December 2022

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2022 highlights
This year for KappaZeta has been a time of growth and many exciting new developments. Here are some of the main highlights we’d like to share with you.

KappaMask went global! The most accurate free and open Sentinel-2 cloud mask KappaMask became available globally in all seasons. We went through rainforests and deserts, mountains and oceans, cities, and farmlands to create KappaSet, the largest cloud and cloud shadow masks dataset. Not only are different surface types included in it but also different cloud types and seasons from all over the globe. Another improvement is the faster processing time

Start using KappaMask: https://github.com/kappazeta/km_predict
Download KappaSet: https://zenodo.org/record/7100327

KappaOne launch. The KappaOne service is designed to make Sentinel-1 SAR data easily accessible and ready to be used and analysed. There are six Sentinel-1 ARD products available, which are presented in human-friendly as well as machine-readable form. Our raster processing got a major upgrade that significantly improves the quality of our backscatter and coherence rasters. This means end-users get calibrated and noise corrected imagery products with the highest possible spatial resolution using advanced speckle suppression methods. Significant focus has been on operationalizing the sNDVI model as a layer of KappaOne.

While KappaOne can be used for a variety of applications, it has already proven extremely helpful for subsidy checks under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Sentinel-1 images are well suited for assessment of mowing, harvesting, ploughing and other markers.

Explore the KappaOne demo: https://demodev2.kappazeta.ee/ard_demo/
Learn more: https://kappazeta.ee/blog/why-do-we-need-sentinel-1-data-service
Watch CAP-related webinar: https://youtu.be/TyH1B25g2gI

We would like to keep you informed about our progress. For this reason, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter. We will not burden you with unnecessary information. Only the interesting stuff. The previous newsletters can be read below the subscription form.

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Newsletter, May 2024

1. KappaZeta grows agricultural expertise

We’re excited to announce that agronomist Teet Liiv has joined KappaZeta as Agriculture Domain Lead. Over his career, Teet has gained extensive insight into the agriculture sector as an adviser, product specialist and sales consultant. He is most interested in figuring out how financially sustainable agriculture and ecological agriculture fit together, while also preserving a diverse natural environment.

Agriculture has been at the heart of KappaZeta since the establishment of the company in 2015, inspired by the need to monitor mowing activities for agricultural subsidy checks. Since then, KappaZeta has provided agricultural monitoring services for agricultural agencies and has completed several R&D projects for detecting agricultural practices and events from satellite images.

With advice and guidance from the new domain lead, we have a comprehensive understanding of agricultural processes, the complex relationship between all players in the field of plant production, and improved knowledge about user needs. We’re looking forward to steering our agricultural services in the right direction with Teet’s leadership!

2. Detecting clear-cutting in Estonian forests

KappaZeta completed a pilot project for the Estonian Environment Agency to monitor forest clear-cutting. As a result of a fast-paced pilot project commissioned by the agency, our machine learning model achieved 90% accuracy in identifying clear-cutting events on the plots that are at least 0.5 hectares large. The Environment Agency was pleased with the results and plans to prototype a service for forest clear-cut detection in near future.

Just as the Agricultural Registers and Information Board has been pioneering technological innovations for agriculture, the Estonian Environmental Agency has taken a significant step forward for forestry in Estonia. We are thrilled to contribute to the agency’s effort in enhancing the reliability, quality, accessibility, and transparency of forest data.

Read a more detailed press release by the Estonian Environment Agency here (in Estonian).

Presentation of the results from the clear-cut pilot project to the Estonian Environment Agency and other stakeholders. Source: Estonian Environment Agency.

Newsletter, January 2024

1. Five satellite analytics tools for agriculture

During the past two years, the KappaZeta team has focused on developing services for agricultural management and analysis. Prototypes for the services were developed within the project “Satellite monitoring-based services for the insurance sector – CropCop”, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and Enterprise Estonia.

