Traditional farming has long been at the whim of weather, insects and other wildlife. While farmers still can’t control the weather, they can use technology to monitor and predict. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have numerous applications in modern farming, and monitors (plus data analytics) allow for a kind of proactive farming that was impossible in the past.
Pollen Systems, an Esri Business Partner, recently demonstrated its new PrecisionView Mobile solution, built on the new ArcGIS Maps SDK for Swift (News - Alert). Pollen Systems can arrange drone or satellite aerial data capture anywhere in the world to fuel their PrecisionView Platform. Built entirely on – and powered by – Esri’s ArcGIS system, the PrecisionView Platform maps out spatially accurate farm blocks and provides precise locations of IoT devices, integrating data from moisture, irrigation, and climate sensors. By combining customer and Esri-supplied layers from the Living Atlas, such as aerial imagery, soil maps, topography and more, farmers can capture a 360-degree digital twin of their farm.
The resulting data and images are then managed in Pollen’s PrecisionView Platform. Using analytic capabilities, data is segmented and tracked at the individual plant, partial or full row, or block level, highlighting crop vigor and variability, water stress, and pest and disease pressure. The platform is suitable for any-sized farm – from small to large and in-between. Farm managers receive detailed reports and recommendations to help their farms be as efficient, productive and profitable as possible. And with the addition of PrecisionView Mobile powered by the ArcGIS Maps SDK for Swift, farm workers equipped with iOS devices can now download and use maps offline, address tasks and provide annotations that synchronize when network access is available.
“Capturing aerial imagery with drones and satellites provides extremely high-resolution images and data of crop growth in farms throughout the world,” said Keith McCall, Founder and CEO of Pollen Systems. “Mapping that data with PrecisionView, powered with Esri ArcGIS technology, enables the mobile devices of farm workers in areas of low or no network coverage the ability to track and record data in a way never before possible.”