The world’s population continues to grow and could reach the 10 billion mark around 2050. The development of arable land can hardly keep pace. On the contrary, in some places it’s actually declining, not least because of the effects of climate change. This makes it all the more important to manage the available land in the best possible way. A key role in this is played by the health of the crops and the carefully coordinated supply of water. An important indicator for this is the temperature of the earth’s surface, which needs to be recorded precisely – permanently and worldwide.
As a solution to this problem, the team of the Freiburg-based start-up ConstellR has developed microsatellites equipped with free-form telescopes to capture thermal infrared radiation from the Earth’s surface in order to use it to create heat maps. These heat maps and the associated data not only help assess the current situation and regulate the water supply to plants, but also allow forecasts of crop yields or impending droughts, creating time to take appropriate action.
With this daring idea, the start-up from the German Southwest has now made it to the pitch finals in the "Innovative World" category at SXSW. But even if it wasn't enough to win, the biggest step is still to come - namely the one into space. In February 2022, the time will have finally arrived. A measuring unit will fly to the ISS space station and be installed there to create the first heat maps.
Source: german.innovation; read the full news item here.
About SXSW: South by Southwest (SXSW) takes place every year in Austin (US state of Texas). It combines festivals, conferences and trade exhibitions, primarily in the fields of music, film and technology. SXSW 2021 ran from March 12 to 20 and was held as an online-only event due to the Corona pandemic.
