Earth Observation technologies

Are the opportunities for farmers and other EO data users materialising yet?



Publication Date: 2025-04-11 08:07:06

The number of satellites with various earth observation capabilities has increased exponentially over the past decade, and Earth Observation (EO) data are the largest data segment by volume collected by satellites, mostly comprising image data. Currently around 1300 satellites positioned mostly in LEO deliver not only an unprecedented amount of data, but increasingly at unprecedented resolution down to below a metre. Current EO data volumes are estimated at above 800 PB, increasing by 100PB every year. (Only their storage and processing in data centres generates annual CO2 equivalent emissions in the range of over 4000t). Much EO data are now also open access and freely available on a number of online platforms1, 2.

This rapid growth of available EO data has added value to a wide range of industries and future growth is predicted within large civilian market sectors such as insurance, asset management, energy, agriculture, environmental and industrial monitoring, infrastructure, transport, aviation among many others.

Here we focus on the benefits that EO data can bring to agriculture and look into the impact of EO data and related technologies on agricultural practices today. It is widely anticipated that EO data applications might be crucial to address several challenges to current food production systems globally. These include the necessity to increase agricultural yields in the face of global warming and changing ecosystems, using less water and agri-chemicals while producing more food for growing populations on less land. It is widely postulated that technical solutions combining EO and ground-based sensor data will enable the wider application of so called “precision agriculture” approaches and lead to a global transformation of agricultural practices.

While this view is well publicised by various satellite operators and international public institutions, consultancies, and commercial players for the past two decades, value generating applications of EO data in agriculture are still not widely implemented.

To get an up-to-date picture on what impact EO data and related technologies can have on agricultural practices locally and globally, food producers and the wider agricultural ecosystem players need to analyse increasingly large volumes of data and highly complex information to design and implement services and understand how EO-based technologies can be implemented on the ground.

Mostly, active EO data integrators and application developers in the Agriculture industry are some of the biggest players in agriculture and agricultural machinery producers. For the average small and mid-size farmer, however, adoption of data technologies including EO is still often challenging, particularly in relation to upfront investment costs as well as required skills. Here startups and small and midsize integrators of data technologies have a clear role to play. They are expected to tailor such technologies for small farmers with limited resources and help reduce time spent on anything that is perceived as not immediately essential.

Several market assessment studies have in the past five years consistently identified the following areas in agriculture benefiting from EO data (including Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) data).


Environmental Monitoring Natural Resources Monitoring Operations Management Weather Services for Agriculture
Carbon capture & content assessment
Environmental impact monitoring		 Biomass monitoring
Crop yield forecasting
Soil condition monitoring
Vegetation monitoring
Water monitoring		 Asset monitoring
Automatic steering
CAP monitoring
Farm machinery guidance
Farm management systems
Field definition
Livestock wearables
Pastureland management
Precision irrigation
Variable rate application		 Climate services for agriculture
Weather forecasting for agriculture
Figure 1. Synergetic Applications (combined use of EO and GNSS) / GNSS applications / EO applications Source: EUSEPA3


GPS-controlled farming machinery integrating local sensor and land use data are now available in many countries, sold by large international agritech companies. Increasingly also remote rural communities in Africa, Asia and South America are served by niche suppliers of EO data integrated with other sensor data collected on the ground 4, 5, 6.

However, connecting the relevant available EO data-based technologies with the agricultural communities that would benefit most from them is still a challenge. Given the recent surge of pubic and commercial activity in this area, the main challenge for industry adopters, particularly farmers, is understanding what the current state of the art is, what applications are commercially viable and potentially available for implementation - in contrast to minimum viable products and early-stage technology hype.

As part of our work in space technologies Camrosh together with data analytics and competitive analysis partner IALE have looked into patents to establish a top-level trend outline of the state of EO technology, products and services available to agriculture.

Global patent database searches covering the past 3 years retrieved 10493 documents. Key words were constructed to cover the following sub fields:

In the following graphs we briefly discuss our findings.


Figure 2: Total number of patent applications and granted patents over the past decade in the application fields outlined in the text above. Data source: IFIclaims https://www.ificlaims.com


This figure clearly shows that the race for covering the white patenting space for EO applications has significantly accelerated over the past five years which have also seen historically unprecedented numbers of satellite launches. It is very likely that this dynamic in the patenting space will continue over the next decade.

Top 10 organizations developing inventions and patenting on Earth Observation technologies are:

Figure 3: The top 10 companies and research institutions with the highest number of patents in the field of EO technologies. The data cover the past two years. Data source: IFIclaims https://www.ificlaims.com


The numbers indicate that China leads and dominates the field with only three non-Chinese entities in the top ten. The Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is in the leading position followed by Wuhan University and China Agricultural University. On the fourth position is Deere and Co, better known as John Deere, the eponymous American agricultural machinery company. CNH Industrial, another US agriculture and construction machinery company follows after another two Chinese institutions. At the eighth position is Precision Planting LLC (https://www.precisionplanting.com), that offers upgrade and retrofit to existing agricultural machinery among other services and until 2017 was the equipment business from Climate Corp, itself a subsidiary of Monsanto, when it was sold to Agco7.

