One of the key challenges of the SIMONE project is to enable the monitoring and comparison of innovative experiments conducted in the various One Farm Experimentations (OFEs) within Living Labs (LLs). These experiments focus on three critical themes: crop establishment, nutrition, and weed management.
In agronomic digital phenotyping, acquisition systems such as satellites, drones, and proximal (in-field) sensors offer complementary advantages for capturing detailed data on crop traits and field conditions. Integrating data from these systems enables multi-scale phenotyping, providing a comprehensive understanding of crop development and health. Together, these systems create a synergistic framework, with the specific strengths and applications of each illustrated in the following figure.
Variability in Equipment Across Living Labs
However, a questionnaire distributed by Hiphen to the LL leaders revealed significant variability in the equipment available across LLs. To ensure meaningful comparisons of experimental results, standardizing aspects of the digital data acquisition and processing workflows is essential. This consistency is critical for harmonizing data collection across OFEs.
Satellite Imagery: A Universal Monitoring Tool
To address these challenges, several meetings with partners identified satellite imagery as the only universally accessible tool to monitor and evaluate experiments across all LLs. As a result, a single satellite supplier, the Planet constellation, was selected for its 3-meter resolution and daily revisit capabilities. Hiphen will oversee the acquisition and processing of these satellite images to ensure uniformity.
To complement satellite imagery and address its resolution limitations, additional data acquisition methods—such as drones or Literal—can be employed based on their availability within each LL. For these systems, Hiphen will provide standardized acquisition protocols to ensure consistency. LL teams will be responsible for capturing the data using their resources, while Hiphen will process the data to produce standardized outputs.
Centralized Data Processing via Cloverfield Platform
All digital data, regardless of the acquisition method, will be processed centrally through Hiphen’s Cloverfield platform. LL leaders will have access to the platform, where they can view and analyze processed results or download additional data, such as drone or LiDAR outputs. This standardized workflow ensures consistency in data processing, enabling reliable comparisons across all experiments conducted within the SIMONE project.
More info
Contact Bruno Malnar, Hiphen