Sentinel 2 satellite. Photo: ESA.

Atos announced a solution that captures agricultural data directly via satellite to optimize farming practices. Together with start-up TerraNIS, Atos is using its business analytics solution Atos Codex to convert data into valuable information for the agriculture sector.

Atos uses its Atos Codex analytics platform to capture biophysical indicators via satellite to help farmers best optimize farming practices — such as best crop choice, appropriate crop nutrition and the right fertilization and harvesting periods.

Atos is using the Sentinel 2 Earth Observation (EO) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), which is capable of providing views using visible and near infrared light with a resolution of 10m to 60m, a perimeter of 290km and a revisit frequency of five days, which is ideal for monitoring crops, according to the company.

For one of its biggest clients in the United States, Atos is monitoring more than 100,000 hectares of crops and 6,000 plots of land (including wheat, corn, soy and vegetables) to provide biophysical indicators of plant development, such as the level of chlorophyll and the proportion of green foliage. This monitoring can detect any anomalies or discrepancies within and between plots of land.