When farmers are buying equipment obviously the most important factor is price and after services, operational costs and support. However, for startups or investors entering the field, understanding the level of industry consolidation and the choices their potential customers may have, is quite important. To gather this kind of information is often complex and requires diligent research to gain better understanding of industry players, the ecosystem and market structure and functions. Understanding the patterns of patenting by smaller entities or startups globally or in certain geographical regions is one tool for mapping competitive strategy in product development or find acquisition targets to only name a couple of examples.


Figure 4: Patenting activity shown here is based on CPC subfields used in relation to the research scope8 Data source: IFIclaims https://www.ificlaims.com



Earth observation technologies have proven that they can significantly impact agricultural practices through various use cases, enhancing decision-making, improving crop yields, and reducing production costs. Below some EO applications offered as data products for farmers by various companies are listed:


Natural Resources monitoring

  • Earth-i https://earthi.space utilizes remote sensing and real-time data to improve decision-making in agriculture. This technology helps in monitoring crop health, which can lead to better management practices, increased crop yields, and reduced production costs.
  • 4EI https://www.4earthintelligence.com employs satellite imagery analytics for crop health monitoring. A case study on wheat demonstrates how these technologies can enhance productivity, sustainability, and profitability.
  • OneSoil https://onesoil.ai Provides free precision farming tools using NDVI maps to monitor crop health.
  • AgroScout https://agro-scout.com Delivers crop intelligence through satellite monitoring, pest detection, and biomass evaluation.


Environmental monitoring

  • WASDI Platform: A cloud-based system that processes Earth observation data for applications like disaster response and environmental monitoring. It allows users to analyze satellite images quickly and efficiently. https://www.wasdi.cloud
  • Satagro https://satagro.net: The SatAgro platform allows farms to save money while improving their environmental footprint and climate resilience.
  • Planet Labs https://www.planet.com: Known for its high-resolution satellite imagery used in agriculture.
  • Descartes Labs https://descarteslabs.com*: Uses AI and satellite data to provide agricultural insights.


Operations Management

  • Geoawesome https://geoawesome.com highlights the use of earth observation in variable rate application (VRA), where different agricultural inputs like nitrogen or fungicides are applied at varying rates based on plant needs. This precision agriculture technique optimizes resource use and improves efficiency.
  • FarmTechX https://www.farmtech.eu provides a step-by-step guide on implementing remote sensing in agriculture, emphasizing how this technology can improve operations and increase profitability.
  • cloudeo AG https://www.cloudeo.group is a platform for geospatial data and solutions. It aids in precision agriculture by enabling farmers to apply fertilizers and pesticides only where necessary, thus reducing costs and environmental impacts. Additionally, multispectral drone imagery combined with data analysis techniques contributes to crop modeling and yield forecasting.
  • Farmonaut https://farmonaut.com: Uses satellite data for crop health monitoring, yield estimation, and plantation management.
  • IrriWatch https://irriwatch.hydrosat.com: Offers thermal-based irrigation management to optimize water usage and improve crop yields.
  • Qaltivate https://qaltivate.com explains that satellite imagery in agriculture provides insights into crop health, soil conditions, and resource usage, enabling data-driven decisions for improved productivity and sustainability.
  • Satellite Imaging Corp https://www.satimagingcorp.com provides satellite imagery suitable for various agriculture applications, including *crop health assessment, yield maximization, and monitoring services for security, change detection, and wildlife conservation.
  • EOS Data Analytics https://eos.com offers daily updated high-resolution satellite imagery for precision farming, allowing near real-time monitoring of agricultural fields.
  • Hydrosat https://hydrosat.com: Uses high-resolution thermal imagery for crop yield forecasting and irrigation solutions.
  • CropX https://cropx.com: Specializes in soil monitoring and irrigation management.
  • Sentera https://sentera.com: Provides drone-based solutions for crop monitoring and analysis.
  • Sentinel-hub https://www.sentinel-hub.com: Daily Earth data and analytics for Broad Area Management. Easily extract insights from Earth observation data and build your own applications


Weather Monitoring



How we can support your EO requirements

Camrosh and IALE combine deep data capture and analysis capabilities to help clients with actionable insights and knowledge, as part of their services. Whether you are aiming to:

  • expand into new markets
  • develop new products and services
  • rethink your innovation strategy to reflect the challenging environment of fast paced technological change
  • prepare for global supply chain volatility
  • any challenges unique to your business that require a robust understanding of the external environment

we can help you from concept development to a ready to implement actionable strategy for growth.

You can find us at: https://www.camrosh.com & https://ialetecnologia.com