEMS ENGI NEERI NG
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70 Geospatial World | September 2013
Environment & Amazon
Latin America is known for its natural re-
sources and the Amazon. Development of
geo-technology in this region is closely linked
to environmental preservation and combating
deforestation.
According to IBAMA, the Brazilian agency
to combat deforestation, its success hinges
on the use of geospatial technologies. Brazils
DETER programme or deforestation detection
system in real time, created by the National
Institute for Space Research (INPE) in 2004,
extensively uses satellite imagery. IBAMA
receives INPE images with the polygonal
evidence of anthropisation action in Amazon
every 48 hours. Before making this available
to the feld crews, we check the data to identify
where these polygons are occurring if they
are in protected areas, indigenous lands, per-
sonal property or other domain. Only then we
upload our spatial database, explains George
Porto Ferreira, Coordinator of Environmental
Monitoring at IBAMA.
Te deforestation rate in Amazon has been
dropping. From 27,000 sq km in 2004, this has
come down to 5,000 sq km in 2012. Te DETER
programme is one of the major benefciaries
of the $300-million CBERS (China-Brazil Earth
Resources Satellite) project, the frst Brazilian
satellite dedicated to monitoring of the Ama-
zon. Te satellites images are coordinated by
INPE and published openly so that neighbour-
ing countries can also beneft from the data.
Publishing open data is a global trend and
INPE has adopted this policy since 2005, says
Carlos Alexandre Wuensche de Souza, Chief of
Ofce Direction of INPE.
Environmental monitoring and preserva-
tion of the Amazon is driving the local indus-
try to develop new solutions. For instance,
the Orbisat radar, which operates in X and P
bands to produce surface and below-forest
mapping, has been chosen by the Brazilian
Army for mapping the Amazon. It operates
in adverse weather conditions, at day or night,
with or without clouds, which brings the
certainty of the fulfllment targets and work
schedules, informs Maurcio Aveiro, President
of OrbiSat.
The challenges
Geospatial has been integral to industrial activi-
ties in Latin America, but there remain a lot of
teething problems. One of the main points is the
lack of political will and the need to educate pol-
icy makers about the possibilities and benefts
of such innovative technologies. Tere must
be a high-level government support to ensure a
continuous funds fow, says Praag of GeoSUR.
Tough geospatial has been accepted well
in a wide range of sectors, it is still unexplored
in many others, concurs Juan Enrique Silva,
Director Commercial, Esri Chile, who also feels
governments must progress to the next level of
using this technology to solve business problems
rather than using it only for mapping.
Some see the issue of updates and upgrades
both in data and technology as another big
concern. Once implemented, there comes the
difculty of maintaining and updating the data.
Institutions have to continuously focus on pro-
moting and maintaining operational technical
capabilities, points out Ochoa from IGVSB.
Experts feel the feld is still not consolidated
because there is lack of planning and cohesion.
Te public sector speaks for around 70% of the
demand but this is not organised since they do
not coordinate with each other. Every agency,
ministry and institution makes its own purchase
of geospatial data and technology and there is
no convergence, says Pierre Duquesne General
Director of Astrium. Organised demand will
avoid data duplicacy and optimise state spend-
ing.
Tere is also a feeling that the geospatial
industry focuses only on the public sector. Te
participation of the private sector is limited as
companies that operate in the space segment are
highly dependent on public sector, points out
Antonio Machado e Silva, President of AMSKe-
pler, a Brazilian software development company.
Further, despite the awareness about trans-
parency in government actions, there exists
resistance to provide open and free information.
Open data can spike innovation, where the in-
dustry can develop useful applications from free
data for the beneft of all. But it doesnt mean the
data is being standardised, notes Luis Bermu-
dez, Director Compliance Program, OGC, while

The geospatial
industry focuses only
on the public sector.
The participation
of the private sector
is still very limited
as companies that
operate in the space
segment are highly
dependent on public
sector
Antonio Machado de Silva,
President, AMSKepler

Though geospatial
technology has
been accepted
well in a wide
range of sectors, it
is still unknown
and unexplored in
many others. The
governments must
progress to the next
level of using this
technology to solve
business problems
rather than using it
only for mapping
Juan Enrique Silva,
Director Commercial,
Esri Chile
Special Feature | Latin America
71 Geospatial World | September 2013
emphasising that free data requires a mix of
government leadership, policies and technology.
