Walloon Agricultural Research Centre

Prepare the new Sentinel satellite missions to meet monitoring needs in agriculture and forestry.

Context

Copernicus, the European Union's Earth observation programme, is planning new Sentinel satellite missions for 2028 to improve the quality and spatial and temporal resolution of its products. The LSTM (Land Surface Temperature Monitoring) mission will measure surface temperature, the CHIME (Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment) mission will produce hyperspectral images linked to crop health and the ROSE-L (Radar Observing System for Europe - L-Band) mission will provide products for estimating soil water content.

Objective

The aim of the SENWISE project is to prepare the ground for the use of products from these new missions in agriculture and forestry in Belgium, France and Italy.

Tasks

The project partners will simulate future earth observation products by combining existing satellite images, synthetic data and ground reference data. The CRA-W, with its network of weather stations, will provide some of these reference data: soil temperature and soil water content. As a field player, the CRA-W will also be responsible for assessing the relevance of future earth observation products for agricultural applications, in particular for developing indices of soil moisture status.

Expected results for the CRA-W

Equipping 8 Pameseb stations with soil water content probes
Comparison of a satellite product for estimating soil water content with field observations, and assessment of the benefits of combining this product with data from weather stations to construct indices reflecting the water status of Walloon soils.
Comparison of a satellite product for estimating surface temperature with field observations and assessment of the value of this product for spatialising soil temperature with a view to its use in pest models (e.g. orange wheat blossom midge) or crop germination models.