How do you optimise agriculture production and secure food for your people when you are the seventh largest agricultural yielder in the world?
To solve this challenge, the Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MoFAL) partnered in 2012 with Istanbul Technical University (ITU) to launch an unprecedented agricultural monitoring programme.
The ambition was big - establish a reference information system accessible for all agriculture stakeholders within the country. The objective was to provide them with continuous yield forecasts at parcel scale and support them in optimising water, pesticides and fertiliser applications.
This unique programme, named TARBIL, required accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive information over all production areas within the growing season.
ITU installed an Airbus Direct Receiving Station (DRS) in 2002 - collecting a huge quantity of spatial imagery, delivered in near-real-time for the users - ideal for serving the needs of MoFAL and the TARBIL project.
Airbus’ SPOT 6/7 satellites were perfectly suited to collect the required number of images within a regular turnaround period and their 1.5m resolution images met the required level of detail, so vegetation variability can be assessed even within the smallest fields.
The spatial data is sent in near-real-time to ministerial technical units for further processing. Images are immediately ingested into a cloud-based platform for conversion into solid vegetation maps (NDVI), calibrated with the ground information collected live by more than 15,000 sensors spread across the entire country.
Additionally, object-based classification is performed over this data. Field-level crop type maps and cultivated area statistics are delivered to MoFAL prior to harvesting. Value-added data, derived from satellite imagery and processed by TARBIL experts is continuously uploaded to the cloud, with farmers able to access the information instantaneously. Timely and accurate decisions can then be made.
For farmers
For the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock
For the agricultural trade and banking organisations
« AIRBUS Products transformed the TARBIL Project from an ambitious dream into a reality; 800,000 km2 of land covered as many times as necessary. For a large country with such a complex landscape and varied climate throughout its territory such as Turkey, it was a difficult challenge. Thanks to the AIRBUS constellation with its high spatial and temporal resolution, we can provide the TARBIL project with its much needed country-wide satellite imagery.»
The mission of ITU-CSCRS is to develop an advanced capability in remote sensing and satellite communications to meet the scientific needs and operational requirements of Turkey.
The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey is responsible for ensuring the accessibility to reliable food quality and agricultural products, promoting the use of sustainable agricultural and ecological resources and identifying and implementing policies to improve standards of living.
Tarbil case study 
