Student researchers from the University of Toronto are pioneering the use of satellite technology to track crop residue, potentially offering growers a cost-effective alternative to traditional ground-based monitoring methods. The collaboration between EMILI and the University of Toronto’s Aerospace Team Space Systems Division could represent a significant step forward in precision agriculture technology, with the potential to transform how farmers assess soil health and plan for future growing seasons.
Breaking new ground in agricultural remote sensing
The project centers around FINCH (Field Imaging Nanosatellite for Crop residue Hyperspectral mapping), a 3U CubeSat (satellite) designed to conduct technological demonstrations of crop residue mapping from low-Earth orbit. The satellite uses hyperspectral short wave infrared (SWIR) to capture detailed imagery of agricultural fields, providing farmers with critical data about crop residue coverage without the need for expensive drone surveys or time-consuming manual field walks.
Five fields on EMILI’s Innovation Farms are being tracked as part of this demonstration. University of Manitoba researchers are using hyperspectral drone imagery to validate the satellite data. The project also incorporates ground-truth data collection through a specialized app developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, creating a comprehensive dataset that combines satellite, drone, and field-level observations.
The Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI) is a non-profit organization established in 2016 to accelerate the growth of digital agriculture tools. Based in Manitoba, EMILI works collaboratively with producers, industry, investors, and innovators to grow a sustainable and economically resilient agricultural sector that fully harnesses promising new technologies.
Technology with real-world impact
For growers, the implications of this technology extend far beyond simple residue mapping. Crop residue measurements provide essential information about soil health, appropriate tillage intensity, carbon sequestration potential, and overall crop health assessment. Too much crop residue can harbor pests and diseases, while too little can lead to soil erosion, which makes accurate measurement crucial for sustainable farming practices.
The satellite-based approach offers significant advantages over existing methods. Traditional manual surveying is labor-intensive and time-consuming, while drone and aircraft surveys can be prohibitively expensive for many operations. FINCH provides a cost-effective middle ground, delivering high-quality hyperspectral data at a fraction of the cost of conventional remote sensing methods.
The project is expected to launch in 2028, with the satellite projected to provide ongoing data collection capabilities for agricultural applications across Canada. The collaboration demonstrates how academic research can directly address industry needs while providing valuable educational opportunities for the next generation of aerospace and agricultural professionals.
The University of Toronto Aerospace Team’s Space Systems Division builds and launches CubeSats for scientific missions with the primary goal of providing educational opportunities to students in spacecraft design, assembly, testing, operation, mission planning, and leadership. As a no-barrier team, the division recruits from all engineering disciplines and other faculties to create a diverse knowledge base for their projects. All designs created by the team are made open-source for other teams to improve upon. Their previous success includes HERON Mk. II, which became the first fully student-built and student-funded satellite in Canada when it launched in November 2023.
Main image: FINCH logo, University of Toronto
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