The suite of tools for agriculture includes:

Crop Type Detection, enabling precise identification of various crop types,
Parcel Delineation for accurate land mapping,
Seedling Emergence Detection to monitor early crop growth,
Farmland Damaged Area Delineation for assessing areas affected by adverse events,
Ploughing and Harvesting Events Detection to track critical farming activities.

Learn more from our latest blog post.

Image: Results of crop type detection.

2. New pilot for the Environment Agency

KappaZeta has launched a pilot project for the the Estonian Environment Agency to monitor forest clear-cutting. Automatic and timely monitoring of felling activities would free land managers from the obligation of reporting and significantly reduce the workload for inspectors.

The detection of clear-cutting will be based on radar Sentinel-1 imagery, which sees through clouds, and on optical Sentinel-2 imagery, whose spatial resolution exceeds the radar’s. The image below displays an example of what clear-cutting looks like in optical vs. radar imagery.

In two temporally consecutive optical images captured by Sentinel-2 (top row), it is visible that as of August 5, a fresh clear-cut existed in the right side of the scene. By September 11, a second clear-cut had appeared nearby. Backscatter (s0) and coherence (coh) radar images are averaged over a 2-week period to reduce noise (bottom row). In addition to that, an existing smaller clear-cut can be identified in both Sentinel-1 products, which confirms that the second clear-cut visible in the optical image from September 11 had not yet appeared by August 14.

Image: Detection of forest clear-cutting using optical and SAR images.

3. KappaZeta at the Winter Satellite Workshop
KappaZeta’s delegation kicked off the new conference season at the Winter Satellite Workshop in Espoo, Finland, where we had three busy days of presentations and discussions with good people.

Tauri Tampuu demonstrated the benefits of analysis-ready SAR data for various applications, highlighting key events of the Russo-Ukraine war as seen in satellite images.

Martin Jüssi presented the concept and status of 3D-SAR, our planned bistatic SAR mission for monitoring vegetation volume from space.

Looking forward to meeting you at the next space, agtech and defence events soon!

Image: Tauri Tampuu presenting at the Winter Satellite Workshop.

Image: Martin Jüssi presenting at the Winter Satellite Workshop.

Newsletter, December 2023

Thank you for following KappaZeta’s story! We really appreciate it. 2023 is about to end and it’s time to sum up the year – please see our timeline below.

🎄 🎄 🎄 KappaZeta team wishes you a beautiful holiday season! And may your dreams come true!

Newsletter, November 2023

1. Martin Jüssi joins KappaZeta

Martin Jüssi, previously the Space and Earth observation director of CGI Estonia, has joined KappaZeta to lead the 3D-SAR mission development. Martin has a wide network in the space domain and a multidisciplinary background with good experience in GIS, space and technology management. Martin was also part of the Tartu Observatory Remote Sensing research group in 2012, which eventually led to the formation of KappaZeta. “In a way, it feels like rejoining the team after a number of years rather than being a new joiner”, comments Martin “I am glad to be leading this ambitious endeavor, with the best possible team I can imagine, in our lovely hometown of Tartu.”

2. 3D-SAR mission development in full force

With Martin at the wheel, we kicked off the concept exploration phase (Phase-0) of the 3D-SAR mission. The high-level objective of the mission is to map global forest biomass with unprecedented accuracy and revisit frequency using bi-static SAR data, therefore enabling direct measurements of carbon stock, biomass change and density from space. In the concept exploration phase, we will define high-level mission requirements and explore various concepts for fulfilling these in the best possible way, ensuring a balance of cost and data quality based on the user requirements.

3. From estimation to precision: Your path to reliable carbon assessment!
As we believe the 3D-SAR data products can have a massive positive impact on carbon stock awareness and data-based climate decisions, we will participate in COP28 in Dubai from December 2 to 10 to increase awareness and gather support for our mission.