Te OGC also sees interoperability as a big issue.
In Brazil, INPE provides free satellite images
of Sino-Brazilian Satellites (China-Brazil Earth
Resources Satellite) CBERS 1 and CBERS 2, in a
friendly tool display on its portal. But in Mexico,
enterprises identify the availability and cost
of satellite images as one of the barriers to the
development of the geospatial industry in the
country. Te creation of the Mexico Reception
Station Constellation Spot in 2003 reduced costs
but the sector is still missing the vital push.
Tere are two challenges: reducing the cost
of satellite images and educating the decision-
makers about the use of geo-technologies, says
Esteban Garcia Dobarganes Bueno, Director of
Geotecx, a Mexican consulting group.
Lack of trained manpower is another grave
concern and IBAMAs Ferreira feels the onus is
on the geospoatial industry, free software com-
munity and universities to focus on capacity
building. Geoinformation is becoming part
of our everyday life. We need more human re-
sources for the sectors growth, he says.
Tere is a clear need for greater investments
in training, quality programmes and the dis-
semination of good practices to implement suc-
cessful projects and thereby generate a virtuous
circle that ensures that this technology is used
not only by the top strata of the powers that be,
but also the masses. But the good news is that
in the private sector, geotechnology is migrating
from being under spending header to invest-
ment header of companies and government
departments. Tis is very good and it means
that there is great growth potential, signs of
Machado e Silva, from AMSKepler.
Renata Dias Rodrigues, Asst Regional Product
Manager, Latin America, Geospatial Media &
Communications, renata@geospatialmedia.net
72 Geospatial World | September 2013
P
ublic and private sector organ-
isations across the globe follow
OGCs guidance while planning
and procuring technology. Tese
organisations have a strong interest
in complying with OGC standards to
maximise the value of their technology
investments.
Innovation in standards is vital.
Terefore OGC standards working
groups review all requests for changes
in existing standards. Change requests
are usually submitted by developers
who have gained experience in im-
plementing the standards. Sometimes
change requests or requests for new
standards come from domains that
were previously not represented by the
OGC, such as modelling and simula-
tion, smart cities and carbon ofsetting.
Requests also crop up due to emerging
technology trends that change the
playing feld for technology users and
providers.
OGC baseline compatibility
or big tent?
Te OGC baseline consists of the ap-
proved OGC Abstract Specifcation and
OGC standards as well as OGC Best
Practices documents and related ISO
TC 211 standards.
Te OGC Abstract Specifcation
provides the basic concepts that form
the basis of the organisations stan-
dards. Most OGC standards are com-
patible with the OGC Baseline and its
implementation standards. Sometimes
specifcations are introduced that
enable OGC to standardise on existing
technology that has been developed
outside (such as KML, WaterML and
the Augmented Reality Markup Lan-
guage). Eforts are made to harmonise
these externally developed standards
with the OGC Baseline.
Compatibility across the base-
line is a key OGC strength, but this is
frequently a topic of debate among the
Consortium members. Some favour
the big tent approach under which
any spatial interface or encoding stan-
dard that plays a prominent role in the
market might be introduced for adop-
tion in the OGC as an open standard.
Maintaining stable
standards in a
changing market
Beat
Rapidly changing markets are increasing the demand for
revised and new standards. By particpating in the standard
development process, stakeholders can steer this change
Emerging
technologies
Externally developed
interface & encoding
specications
User suggestions
Requirement of
new domains
73 Geospatial World | September 2013
Tis maximises the opportunities for
eventually harmonising those standards
with the baseline. Te challenge is to
balance the diversity of specifcations,
which expands the OGCs scope of
infuence, with compatibility, which
ensures interoperability among systems
that implement OGC standards.
Market domains proliferate
Te OGC serves many market domains.
National Spatial Data Infrastruc-
tures (NSDIs) make up an important
megadomain in which a national
regime of specifc technical standards
and policy imperatives underpin wide-
spread sharing and reuse of geospa-
tial data and services. NSDIs support
domains such as emergency response,
planning, disaster management and
business geographics. Compatibility
between NSDIs supports regional and
global cooperation.
