Spire Global and Mantle Labs are teaming up to develop integrated risk assessments solutions for agri-commodity companies.
The partnership is also aimed at providing early alerts on crop health, weather patterns, and pest activity to farmers.
Spire’s low-orbit nanosatellites record data from every layer of the atmosphere in real-time. Over 110 satellites monitor atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity at over 10,000 intervals per day, allowing for an accurate 3D weather profile.
Geobotanics by Mantle Labs is an end-to-end crop-monitoring platform that includes crop stress warnings, pest forecast, and production risk analysis. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Geobotanics also offers plant nutrition and seed recommendations.
Per reports, the radio occultation data collected by Spire’s satellites will complement Mantle Labs’s crop health data.
Additionally, Spire's data analytics will allow Mantle Labs to access critical weather data from regions lacking reliable weather infrastructure, including Southeast Asia, India, South America, and Africa.
Combining their expertise, Spire Global and Mantle Labs aim to develop a robust crop health forecast.
“We operate in many countries where there is a lack of reliable weather monitoring. This leads to issues for industries like agriculture where weather data and forecasting are vital for risk mitigation,” explained Swapnil Baokar, co-founder of Mantle Labs.
Baokar added: “Our cutting-edge Geobotanics platform, powered by AI, is used by leading customers in food and agriculture. Adding Spire’s revolutionary technology will offer unprecedented access to high-quality weather forecasts at a global scale and offer greater visibility into weather-related risks, helping the world’s farmers build climate resilience.”
Commenting on their strategic partnership, Spire vice president and general manager of global data services John Lusk said: “We are proud to be partnering with Mantle Labs to help farmers, banks, crop input, insurance, and agri-commodity companies access previously difficult weather data in under-observed areas around the world in one of our most complementary partnerships to date.
"It is critical that technology reach these locations to empower farmers on the ground, maximize their profit, and properly anticipate risk assessment, especially in the face of rapidly accelerating climate change.”
