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The use of Pléiades Neo in the...
Parcels acquisition in Cyprus
The Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation (CAPO) requires precise land parcel detection, recognition and identification to create a new Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). This system is essential for complying with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, aimed at ensuring accurate and efficient distribution of agricultural subsidies across Europe. The main objectives of LPIS are to enhance the accuracy of mapping agricultural land and to improve the monitoring and management of land use, ensuring compliance with CAP requirements.
Cyprus’s landscape is made up of many small agricultural parcels, making the detection and identification of features like trees, bushes and fences particularly challenging. This high fragmentation and small parcel size requires satellite imagery with the best available resolution.
The ground sample distance (GSD) of the imagery must be low enough to achieve the accuracy required for orthoimages, which must meet or exceed the cartographic standards of 1:5000, as defined by the EU regulation CAP2116/2021.
Distribution of Cyprus 3 zones
To address this challenge, the tasking of Pléiades Neo 30cm imagery was anticipated over three zones -A, B and C- accross Cyprus, totaling more than 9,200 km². Over a three-year period, approximately 33.33% of Cyprus’s area was imaged each year.
The deliverables are VHR satellite images with an original collection GSD (Ground Sample Distance) of panchromatic image ≤ 0.40m and multispectral images of ≤ 1.60m. Different validation criteria were required with 20° angle maximum off-Nadir and a 10% maximum of cloud cover.
For Zone C, covering 3,068km², the acquisition window was set from 01.05.2024 until 30.06.2024.
successfully captured 100% of the area within the validation criteria between 15 May and 12 June, delivering all of the imagery in less than 1 month. All imagery is available in the OneAtlas platform.
Example of a parcel in Cyprus
- CAPO engineers orthorectified the images with the use of Rational Polynomial Coefficient (RPC) models. The geospatial accuracy of Airbus orthoimagery reached the desired requirements of CAPO, achieving an absolute geometric accuracy of RMSE, x, y ≤ 2,0 m (RMSE = root mean square error).
The orthorectified imagery was imported in a comprehensive digital database of land parcels. Leveraging Pléiades Neo satellite data enabledCAPO to map agricultural parcels more accurately, ensuring that payments are directed only to eligible land. This significantly reduces administrative errors and minimises the potential for fraudulent claims, safeguarding CAP funds.
Satellite imagery also allows for frequent and remote monitoring of land parcels, on a yearly basis, reducing the need for time-consuming and costly on-site inspections. This enhances operational efficiency, allowing staff to focus on other high-priority tasks. - Pléiades Neo satellite data also supports environmental compliance by providing insights into crop types, soil conditions and land-use changes, enabling CAPO to enforce CAP’s sustainability measures effectively.
Ultimately, integrating satellite imagery into LPIS helps CAPO streamline subsidy distribution, improve accountability and support Cyprus’s sustainable agricultural development.
Example of agriculture in Cyprus
- OnePlan Tasking Capabilities for LPIS
OnePlan tasking option provides strong tasking capabilities, ensuring priority acquisitions within short timeframes—critical for precise agricultural mapping. - Revisiting Capability and Extensive Coverage
The Airbus satellite constellation offers frequent revisit rates and global coverage, providing regular updates essential for agricultural monitoring in the East Mediterranean region. - Very High-Precision imagery
Pléiades Neo satellites deliver 30cm resolution imagery with exceptional geolocation accuracy, facilitating the mapping of fragmented and small agricultural parcels.
Three key factors were absolutely critical: precise geospatial accuracy, a rapid turnaround from data capture to the delivery of the final product, and top-notch quality. Airbus has consistently exceeded expectations in all three areas, proving their reliability and commitment to excellence.
Socratis Socratous
Head of the Technical Services Department, CAPO
TerraSpatium
TERRA SPATIUM SA is a Greek SME with over 30 years of expertise in communications, remote sensing, software development, R&D projects, and public tenders. It continually strengthens its presence in the Defense and Security sectors in Greece and Europe each year.
CAPO
The Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation (CAPO) is based in Strovolos, Lefkosia (Nicosia). It manages and distributes agricultural payments and subsidies to farmers in Cyprus, ensuring fair and efficient implementation of agricultural policies.
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