“The aim of the GROW project was to empower farmer and food-growing communities to improve the quality of soils using sensors, an app and satellite data. It established communities of citizens who generate, share and utilise information on land, soil and water resources, and demonstrated that a citizens’ observatory can be an effective model for validating high-resolution remote sensing satellites – Copernicus’ Sentinel-1 data.
A total of 24 citizen communities were provided with 6 500 sensors to place in the ground, so as to complement satellite observation with in-field evaluation of soil moisture products. Over its lifespan, GROW has crowdsourced data from 20 500 small-scale plant growers and farmers at high temporal and spatial density.
By monitoring soil moisture, the project responds to the need for ground-based observations to improve the accuracy of satellite information. Farmers also benefit from sought-after information on how water availability varies across their land over time. By better understanding the soil they cultivate, small farmers can reduce the use of water for irrigation, find out when the soil reaches its full potential, as well as start correlating yield and plant health with moisture data. The project gives them access to online training on food production methods that preserve and regenerate soils.