4. Winter Satellite Workshop in Espoo, Finland
KappaZeta will take part in Winter Satellite Workshop, 17-19 January 2024 in Espoo, Finland (https://spaceworkshop.fi/). Join us to discuss 3D-SAR constellation and the future use cases of its data, Sentinel-1 analysis ready data on KappaOne platform (https://kappaone.eu/) and other interesting topics with curious, knowledgeable and interesting people.

Newsletter, September 2023

1. KappaZeta is hiring!

After the recent successful investment round (you can catch up with the details here), KappaZeta is gearing up for the ambitious endeavors of the near future. To make our plans a reality, we’re on the lookout for talented individuals to join our team.

Are you or someone you know a perfect fit for one of these roles at KappaZeta?

🌱 Agriculture Domain Lead: If you’re passionate about agriculture and ready to lead the way in this domain, we want to hear from you!

🧠 Senior Machine Learning Engineer: Are you a seasoned machine learning expert looking for your next challenge? Join us and help shape the future with cutting-edge technology.

📊 Data Quality Specialist: Precision and attention to detail are your superpowers. Join our team and ensure the highest data quality standards.

We’re inviting you to be a part of our journey as we drive innovation and make a real impact. If you or someone you know is ready to embark on this exciting adventure with us, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

2. AI-based tillage detection for smarter agricultural and climate policies with the European Space Agency

Among the myriad of causes of climate change, have you ever stopped to wonder how tilling your land may be contributing to this issue? Conventional tillage methods and their long-standing application comprise techniques that have a negative environmental impact on the soil, such as erosion and carbon loss.

With the European Commission’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU encourages member states to apply sustainable agricultural practices, e.g., conservative tillage methods. Conservative tillage techniques reduce erosion and carbon loss from the soil as they involve minimal soil disturbance or retention of crop residues on the soil surface. The main aim of the policies in the agriculture sector is to ensure that we produce our food sustainably.

Agricultural paying agencies in EU member states are mandated to monitor farmers’ agricultural practices and ensure they comply with the policies put in place. KappaZeta has embarked on a new project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the vital work undertaken by the paying agencies. The development of an AI-based tillage detection model is a project that leverages Earth Observation as an integral aspect of the area monitoring system (AMS) and is set to run from September 2023 to September 2024. The AI-based tillage detection model aims to promote sustainable agriculture according to the European Green Deal that rewards farmers for low-impact practices that contribute to carbon sequestration. Encouraging sustainable agriculture and leveraging the appropriate technologies will lead to a smarter and more resilient future.

3. Taking a deeper dive into the world of SNDVI
The full version of summer intern Karl Hendrik Tamkivi’s adventures in the realm of SNDVI is now available on the KappaZeta Medium blog.

Newsletter, August 2023

1. First investment round successful

KappaZeta received €480 000 investment from business angels to develop our existing services and kick-off the development of an exciting new satellite mission to create an accurate, global, and frequently updated data set about forest biomass and carbon stock.

Business angels Ahti Heinla, Prof. Adam Beaumont, Markus Tamme, Mart Noorma and Anu Noorma, Priit Salumaa, Priit Vellak, Toomas Kams and Eva Kams, Tõnu Runnel and Estonian Business School Group invested in our growth. With the investment we will develop further our agricultural and defence products and create a service for forest carbon stock assessment. We will kick-off the development of an exciting new satellite mission making Sentinel-1 data three-dimensional. The mission will create an accurate, global, and frequently updated data set about forest biomass and carbon stock.

Kaupo Voormansik, CEO

Artist’s impression of the planned satellite mission (© Taavi Torim and European Space Agency).

2. Adventures in the realm of Synthetic NDVI

This summer, we had the pleasure of hosting a machine learning intern Karl Hendrik Tamkivi who explored ways to improve Synthetic NDVI measurement. Over two months, he carried out experiments with the aim of achieving a lower error rate, better visuals, and higher resiliency. Karl dissected the problem from three perspectives: model architecture, data manipulation, and performance evaluation.

