A US company plans to offer farmers real-time data on crop health by using technology installed on the International Space Station (ISS).

The company, Cybercorps, has signed a license agreement with NASA for use of the Compact Thermal Imager (CTI), a technology installed on the ISS in 2019.

The CTI will capture thermal images while pointed at the Earth’s surface, providing high-resolution information about crop health and soil conditions.

Farmers will be able to subscribe to Cybercorps’ service to access the thermal imaging data

The technology will be a marked improvement compared to what is currently commercially available.

For example, the CTI provides precise spatial resolution of around 80 meters per pixel, improving on older instruments that provided less detailed resolution of 1km per pixel. Farmers will be able to subscribe to Cybercorps’ service to access the thermal imaging data.

The company says the data, combined with more traditional techniques, could help farmers optimise fertiliser treatments.

After its installation in 2019, the CTI has collected more than 15 million images of Earth and is now ready for commercial use.

Speaking on the announcement, Eric McGill, a senior technology manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said:

“In this case, infrared imaging can play an important role in monitoring crop health and helping members of the agricultural community yield better harvests.”