Overview
Environment Systems recognises the value of research and development for commercial application. The Company is an active participant in a number of prestigious national and international research projects and runs its own internal research programmes. Environment Systems actively supports a number of academic institutions with collaborative projects contributing towards their Research Excellence Framework submissions. It also sponsors MSc, MPhil and PhD placements and serves on several scientific advisory panels.
PASTORAL
Improved pasture management can lead to greater efficiency, making farms more productive and supporting soil health. By effectively monitoring pasture biomass, farmers can maximise grass utilisation while reducing inputs, waste and reliance on concentrated feeds. Current monitoring methods can be time consuming and do not always accurately reflect quality or future growth. PASTORAL aims to provide accurate biomass monitoring which supports decision making and saves time. The carbon-ready demonstration will quantify carbon across the farm and provide a carbon storage evidence base.
PASTORAL combines satellite imagery and modelling to monitor biomass, predict grass growth and produce carbon budgets. Optical imagery only sees the top layer of the canopy and is obscured by cloud, while radar imagery sees through cloud but is noisy. Combined with a model of carbon flow, developed by the University of Edinburgh, PASTORAL provides per-field biomass records as well as showing pasture biomass over time.
ACADEMIC PROGRAMME
Environment Systems has an extensive academic programme and sponsors a number of post graduate MSc, MPhil and PhD placements at top UK universities. It also runs its own intern programme, all as part of its ongoing commitment to higher education and research.
There are benefits for all concerned, not least the students and interns themselves who are involved in real projects involving original research and leading edge technology. For the company this programme delivers on two fronts contributing both to commercial edge and social responsibility.
Environments Systems staff act as advisors to the Geography Department at Aberystwyth University and sit on the Science Advisory Board for the National Phenomics Centre (IBERS) and the Employers’ Advisory Panel at Leicester University.