Hydrosat has been awarded a grant from the NOAA SBIR program, with the funds targeting the development of solutions that demonstrate excellent commercial potential and will enable Hydrosat to explore a range of use cases that span five focus areas: agriculture, aquaculture, drought, wildfire, and urban heat.
Hydrosat collects, processes, and analyzes thermal infrared satellite images to provide a leading indicator for water stress, and provides irrigation and water management solutions to growers to help them farm more efficiently. Hydrosat’s IrriWatch product supports customers in 36 countries across 4 million acres of farmland, enabling growers to optimize farming operations and increase crop yields by as much as 50% while consuming 25% less water.
Hydrosat’s grant with NOAA includes a combination of high-resolution imagery and geotechnical analysis to deliver timely and actionable insights related to agriculture, aquaculture, drought, wildfire, and urban heat, as well as commercial applications to support different industries and levels of government.
The NOAA award represents the latest win for the fast-growing organization. After raising more than $32 million in venture funding, Hydrosat announced the acquisition of IrriWatch, advanced irrigation management software. Hydrosat was also selected for awards from the National Reconnaissance Office and the U.S. Air Force’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center.
“Hydrosat is well-aligned with NOAA priorities to understand and predict changes in climate and weather, and the impacts on people, ecosystems, and natural resources,” said Dr. Joshua B. Fisher, Science Lead of Hydrosat. “This grant supports Hydrosat’s expansion into new areas and further development within our rapidly growing agricultural applications.”
“NOAA’s SBIR program recognizes the value of innovative technology and commercially viable products in the advancement of science, service, and stewardship, and we’re proud to be selected for this highly competitive grant,” said Pieter Fossel, CEO and Co-founder of Hydrosat. “With the recent delivery of our first proprietary thermal infrared satellite payload, and the anticipated launch of the first of our proprietary satellite missions later this year, Hydrosat is well on its way to delivering critical data insights that will improve our understanding of changes in the climate and weather and enable us to better manage our natural resources.”