Using European Space Agency expertise to grow better crops
22/02/2017
When you hear the words European Space Agency (ESA), ambitious missions to mars or spectacular crash-landings on comets may come to mind. What is less likely to occur is agriculture and improving crop yields. But earlier this month (6th-9th February 2017), I attended the 4th ESA Advanced Course on Radar Polarimetry taking place in ESA-ESRIN, Frascati (Italy) for those very reasons.
This free course was an excellent opportunity to meet experts in the field of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) and to learn more about the potentials and limitations of this technique. PoISAR is a measurement system based on Radar (an antenna on-board a satellite/plane emits an electromagnetic wave down the Earth and records the echo from the land surface) able to record signals at different polarisations…think of it as a camera recording different colours. These polarisations are sensitive to different characteristics (structure, water content, etc.) of the imaged scene.
As a research fellow in Remote Sensing within the Cranfield Soil and Agrifood Institute, I am often involved in research projects looking at detecting crop growth stages, or estimating yield. I was looking forward to learning more about PolSAR, which has many applications in Remote Sensing of vegetation, from measuring tree heights or biomass in the Amazon and the Boreal forests, to detecting objects concealed under vegetation.
Course review
Well, the course went beyond my expectations. It covered the principles of PolSAR, with a focus on advanced measurement techniques like polarimetric interferometry (Pol-InSAR) and polarimetric tomography (Pol-TomoSAR). The morning lectures were very informative, with engaging experts always happy to discuss the numerous questions of the audience (mainly PhD students and Post-Docs). The afternoon practical sessions were well thought out and very useful as teaching PolSAR often relies on a series of mathematical concepts. All this was punctuated by presentations on the latest Earth Observation missions and their scientific results. Beyond the great learning experience, the course was also a good platform for networking with other scientists in universities and in companies involved in SAR Remote Sensing.
Frascati is only 30 minutes away from Rome, meaning I had time to make an express visit to the main historical sights (the Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Vatican), and a typical Italian ice cream of course!
But back to work! The ESA runs various free events within the context of the Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions program (SEOM). SEOM’s aims include stimulating research, training scientists, and promoting data use and results. In practice, this is done by regularly organising free workshops, short courses, and summer schools on various remote sensing topics covering land, ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere. And if you miss an event, all the materials are usually made freely available on the ESA-SEOM website. I would definitely recommend this type of courses to any scientists interested in Earth Observation, from MSc students to lecturers.
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Academic writing and being critical
Academic writing is daunting. Capturing all your thoughts and analysis and putting them down onto paper in some sort of understandable fashion is a challenge. Did you know we have resources in our Cranfield Study ...
Bank holiday hours for Library Services: Monday 6 May
Library Services staff will be taking a break on Monday 6 May for the early May bank holiday. You will still be able to access all the resources and help you need via our library ...
Cranfield’s Manufacturing and Materials Students’ Showcase Innovation at Project Day
On 26 April, Cranfield University buzzed with excitement as students from across our Manufacturing and Materials MSc programmes presented their group projects at the annual Group Project Presentation Day. This annual event presents ...
Come to a virtual study session in May
What are virtual study sessions? These are online study sessions facilitated by Library staff, where you can study independently alongside other students via Teams. They are a great way for you to dedicate specific time ...
Getting started on your School of Management thesis
Writing a thesis, business plan, internship project or company project can be a daunting task, and you might have some uncertainty or questions around how to get started. This post will share some ideas and ...
Sustainability by royal request: Managing an event fit for a King
The Coronation of King Charles III on May 6th 2023, was watched by millions of people around the world with tens of thousands of people travelling to Central London to witness the pageantry firsthand. ...