Gaps in Global Agricultural Monitoring Systems
Keywords:
Global Agricultural Monitoring, Earth Observation, Gaps, Spatial Resolution, In-situ Data, Crop calendars, Yield, Crop Production, Crop AreaAbstract
Agricultural monitoring systems aim to provide up-to-date information regarding food production to different actors and decision makers in support of food security. To help reduce price volatility a global agricultural monitoring system is needed to ensure the coordinated flow of information in a timely manner for early warning purposes. A number of systems now exist that fill this role. The present study gives an a comparative overview of the eight main global and regional scale agricultural monitoring systems currently in operation based on the input data and models used, the outputs produced and other characteristics such as the role of the analyst, their interaction with other systems and the geographical scale at which they operate. Despite improvements in access to high resolution satellite imagery over the last decade and the use of numerous remote-sensing based products by the different systems, there are still fundamental gaps. Based a survey among the system experts and the literature, the main gaps in the data and in the methods are identified. Suggestions are put forward for addressing these gaps through improvements in remote sensing, harnessing and sharing new and innovative data.
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