VanderSat and Kisters launch global cloud-based service for soil moisture and drought data
German-based Kisters Water Solutions combined its software for water management and hydrology with the high-precision satellite-based soil moisture data from Dutch-based VanderSat. Both companies combined their expertise last year and established the first global cloud-based service.
Without cloud obstruction, VanderSat and Kisters can provide day-to-day data of soil moisture within the boundaries of a farming plot. (Image: VanderSat)
More efficient irrigation
The new service facilitates better protection and optimization of harvests as well as the channeling of water for more efficient irrigation practices or groundwater recharge.
Users not only receive general satellite-based soil moisture data, but also practical calculations about their own catchment area including drought indices, plant-available water at root level, and predictions of soil moisture.
Specialized partner
"With VanderSat, we have found a highly specialized partner who complements our water solutions with a valuable element," says Michael Natschke, Head of Business Development Water at Kisters.
Natschke: "Our new service reliably presents meaningful information about soil moisture in easy-to-understand graphics and maps, in great detail for small catchment areas."
Microwave remote sensing
Richard de Jeu, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of VanderSat, adds, "With our patented microwave measurement method, we can see through clouds and vegetation to capture very accurate measurement data."
De Jeu: "We achieve a unique resolution, both spatially with a detail of 100 square meters and temporally. This partnership brings us one step closer to delivering daily data on 1 billion hectares worldwide by 2020."
Users receive practical calculations about their own catchment area including drought indices, plant-available water at root level, and predictions of soil moisture.
Data center
The new flexible cloud service runs in the security-certified Kisters data center in Aachen. Software as a Service (SaaS) subscriptions cover a specific geographic area for a certain period of time at low costs, and data are delivered via modern web browser interfaces or directly in Kisters’ software.
About Kisters
Kisters is a group of IT companies with 500+ employees, headquarters in Aachen, Germany, and numerous national and international subsidiaries.
It offers software solutions for the sustainable management of water, energy and air. Kisters’ Water Solution is a framework for tailormade solutions including, among others, surface and ground water monitoring, meteorology, water quality and urban drainage.
About VanderSat
VanderSat is a fast growing global provider of commercial satellite-derived data products and services. It develops water, vegetation and temperature related products for different sectors, with a special emphasis on the agri-food industry, insurance, water management and social environmental impact.
VanderSat empowers world leading agricultural, financial and water organizations to build core applications to improve crop yield prediction, insure crops, reduce the use of pesticide and optimize irrigation practices.
This news item was originally published on the websites of Kisters and VanderSat.
(Top image: Sentinel 1, source: European Space Agency - ESA)
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● Expertise: Water and agrifood
More information
VanderSat
Haarlem, the Netherlands
+31 23 369 00 93
www.vandersat.com
Satellite image of soil moisture with (right) and without (left) cloud obstruction.
