Industry Fellowship funds crop monitoring tech

Dr Sergey Sergeyev of Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (AIPT) has received £174,000 to improve polarimetric LIDAR in a project called POLIDAR, which runs from 2024 to 2025. 

In a statement, Dr Sergeyev said: “My project's motivation is driven by the global and UK agenda on increased food production, requiring novel remote sensing approaches towards ICT farming.” 

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) involves light sent from a transmitter which is reflected from objects. Devices with this technology can be placed on drones and flown over crop fields to provide real-time information about crop health to help farmers forecast the success of their crops. 

Polarimetric synthetic-aperture radars (SARs) and polarimetric LiDARs are the most advanced, cost-effective sensors for crop monitoring. Current polarimetric LIDAR systems are limited by low spatial resolution, a slow measurement speed and use expensive components that limit their cost effectiveness.

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Dr Sergeyev will work in collaboration with Salford-based digital and AI farming company Fotenix to meet farmers' need for a cost-effective solution to check if their plants are adequately watered and disease-free. The team will aim to advance recently patented AIPT technology of the polarimetric LIDAR, making it affordable for farmers in the UK and worldwide.