Spire Global introduces advanced Soil Moisture Insights
Written byMeghan Mussoline
Marketing Content Consultant, Spire Weather and Climate
Enhancing global soil moisture monitoring with AI for unmatched accuracy and insight
At Spire Global, our mission is to harness space-based data from our multipurpose satellite constellation to foster a more climate-resilient world. With unparalleled global coverage, especially in under-observed areas like remote regions and open oceans, we deliver reliable weather insights that empower communities to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events.
It’s in this spirit that we are thrilled to announce the expansion of our Weather & Climate product suite with the launch of Spire’s advanced Soil Moisture Insights solution (in-context link to Soil Moisture Insights landing page). Soil Moisture Insights leverages our proprietary soil moisture measurements captured by Spire’s advanced GNSS-R satellite constellation, layered over other open-source, space-based data. Sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are applied to enhance this data to deliver a comprehensive and unparalleled view of soil moisture around the globe.
Soil moisture in New South Wales, Australia, shown from 6 km to 500 m down to 100 m
With advanced Soil Moisture Insights, users can expect:
- High-resolution precision: Updated daily, our product delivers precise soil moisture insights down to 500 meters resolution, enabling optimized operations across diverse sectors.
- Global accessibility: With worldwide availability, our solution empowers international and local businesses, researchers, and government agencies with comprehensive soil moisture data.
- Rich historical insights: Dating back to 1978, our product provides over four decades of data for trend analysis, climate research, and data science applications. These data are gap-filled spatially and temporally, offering a unique, continuous 40-year time series of soil moisture history from past to present.
- Effortless integration: Our soil moisture data is available through an easy-to-use API, facilitating smooth integration and analysis within existing systems and applications.
- Holistic weather insights: Combine our soil moisture data with Spire’s predictive weather analytics to gain a full view of current soil conditions and detailed forecasts for precipitation, temperature, and humidity, enhancing decision-making across various industries.
- Quality, consistency, and reliability: From data collection to delivery, we control the entire value chain, ensuring quality, consistency, and reliability.
- Daily updates: We provide daily updates, offering more timely and relevant data for informed decision-making.
Comparison of surface soil moisture metrics over South America in February 2024:
Mean of surface soil moisture
Figure 1 – the monthly mean surface soil moisture content at a 6 km resolution, indicating overall moisture levels.
Surface soil moisture anomaly
Figure 2 – the soil moisture anomaly map, highlighting deviations from long-term averages, both based on proprietary Spire data.
The critical role of soil moisture in environmental and economic stability
Soil moisture is recognized by the World Meteorological Organization as an Essential Climate Variable, crucial to environmental sustainability. It plays a vital role in the management of water resources across diverse ecosystems. Soil moisture information is pivotal for evaluating crop and vegetation health, forming the bedrock of practices aimed at optimizing agricultural output and environmental stewardship. Beyond agriculture, soil moisture information underpins essential services like risk reduction in insurance, trading agricultural commodities, and proactive management of environmental hazards like droughts, floods, and wildfires. Additionally, industries reliant on stable soil conditions, such as construction, mining, and civil engineering, rely on detailed soil moisture information to optimize operations.
Soil Moisture Insights represents the forefront of technology in this field. Offering high-resolution data updated daily, it provides precise soil moisture insights for any location globally. This product is poised to become a valuable asset across a wide range of industries and applications.
Join us in transforming industries
Join us as we transform industries with cutting-edge technology and data-driven insights. Stay tuned for updates and success stories showcasing the impact of Spire Global’s soil moisture monitoring solution across diverse sectors.
FAQ: Spire’s Soil Moisture Insights product launch
- What is the new Soil Moisture Insights product being launched by Spire?
Spire is launching a soil moisture monitoring product powered by its constellation of GNSS-R satellites. The product provides 6 km and 500 m resolution, daily updated soil moisture insights for any location worldwide.
- Why is this product launch significant?
This product represents the forefront of soil moisture technology, offering valuable data for industries such as agriculture, water management, insurance, commodity trading, mining, and civil engineering. It helps in optimizing crop management, managing environmental risks, and assessing ground stability.
- Who are the intended users of this product?
The product is designed for a wide range of users, including precision agriculture, insurance companies, commodity traders, environmental monitoring agencies, construction companies, and civil engineers.
- Can you provide examples of how this product can be applied?
The product can be used for risk management in insurance, agriculture commodity price forecasting, drought forecasting, irrigation and crop management, flood and wildfire prediction, hydrological modeling, weather modeling, and as input to a variety of machine learning applications.
- What are the key features of this soil moisture monitoring product?
The product offers surface soil moisture data at a resolution of 500 meters, global availability, daily updates, a historical archive dating back to 1978, delivery via API, and the ability to combine with Spire weather data for a comprehensive analysis.
- How does this product stand out from competitors?
The product is unique due to its ownership of the entire value chain, combination of public and private data, daily updates, global coverage, and its potential to fill gaps left by other satellite missions.
- How does AI/ML technology improve the Soil Moisture Insights product?
Artificial intelligence enhances the Soil Moisture Insights product by filling data gaps and increasing the accuracy and resolution. These advancements provide more detailed, precise, and comprehensive soil moisture insights.
- How does Spire plan to improve the soil moisture product in the future?
Spire intends to add root zone soil moisture data, enhance the product’s spatial resolution down to 100 meters, and continuously improve the model with machine learning techniques for more accurate and reliable soil moisture data.
- How can I learn more about Spire’s new soil moisture product?
