Satellite-based maize yield forecasting for food security, climate resilience and smarter agricultural decisions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
YPSAfrica develops a prototype for satellite- and model-based agricultural yield prediction in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project focuses initially on maize, a key staple crop, and targets pilot regions in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa. By combining Earth Observation data, weather and soil information, crop-growth modelling and local user knowledge, YPSAfrica aims to support better food-security planning, agricultural risk management and climate-resilient decision-making.
At the core is a Digital Twin of agricultural production systems. It combines high-resolution Earth Observation data, weather and soil information with process-based crop modelling to estimate crop development, water stress, irrigation dynamics and expected yield. YPSAfrica builds on Vista’s existing YPSGlobe/YPSILON infrastructure and adapts it to African conditions, including smallholder structures, heterogeneous management, variable sowing dates and limited reference data.
The project integrates Sentinel-2 multispectral data with innovative hyperspectral EnMAP information and high-resolution thermal observations from constellr. This combination is expected to improve the detection of crop condition, water stress and water-use efficiency, and to test whether these new sensors provide a measurable added value compared with established operational satellite products.
Vista coordinates the project and leads the yield-prediction and Digital Twin development. constellr contributes the thermal data expertise and evaluates land-surface-temperature indicators for crop stress and irrigation monitoring. The expected outcome is a cloud-supported Food Security Monitor prototype and a validated basis for scaling the service to additional African regions and crops.
YPSAfrica will deliver a prototype Digital Twin and Food Security Monitor for maize production in selected African pilot regions. The platform is expected to provide information on crop development, maize yield forecasts, planted area, production estimates, yield deviations, drought stress, irrigation indicators and water-use efficiency.
The project will also evaluate the added value of EnMAP hyperspectral data and constellr thermal data compared with established operational satellite products.
YPSAfrica is implemented by two Munich-based companies with complementary expertise in Earth Observation, crop modelling and satellite data services.YPSAfrica is implemented by two Munich-based companies with complementary expertise in Earth Observation, crop modelling and satellite data services.
Vista coordinates the project and leads the development of the Digital Twin, the yield-prediction workflow and the cloud-supported Food Security Monitor. Vista contributes long-standing expertise in satellite-based agricultural monitoring, process-based crop modelling, data assimilation and operational yield prediction services.
Vista’s work builds on its existing YPSILON and YPSGlobe technologies, which are further developed and adapted for maize yield prediction in Sub-Saharan Africa. Vista is also responsible for the integration of hyperspectral EnMAP information and for the user-oriented service design.
constellr contributes high-resolution thermal Earth Observation data and expertise in land-surface-temperature analysis. Within YPSAfrica, constellr evaluates how thermal data can support the detection of water stress, irrigation dynamics and temperature-related crop stress in maize-growing regions.
The project provides a pilot environment to determine the added value of constellr’s thermal data products, including LSTprecision and LSTfusion, for agricultural monitoring and yield-forecasting applications in Africa.