As a result of several experiments, Karl managed to improve SNDVI model accuracy and efficiency, and identified several areas which deserve further attention (and what is equally important – which approaches do not).

SNDVI is a promising solution which can identify crop failure early, assist in tracking different growth stages, and provide automated ways to monitor agricultural activities.

Thank you, Karl Hendrik, for being a great addition to our team this summer!

Example of experiment results. From left to right:
Original Image: The initial, untouched image.
Initial Model Output: Notice regular pattern distortions and lack of spatial detail.
Enhanced Model Output: Result from an improved model with adjusted kernel size and updated interpolation techniques. Notice the clearer and more spatially accurate representation.

3. Meet us!

Estonian companies at DALO Industry Days in Denmark. KappaZeta (Tanel Kobrusepp on the far right) introduced situational awareness solutions for the defence sector.

Next events:
11.-15.09 FRINGE 2023. Posters: Sentinel-1 3D: Constellation of Bistatic Passive Receiver Satellites Formation Flying with Sentinel-1 for Operational Applications, Analysis Ready SAR Backscatter and Interferometric Coherence Data for Professional and Non-Professional Users (Leeds, UK)
12.-14.09 6^th Sentinel-2 Validation Team Meeting. Poster KappaMask v2: Going Global.
(ESA ESRIN, Frascati, Italy).
12.-15.09 DSEI 2023 (London)

Newsletter, May 2023

1. KappaMask over Europe

Since the beginning of the year, KappaZeta has been using EOSC Future cloud computing resources with the aim to provide KappaMask-based cloud and cloud segmentation masks for every Sentinel-2 product over Europe.

By generating KappaMask-based cloud and cloud shadow segmentation masks for every Sentinel-2 product available in the European region and hosting the masks on CreoDIAS with a free licence, we provide ample opportunities for testing KappaMask performance for all interested parties.

Learn more from Tetiana’s presentation at the “Use cases from the EOSC community” webinar: https://youtu.be/Yuvd3y0JEXk?t=3239

2. German – Estonian Defence Industry Seminar in Tallinn

KappaZeta took part in the German – Estonian Defence Industry Seminar in Tallinn held by the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association. We were represented by Tanel Kobrusepp and Jürgen Lina who had a great opportunity to connect with the German defence industry leaders and the public sector.

KappaZeta is building near real-time Earth Observation solutions that are crucial for security and defence capabilities.

We are looking forward to the upcoming events to set our foot even further in the defence industry.

3. A look at the Estonian forest together with Levila
Levila journalists are tackling one of Estonia’s biggest mysteries – the lack of reliable information on the condition of Estonian forests.

With so much monitoring equipment (as seen in the illustration below), shouldn’t we be able to know just about everything about the forests? Levila contacted KappaZeta to ask how satellites can help get an overview of Estonian forests.

The first Levila blog posts are available in Estonian here: https://www.levila.ee/tekstid/kuhu-kaob-mets

Newsletter, April 2023

1. SERA presentation day in TallinnOn Thursday, 20 April 2023, eleven Estonian companies from the defence and aerospace sector, KappaZeta Ltd among them, could promote their unique innovative products and services to 80 top European defence and security executives. There was a presentation day (https://www.facebook.com/ESTDefenceIndustry/) where the Estonian companies met the attendees of an international course SERA (Session Européennee des Responsables d’Armement) for the high rank European defence and security personnel held in Estonia and organised jointly by the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association and the Estonian Ministry of Defence. We joined the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association recently. The heightened international security situation has made us want to use our expertise on radar and AI for the benefit of the security of Estonia and the defence capabilities of ours and our allies. While KappaZeta does not currently offer any significant ready-made services for the defence sector, we have the capacity to develop such solutions, and our ideas were well received at the event. Now, we are working to take these ideas forward.

Image: Tauri Tampuu presenting KappaZeta at the SERA presentation day.

