CHAMPAIGN, Ill., April 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Aspiring Universe today announced it has applied its breakthrough remote sensing technology to create unique and rigorous insights for cropland investors. Driven by proprietary models reading data streams from 20+ satellites and leveraging historical ground and aerial data, the product offers unprecedented accuracy at scale. Until now, the diligence process for land purchases has relied on in-person on-site verification, limited historical records, and customized drone or airplane flights. These analyses are time-consuming and not directly comparable across properties, limiting the number of opportunities that can be reasonably and efficiently screened.
Aspiring Universe has solved these problems by creating a 20-year daily database at 100-foot resolution for every plot of farmland across the globe. The company integrates multiple remote sensing data layers, and uses biophysical-based process models, combined with artificial intelligence and supercomputing, to efficiently assess crop performance, water availability, management practices, nutrient use, and carbon retention.
FarmScreenSM provides ten years of historical productivity data and puts that into context with comparisons to neighboring fields, making it possible to identify low-performing areas that can be targeted for improvement. This enables investors to identify risks, as well as opportunities that could provide a higher return on investment.
Dr. Kaiyu Guan, founder of Aspiring Universe and lead inventor of the technology, commented, “We are excited to make these tools available, which are the result of 10+ years of my team’s research at the University of Illinois, Stanford University and Princeton University. There are really no other options that can provide the combined accuracy, scalability and cost-effectiveness of this technology.”
The company’s CEO, Daphne Preuss remarked, “Our methodology starts at the field level, and is well-suited for investors who have been frustrated by county-averaged data that many competitors rely on. We expect that FarmScreen’s deep insights will be a game changer for institutional farmland investors across the globe, allowing them to survey a larger number of properties and identify those that best suit their investment profile.”
More information about FarmScreen can be found on the company’s website.
About Aspiring Universe
Aspiring Universe employs remote sensing data layers and proprietary process models and artificial intelligence to evaluate past, current and future crop land performance, including crop rotation and management history, yield, water use, soil moisture and carbon. With a bottom-up method that can be aggregated across any global region, the company provides critical insights to businesses throughout the agriculture value chain. Aspiring Universe’s proprietary data creates value for crop producers and processors, as well as companies that provide inputs and financial services to growers. A spinout of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the company has been funded by the USDA, NSF, and DOE, and counts Fortune 500 companies among its customers.
SOURCE Aspiring Universe Corporation
