WINNIPEG (Staff) – The Canadian Wheat Board may have its roots in the ground but it also sees value in space.
The CWB has signed on as a research partner to the Centre for Earth Observation Science.
It has pledged $12,500 a year for three years toward research in how satellite radar data can be used to improve crop yield and CWB’s own quality predictions.
The board’s current system uses optical rather than radar sensors. Paul Bullock, in charge of weather and crop surveillance for the board, said optical sensors “take lovely pictures of the earth, but if there’s clouds, you can’t see through them. That’s a big problem.”
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Radar sensors can scan the earth no matter what time of day or what type of weather. They can also ‘see’ into plants and soil, which may allow the board to determine crop biomass, soil moisture and quality, and predict yields.
Student researchers at the University of Manitoba will determine how to use the data in providing the CWB with information.
How to apply technology
“We need to take what we know about crops and what they know about radar and put it together to come up with some way of saying, ‘here’s how we can use this technology’,” Bullock said.
After completion of the three-year project, he said the board will know whether it’s worth it to buy data and develop uses for it.
“We’re not going to spend that money unless we have some idea of how we’re going to use it,” Bullock said.
CWB commissioner Richard Klaussen told students and faculty at the centre’s opening last week that the board and farmers stand to benefit from radar satellite technology.
“It has the capacity to give us (production and yields) information first, so that we can anticipate market changes and fine-tune our marketing strategies,” he said.