Tauri Tampuu, research and development manager

2. Towards Sentinel-1 3D: interesting stories and criticism

KappaZeta is planning a new satellite mission with a goal to make Sentinel-1 data 3-dimensional and to provide an excellent data source to measure forest biomass at global level with unprecedented accuracy and frequency. The following paragraphs are an exerpt from our CEO Kaupo Voormansik’s blog post ”A story of starting a satellite mission”.

Image: The mission concept — constellation of passive receiver satellites formation flying with Sentinel-1.

One of the most interesting critical remarks came from a good colleague: „Your undertaking has too much of a community feel to it.“ I would say that’s completely intentional. KappaZeta is a do-good company with a mission and that’s no secret. We’re convinced that an open approach will be successful, as opposed to being afraid, trying to hide, building walls wherever possible, keeping our work and plans a secret. The Copernicus programme, which the new mission would complement, is a success largely thanks to its open philosophy.

All interested parties need to know that the door for discussing cooperation is open, be that for benefitting from the planned data or for collaborating on satellite development. Experience from the first Estonian satellite project ESTCube-1 taught me many lessons that led to this conclusion. I’m glad that I never started criticising the new „aliens“ who had just joined the team and didn’t seem very reliable at first sight. Many of them later surprised the entire team, proving to be thorough and careful engineers that could always be relied upon. The second lesson was that each person plays their own role and not every person has to be very profoundly involved in development. For example, one ESTCube-1 member never stood out with great engineering results but brought a friend to the team who became one of the core developers. All of this demonstrates the power of community, which is enormous. Everyone needs to feel welcome to join and contribute. This is especially important in the beginning, when the entire competence to complete a mission doesn’t already exist within the team.

More criticism on the same note: „It doesn’t matter that you have a lot of friends!“ It matters tremendously! One person alone, however smart, and capable, could not get a lot done. Looking at the lively and supportive cooperation between Estonian startups, it seems that most people have understood this already long ago. From our experiences, we can thank the SuperAngel accelerator, ESA BIC Estonia, the Estonian Founders Society, and the Estonian Space Office.

To sum all of this up — there’s still a lot of work ahead, but there aren’t any fundamental obstacles preventing the mission from becoming a reality. The only thing that might make us reconsider our plans, would be if a better alternative technology were to appear. As long as our planned mission (bistatic SAR interferometry using accompanying satellites) provides the best combination of high accuracy, global coverage, and a reasonable price for measuring the global forest biomass, we will be working onwards.

Today, we have verbal agreements to raise 2,35 million euros in investments. Hopefully, we can publish official news about it soon. I extend my sincere gratitude to all our team members, advisors, the future investors, and the constructive critics.

Kaupo Voormansik, CEO

Newsletter, March 2023

1. A story of starting a satellite mission by Kaupo Voormansik
It all started in November 2021 when TalTech space programme manager Rauno Gordon invited all the interested parties to discuss the idea of a new „Estonian satellite“. We and the other enthusiasts met on a several occasions to discuss ideas – the common denominator being the desire to develop a mission useful for Estonia. Soon enough I was able to convince everyone that building a new satellite to observe just Estonia is not the way to go. Instead, we should think about how to use satellite remote sensing to benefit the world. Most of the other participants at the meeting seemed to agree.

At KappaZeta, we had been thinking of the idea of enriching the Sentinel-1 dataset for a long time. At first, we hoped ESA would do it by developing accompanying missions to Sentinel-1 that would add the height dimension and make the next generation fully polarimetric. Discussions on this topic showed that ESA was not planning to do it themselves but would be willing to support third parties developing the mission. OK, great – I pitched this idea at the next „Estonian satellite“ meeting and it was received quite well. Adding a small and relatively inexpensive accompanying satellite to enhance the data of a large and important mission seemed both feasible and meaningful.

