About us
Who we are
We are passionated GIS experts with strong expertise in agriculture and remote sensing especially with SAR (synthetic aperture radar).
In the past years we developed a crop vegetation index (ESVI) from Sentinel-1 SAR data in collaboration with sarmap.
The ESVI (enhanced SAR vegetation index) is so far calibrated for corn, sunflower, sugar beet, wheat, barley, rye, rice, rapeseed and soybean. The calibration was done in countries like Germany, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Hungary, UK, USA, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and India.
We are based near Zurich/Switzerland and collaborate with our partner in Santa Fé Argentina.
Kronenbergstrasse 7
CH-8800 Thalwil
Avenida Belgrano 275
Ceres – Santa Fe – Argentina
My Partners
With the SAR expertise of sarmap and my background in applied agricultural research we successfully introduced map products for agricultural applications for end-users from spaceborne SAR data. Sarmap based near Lugano/Switzerland was founded in 1998. They provide innovative, sophisticated yet simple customized Earth Observation (EO) solutions. They are specialized in software engineering mainly for SAR data (SARscape). In 2017 they released a new software product for optical data processing (Opticalscape). They have been involved in around 100 projects mainly with the european space agency (ESA) in algorithm, product and service developments.
Why SAR
(synthetic aperture radar)
A lot of professionals in the field of agriculture have understood, that remote sensing and GIS are the cutting edge for competitiveness. To close the gap they need knowledge, software, hardware and data. Once you started to set-up such scheme you rely on regular high quality data supply and this can only be granted by SAR.
What we can do
Map products derived from SAR data for precision farming applications, crop insurance schemes and large scale crop monitoring. Data will be processed on field or regional level as geo-TIFF within 48-72 hours after the satellites have passed by. If you are interested to process the data on your own, sarmap can provide software with integrated processing algorithm. With our interdisciplinary approach we understand your specific use cases and can develop a tailor made solution suitable to your needs.
Data Source
The source of data we worked in the past years is the Sentinel-1 satellite series, which is part of ESA`s Copernicus program. As at today Sentinel-1 A & B cover Europe every 6 days and the rest of the world every 12 days. The succeeding generation C & D is already funded and grant the availability of data at least up to 2030. The satellites have an active C-band transmitter with constant input energy and a ground resolution of 20×20 meters. The signal penetrates clouds, is independent from daylight and guarantees a regular supply of high quality remote sensing data. The sensor measures the structure and humidity of cropland, which can be transformed in an index that reflects fresh biomass.
What we can do
Sit together, understand your needs and find solutions for your business processes.
Sentinel-1 Data
For those who cannot wait for a sunny day. If you set-up an infrastructure that depends on the use of earth-observation data, you have already invested substantial sums. You and your customers rely on regular data delivery. This can only be granted with SAR data.
Map products
Our map product ESVI (enhanced SAR vegetation index) shows crop growth over the season. Where information concerning crop development is needed the ESVI map product closes the gap.
Precision farming
High investments for hardware where spent in the past decades to practise precision farming. But farmers were missing useful data for intelligent decision making. ESVI is the cheapest opportunity to monitor your crop throughout the year.
Market survey
Big market players want to know what is going on anywhere in the world. How much corn is growing this year in the mid-west. Did Australia have enough water? For a macro monitoring scheme SAR data it the best choice. You get time-series that can be analyzed statistically.
Crop insurance
We have more than 6 years experience in crop insurance and loss assessment. We know today, that remote sensing will not tell the total loss from an image. We can do zoning and guide the loss adjuster to the hot spot. We can detect, if the crop was damage before underwriting. We can help to prevent fraud.
Portfolio mapping/Risk analysis
Crop insurer who have low capabilities in GIS we can assist as well in portfolio mapping and risk analysis. We have a world-wide data collection of background data from open-sources to do so.