Earth-i has been awarded a significant multi-year contract to deliver environmental monitoring through Planet Labs fleet of earth imaging satellites. This contract provides high-frequency satellite data, remote sensing and AI (Artificial Intelligence) consultancy, and support services allowing the rapid onboarding of this cutting-edge remote sensing capability.  Near-daily satellite imagery, PlanetScope, captured from Planet’s Dove constellation is expertly processed into Analysis Ready Data (ARD) and will be delivered to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) as a 100% cloud free composite across the entire agricultural area of England.

Brian O’Toole, Geospatial Lead at the Rural Payments Agency:

“Our new agri-environment schemes offer us a chance to explore how we can further support farmers to improve their productivity while delivering environmental benefits. The satellite imagery provided by Earth-i and Planet will enable us to develop innovative approaches to monitoring throughout the year – making it even easier for our customers to deliver on their agreements.”

Owen Hawkins, Product Director at Earth-i:

“We welcome this new era of pioneering environmental monitoring, embracing new technologies to detect and monitor factors critical to the health and wealth of the English countryside. Working with both our partner Planet and the RPA will help ensure that our land and wildlife can continue to support our needs now and into the future.”

Fiona Williams, UK Government Sales at Planet:

“We are thrilled that our collaboration with UK geospatial organisations has informed a step-change in land monitoring for agriculture and the environment. We have a great working relationship with both our long-term partner Earth-i and the RPA, as we previously have been collaborating on data for agriculture monitoring and are pleased that they have selected Planet for the operational delivery of their services.”

The UK (United Kingdom) Government through the RPA, an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), will use this very high temporal and spatial resolution sensing to support its Environmental Land Management Scheme which replaces the Common Agricultural Policy.  The nature of the data allows the country-wide detection of a bigger range of biophysical parameters than ever before in support of increasing the UK’s natural capital.  These observations are a cornerstone in measuring policy effectiveness and administering payments to landowners.