Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMIHow the “Longwave infrared sensing demonstratoR LisR” supports agriculture in the efficient use of water resources.
Water is a scarce commodity and will become even more precious in future due to the growing world population. It is therefore essential to no longer irrigate plants on the basis of estimates, but rather in a targeted manner according to their respective needs.
This is made possible by a new type of satellite technology that detects heat radiation from orbit and thus physically measures the land temperature. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the irrigation status of the plants. Led by the founding idea of constellr GmbH, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMI, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and the companies constellr GmbH and SPACEOPTIX GmbH – both spin-offs from these institutes – developed the infrared camera “LisR”, short for “Longwave infrared sensing demonstratoR”. LisR was successfully tested on the International Space Station ISS in 2022. Based on the findings of the LisR mission, constellr is planning to launch its own satellites into orbit. With the help of the satellite constellation, it would then be possible to save 180 billion tons of water and 94 million tons of CO2 and increase the global harvest by up to four percent from 2026.
The jury was impressed by the outstanding collaboration between several institutes and two spin-offs to record the water content in plants and the surface temperature from space worldwide.
