SPECIAL NEWSLETTER | Satellite methane monitoring in rice growing regions of Latin America
December 19, 2023
By Comunicaciones
An innovative project aiming to strengthen regional monitoring, reporting, and verification capabilities for methane emissions in rice ecosystems, using a satellite tool that provides frequent, reliable, and free estimates.
The project is funded by:
USD
882,374
Total financing amount
Project duration:
48 months
7
Participating countries
Uruguay, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States and New Zealand
The project’s objective is to enhance regional monitoring, reporting, and verification capabilities for methane emissions through satellite tools.
Pathway to a solution
This project:
Design models based on satellite information to estimate methane emissions in rice crops in Latin America and the Caribbean, using artificial intelligence algorithms.
Validate the models using field samples acquired in rice regions with contrasting ecosystems.
Develop a web platform to democratize access to the data and knowledge generated.
The results:
1. Characterization of different rice regions will be achieved using innovative methane sensors.
2. Field-acquired data will be correlated with satellite data, and the results of this validation will be included in the web platform.
3. A novel information system will be produced, contributing to the design of policies aimed at mitigating methane emissions and improving the well-being of rice producers in the project countries.
FONTAGRO was created 1998 with the purpose of promoting the increase of the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources and the reduction of poverty in the region. The objective of FONTAGRO is to establish itself as a sustainable financing mechanism for the development of agricultural technology and innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean and Spain, and to establish a forum for the discussion of priority topics of technological innovation. The member countries are: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. In the last 21 years 167 regional agricultural innovation platforms have been co-financed for an amount of US $ 124 million, which has reached 452 institutions and 33 countries worldwide.
