Space-based Observations Key to Food Security

To face the challenges of climate change, and human impact, world food production needs to double by 2050 making accurate and reliable estimates of agricultural productivity – measured as global gross primary productivity (GPP) – a global priority.

An international collaboration, involving Univ. of Technology, Sydney remote sensing specialist, Prof. Alfredo Huete, has made this goal more achievable by using a breakthrough methodology that has the potential to significantly improve the monitoring of global crop productivity. The results of the research, recently published in PNAS, show that new space-based observations of photosynthesis, using chlorophyll fluorescence data, will provide more reliable projections of agricultural productivity and the impact of climate on crop yields. The research outcomes are especially timely because new satellite missions in 2014 and 2015 are expected to further improve the potential for this type of monitoring and provide unique data sets for the better management of critical agricultural resources.

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