How RESOLV Supports the Coming Push for Carbon Farming

RESOLV is Software as a Service (SaaS) that applies the CMAC workflow to initially calibrate smallsats and periodically recalibrate to counter the effect of episodic radiation in orbit.

Agriculture can logically become the dominant consumer of smallsat imagery if atmospheric correction is applied. Sentinel-2 data can lead the way in development of analytics. This includes verifying that carbon offset contracts for no-till, cover crops and other methods are followed. The cadence of the Sentinel 2 data, every five days or more frequently, provides snapshots in the right timing to detect whether a no-till prescription has been violated. Such applications are made possible only through accurate correction to surface reflectance. For example, detect if a field has been tilled. If tilled, the reflectance of the field will drop precipitously. Surface reflectance correction comes into play because it provides stable, reliable re-sults that unequivocally pinpoint such reflectance drops to trigger a field inspection. The same concepts are applicable to cover crops and even to quantitative estimation of the carbon that will, or has been, sequestered in farmed land. Increasing the resolution and numbers of bands will only make these analyses more precise and accurate.

Uncorrected top-of-atmosphere-reflectance (TOAR) data cannot be accurately applied for any automated analysis other than to compare areas in the same field. Accurately corrected data can rank problems for further attention and allow comparison of field performance to regional statistics and even estimate yield with probabilistic updates based on updated field performance and weather statistics. Accurate surface reflectance opens a world of analytics once atmospheric degradation is removed from the imagery. With accurate atmospheric correction of TOAR to surface reflectance, accurate analytics becomes possible over tens of thousands of fields at a time.

RESOLV provides the most accurate and reliable atmospheric correction for Sentinel-2 data. For atmospheric correction of smallsat data, no other methods can compete.

A very hazy Sentinel-2 image cannot be accurately corrected by Sen2Cor software. CMAC correction using off-the-shelf software provides accurate surface reflectance, especially for crop analytics. Correction to surface reflectance enhances contrast as can be seen in the CMAC view.                                     

About the Author

Hello,

I’m Dr. David Groeneveld, founder and leader of RESOLV™. Our software atmospherically corrects smallsat data conveniently, accurately and reliably and does so in near real time. The benefits of RESOLV™ go beyond its technical capabilities. Better accuracy helps researchers, scientists, and others make smarter choices to monitor and manage our planet.

Curious to learn more about RESOLV™, the science behind it and its potential for correcting smallsat images? Fill out this short form and I’ll be in touch.