Te OGC staf analyses market
domains to support membership
development, as illustrated in the OGC
home page http://www.opengeospatial.
org/. On the left side is a list of geospa-
tial market domains, such as aviation,
business intelligence and defence and
intelligence. By clicking on a market
domain one can see a Web version of
the domain business plan. Each of these
domain pages provides an overview
of the domain and how the OGC is
addressing its needs.
As spatial information gets embed-
ded in the activities of more market
domains and the systems become more
interconnected, issues of interopera-
bility and data sharing become more
important.
Also, challenges to baseline purity
arise as new domains and new domain
relationships give rise to requirements
for new and revised standards, new con-
nections with non-OGC (and non-spa-
tial) standards, and new favors of
existing standards.
Technology trends destabilise
standards
Geospatial technology is implemented
with broader information technologies
such as databases, search engines,
imaging technologies and sensors. Ad-
vances in these underlying technologies
may beneft geospatial applications and
create opportunities for new geospatial
applications, but those advances also
may make some standards obsolete.
Vendors of geospatial software and
services must constantly race to adapt
to technology trends and to innovate
ahead of their competitors. Te playing
feld changes constantly. For example,
OGC standards have contributed to
wider availability of of outdoor loca-
tion-based information, and this is
driving demand for indoor location
applications, which make more stan-
dards work necessary. Inexpensive big
processing (access to massive server
resources in the cloud), the embed-
ding of microprocessor sensors into
nearly every device, commercial use of
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the
miniaturization of LiDAR systems of
these developments drive innovation
in geospatial software and services
markets and increase the pressure on
OGC members to revise and expand the
OGC baseline.
Te only remedy
At present, there is an active and
broad-ranging discussion going on
within the consortium about the evo-
lution of the OGC Baseline. Weighing
and debating the benefts and risks
of change, the members are proceed-
ing carefully. On one hand, any hasty
decision by the OGC can jeopardise the
prior investments made by technology
providers and users. On the other hand,
failing to adapt to change can result in
obsolete standards, and this, too, can
jeopardize those investments.
Tere will be a change and there will
be growth in the number of standards.
By participating in the standards pro-
cess stakeholders can steer this change,
meet the growing need for mainte-
nance, compliance testing and docu-
mentation, and get the earliest possible
understanding of what the change will
mean for their organisations.
George Percivall, Chief Engineer
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
A screenshot of OGC Website giving a list of geospatial market domains
O
c
t
o
b
e
r
S
e
p
t
e
m
b
e
r
September 16-19
URISAs 51st Annual Conference
for GIS Professionals
Rhode Island, US
http://www.urisa.org/gispro2013
September 24-26
Asia Geospatial Forum 2013
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
http://www.asiageospatialforum.
org/
September 24-25
5th International
LADM Workshop
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
www.isoladm.org
September 17-18
Geospatial Defence &
Intelligence Asia 2013
Singapore
http://www.geospatialdefenceasia.
com/Default.aspx?MAC=GSW
October 30
2013 Blue Marble
User Conference
US
http://www.bluemarblegeo.com/
bmuc/index.php
October 28-31
The year in infrastructure
2013 conference
London, UK
http://goo.gl/U9FUPY
October 22-25
Symposium on GNSS 2013
Istanbul, Turkey
http://www.isgnss2013.org/
October 1-3
Conference on Earth
from Space
Russia
http://www.conference.scanex.ru/
index.php/en/
Mark Your Calender
Events
N
o
v
e
m
b
e
r
November 18-22
Pacifc Islands GIS/RS User
Conference
Suva, Fiji Islands
www.picgisrs.appspot.com/
November 5-7
Geo-Services International
Conference
Quebec, Canada
www.geoservices2013.com/en
November 4-8
GSDI World Conference 2013
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/
6 Geospatial World | April 2013
Data courtesy City of Quebec
10248_Ad_Bentley_Map_7.75x10.25-EN_0713.indd 1 7/29/2013 11:11:36 AM
6 Geospatial World | April 2013

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