EMILI is working with student researchers from the University of Toronto’s Aerospace Team – Space Systems Division to track crop residue cover from a low-earth orbit using a nanosatellite equipped with a hyperspectral camera.
As part of the FINCH (Field Imaging Nanosatellite for Crop residue Hyperspectral) mapping mission, physics student Ege Artan spends every Saturday throughout the school year researching and building a 3U CubeSat satellite. He is part of a team of student researchers working on this project. Their ultimate goal is to conduct a technology demonstration and provide a proof of concept for crop residue mapping using hyperspectral SWIR (short wave infrared) satellite remote sensing.
Crop residues decrease soil erosion, increase soil organic matter, and improve soil quality. The crop mapping analytics being collected can be used to monitor crop stress and plant health, improve crop residue retention practices, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from soil.
“We hope to develop a cost-effective way to determine the percentage of crop residue,” said Artan. “You can already do this with high-priced satellites, but they are incredibly expensive so you wouldn’t want to send them to space just for that purpose.”