After one or two more meetings, I realized that in order to make it actually happen, I have to take the lead. I needed to stand up and say that we (i.e., KappaZeta) will start organising it, and others would then join us. We had what was necessary to get the snowball rolling – systematic knowledge about SAR, personal experience from developing ESTCube-1, an understanding of the Earth observation market and about the importance of the dataset to be developed. As the last and very important component, we also had a decent network within the Estonian and other European countries’ space technology and remote sensing communities. Today’s KappaZeta could not do it alone, but with help from friends – absolutely!

At the beginning of the story, I referred to the „Estonian satellite“ using quotation marks, but despite all our national pride, we shouldn’t emphasize its nationality. The more countries that consider the Sentinel-1 accompanying satellite constellation to be their own, the better. Satellite remote sensing is inherently global and international cooperation its key to success, helping to avoid unnecessary fragmentation and duplication, and helping to progress further together. A satellite that is suitable for gathering data about Estonia is just as capable of doing the same for all other countries of the world.

If you’re interested in the technical content of the planned mission, please see the abstract from the Finnish Satellite Workshop Remote Sensing seminar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rhppDdSWLjU7CXeanmLWo1Vl4xLE3h8_/view
The story will be continued on our Medium blog next week, where Kaupo will share his experience receiving feedback to the mission concept and will explain how far along the mission preparations are.

Kaupo Voormansik, CEO

2. Collaboration with 1MTN
We are delighted to work together with 1MTN (https://www.1mtn.com/) on nature-based carbon credit projects. KappaZeta’s role is to assist 1MTN with satellite remote sensing expertise and solutions. Currently we are collaborating on a bamboo planting project in Africa. It has provided us with valuable insight into the remote sensing and GIS needs of the voluntary carbon market. We see that correct adoption of remote sensing solutions facilitates transparency of the voluntary carbon market and reduces costs of the carbon project developers.

We wish Anete Garoza and Kristjan Raude a lot of energy for the development of carbon projects!

Jürgen Lina, business development manager

Newsletter, February 2023

A new satellite mission: Sentinel-1 data to 3D
We are excited to share that KappaZeta is planning a new satellite mission with a goal to make Sentinel-1 data 3-dimensional and to provide an excellent data source to measure forest biomass at global level with unprecedented accuracy and frequency.

The quiet homework in cooperation with Estonian and Finnish Universities and with the local space community has been ongoing for about a year now. The first public presentation about our mission concept was given at the Finnish Satellite Workshop (https://spaceworkshop.fi/) in January 2023. Currently we are preparing the user requirements mapping campaign and partner search for the necessary space hardware and system integration. We are also in the process of acquiring the first major investment. More news will be announced in the coming months.

Why is it important? Why does it matter?

The mission applies a technology called bi-static across-track synthetic aperture radar interferometry which (especially when implemented with additional passive receivers) is one of the best trade-offs for global forest biomass and carbon stock mapping in terms of accuracy versus frequent global coverage and cost. It is vital for global carbon trading to add transparency and avoid greenwashing. We could significantly increase the accuracy of global forest carbon stock estimation while keeping the costs reasonable. Today’s 30-40% error could be reduced to about 10% error.

Making Sentinel-1 data 3-dimensional would also improve almost any existing agricultural and forestry application that currently relies on Sentinel-1 data. Having more linearly independent input parameters for AI-models results in higher accuracy and ultimately happier customers.

The image below illustrates the planned data for accurate forest biomass estimation at parcel level.

Kaupo Voormansik, CEO

Newsletter, January 2023

CropCop services for crop insurance
The process of on-site loss adjustment for crop insurance companies is often lengthy and inefficient. Using specialized inspectors or local drone companies can have geographical limitations and obtaining uniform historical data can be difficult. In a perfect world, field information such as vegetation health and farming activities could be easily accessed from anywhere in the world, quickly and either on a computer or a portable device. This is the solution that CropCop offers. Our goal is to streamline loss adjustment as much as possible.

