THE Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said it will collaborate with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to create drought maps using satellite imaging.
“This agreement aims to create crop-specific drought maps from satellite data, with a focus on rice,” PhilSa said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The signing of this agreement formalizes secure and efficient data sharing between the two agencies for enhanced drought mitigation,” PhilSa said.
The project is expected to assist PhilRice — an arm of the Department of Agriculture — in improving plans to make farming more resilient.
“This collaboration with PhilRice underpins the importance of integrating satellite and ground data, emphasizing how ground data is used to validate, calibrate, and enhance the accuracy of satellite-derived insights and models,” Gay Jane P. Perez, deputy director general for space science and technology, said during the memorandum of agreement signing on Dec. 16.
The collaboration will help maximize the impact of PhilSA’s Satellite Mission Analysis, Planning, Product Enhancement and Development project.
As of August, agricultural damage due to the El Niño dry spell was reckoned at P15.3 billion. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
