Research and application projects have been established to derive information characterizing agricultural locations using remote sensing approaches. Results are being combined with crop yield and economic data in order to derive inventory parameters, yield prognoses, and indicators for reducing the expenditure of resources; to diagnose and quantify factors which maximize or minimize yield; to control production processes and to document environmentally responsible cultivation. The primary consideration behind the use of satellite-based remote sensing is providing appropriate parameters and indices which can be employed to control production and contribute to improving product quality.
The Demmin Network and the German Remote Sensing Data Center have been cooperating for several years to develop and derive from remote sensing data value-added products useful for agricultural applications. Toward that end the partners have established a test site in Demmin. They capitalized the name of the town, Demmin, and turned it into an acronym for “Durable Environmental Multidisciplinary Monitoring Information Network.”
Here, specific data products to meet practical agricultural requirements are being defined, developed and validated. Tests were conducted on variously prepared plots. The total area monitored amounts to some 30,000 ha, a unique situation both as to the size of the entire site and the size of its individual fields. On the other hand, these areas are very heterogenous, so a wide range of products can be developed and tested. Cooperation between DLR and the farmers has resulted in an extensive agricultural GIS database, a validation location for national and international measurement campaigns, and a practical training facility for a variety of educational institutions.