Agricultural Geography

Dark green lines form the forested windbreaks in Hokkaido, Japan. Image: NASA.

A View of Hokkaido’s Lattice Windbreaks From Space

October 18, 2020May 7, 2020 by Caitlin Dempsey

The landscape of the Konsen Plateau viewed from above looks like a lattice with crisscrossing lines of narrow strips of forest.

Three moments in a tumultuous year for farming north of St. Louis, MO, as seen in NASA-USGS Landsat 8 data. On the left is May 7, 2019, as heavy rains delayed planting for many farms. Sept 12, 2019, in the middle, shows bright green signifying growing vegetation, although with a fair amount of brown, bare fields. On the right, Oct. 14, 2019, the light brown indicates harvested fields while darker brown are fields that have not been seeded or fallow all summer. Credits: NASA

Monitoring Crop Production Via Satellite

June 11, 2020December 28, 2019 by Elizabeth Borneman

To cope with ever-changing agricultural needs and conditions, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (or NASS) uses data from Landsat to monitor crops in the contiguous United States.

Satellite Data Shows That Tilling Less Leads to Healthier Soils

October 6, 2020December 7, 2019 by Caitlin Dempsey

Researchers applied machine learning to satellite-derived datasets to to analyze tillage practices and crop yields in the US Corn Belt between 2005 and 2017.

Satellite Imagery Shows How Much of South Dakota’s Flooded Fields Were Unable to be Farmed

March 7, 2020September 17, 2019 by Caitlin Dempsey

In August of 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that South Dakota had 3.9 million “prevented planting” acres.

Satellite image of crops in southeast Kansas captured by Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) . Image: NASA, 2001.

How Geography is Used to Study Agriculture

March 7, 2020June 13, 2017 by Mark Altaweel

From climate to key trade and shipping hubs, geography has shaped the fortunes of states and agricultural production.

Storing Carbon in the Soil Through Regenerative Farming

April 2, 2020September 29, 2016 by Elizabeth Borneman

In partnership with scientists and researchers, farmers are coming up with different ways to keep soil from degrading and releasing more CO2 into the air.

In the Turkana culture, owning livestock is a sign of wealth. Photo: EC/ECHO/Malini Morzaria

Why Development Aid Projects Must First Factor Local Culture

August 12, 2020January 16, 2015 by Devon Reeser

Why do some multi-million dollar aid projects fail? The aid itself is not generally the problem, but the lack of local, geographic specific cultural analysis in planning and implementation is most often to blame.