As more and more crop insurance companies are aiming to make satellite data work for them, we decided to be a part of this digitalization movement. The CropCop team is currently partnering up with the first crop insurance companies to be the leading data provider for the upcoming 2023 season. If you’re interested in a chance of becoming a part of the CropCop Customer Advisory Board (CAB) program, please contact Tanel Kobrusepp HERE to have a say in future CropCop developments and gain a competitive advantage over other insurance companies.

Some of the AI models that are in development:

Crop Type Detection
Agricultural parcel delineation
Seedling Emergence detection
Detection of Cultivation Events
Delineation of Damaged Areas
Yield Estimation
Risk Assessment

If you want to learn more, then visit our freshly completed website: https://www.cropcop.io/

Tanel Kobrusepp, CropCop product manager

Newsletter, December 2022

2022 highlights
This year for KappaZeta has been a time of growth and many exciting new developments. Here are some of the main highlights we’d like to share with you.

Start using KappaMask: https://github.com/kappazeta/km_predict
Download KappaSet: https://zenodo.org/record/7100327

Explore the KappaOne demo: https://demodev2.kappazeta.ee/ard_demo/
Learn more: https://kappazeta.ee/blog/why-do-we-need-sentinel-1-data-service
Watch CAP-related webinar: https://youtu.be/TyH1B25g2gI

We also have great memories from the productive summer months thanks to our six hard-working interns. At one point in summer, the KappaZeta employee count reached a total of 21 people! At the end of the year, there are 16 team members.

While we have strongly reinforced our non-technical team this year, science remains at our core. We’re now very proud to have six PhD holders on the team. Our software developer Heido Trofimov defended his PhD thesis “Polluted clouds at air pollution hot spots help to better understand anthropogenic impacts on Earth’s climate” and Tauri Tampuu defended his PhD thesis “Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry as a tool for monitoring the dynamics of peatland”.

Having more people on board has also given us the opportunity to generate more ideas, write more proposals, focus more on sales and participate in more tenders. We’re excited to start and continue new collaborations and keep working toward our goal – making satellite data valuable for everyone. Thank you to everyone who is supporting us on this journey.

The figure above illustrates a ploughing example on the Synthetic NDVI layer, which is computed from Sentinel-1 raster with usage of historical Sentinel-2 data. It is visible that the vegetation index before ploughing on the parcels is significantly higher than after ploughing, as the color changes rapidly from yellow to dark orange.

New crop insurance tools
A new project to develop tools for crop insurance began with support from the program for applied research funded by Enterprise Estonia and the European Regional Development Fund

Contrary to the United States, crop insurance is not currently common in most European countries. The main reasons producers do not insure their fields are price, lack of flexibility for custom terms from the insurance companies and lack of insurance products to choose from.

Tools based on satellite data provide opportunities for faster underwriting, better risk assessment, and reducing costs on time-consuming and expensive claims handling. Incorporating our tools into insurance companies’ work will help increase the amount of available tailor-made insurance policies in a cost-effective manner. We hope these new insurance policies will be attractive for farmers and activate the crop insurance market in Europe.

We’re always looking for accurate field data (i.e., from smart harvesters) to improve the accuracy of how we interpret satellite data. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to become a contributor. To find out more about our crop insurance tools, contact [email protected].

Growing the team
This year KappaZeta welcomed many new and talented members:

KappaOne product owner Andres Luhamaa;
Chief operating officer Karoli Kahn;
Product manager of crop insurance oriented services Tanel Kobrusepp;
Spatial data manager Mariana Rohtsalu;
Research & development manager Tauri Tampuu (PhD).

Wishing a successful and happy new year from KappaZeta!

December 2022

Newsletter, May 2024

Newsletter, January 2024

Newsletter, December 2023

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Newsletter, September 2023

Newsletter, August 2023

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Newsletter, March 2023

Newsletter, February 2023

Newsletter, January 2023

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