Available online
Description
The programme looks at the technology of modern agricultural monitoring techniques, including satellites and conventional aerial surveys.
The programme looks at the technology of modern agricultural monitoring techniques, including satellites and conventional aerial surveys.
| Module code and title: | T273, Food production systems |
|---|---|
| Item code: | T273; 01 |
| First transmission date: | 24-02-1978 |
| Published: | 1978 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OUDA web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:23:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Nat Taylor |
| Contributors: | Arnold Baines; Leonard Curtis; Dick Morris; Bill Trevett |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Agriculture; Monitoring; Remote sensing |
| Footage description: | Arnold Baines (Statistics Division, Ministry Agriculture) introduces the programme. He points out the importance of accurate data to allow informal decisions to be made by all concerned with agriculture. Baines goes on to discuss the sorts of information needed for decision making in agriculture. He refers to the 1976 drought in Britain and its effect on the potato crop as an example. Shots of a potato market. Shots of a farmer filling in a Ministry of Agriculture questionnaire. Commentary by Dick Morris explains how the data gathering system works in Britain. He contrasts this with methods used in underdeveloped countries. Commentary by Dick Morris and Leonard Curtis discusses the use of aerial photography for monitoring agriculture in underdeveloped countries. Shots of a camera being loaded into an aircraft. Shots of a Kenyan farmstead. Shot of aline of trees taken with infra-red light. Curtis briefly points out some disadvantages of aerial surveys in underdeveloped countries. Film of a NASA rocket being launched. Leonard Curtis points out the advantages of satellite surveillance over aerial photography for monitoring agriculture in third world countries. An animation illustrates the principles of the Landsat surveillance system. Commentary explains the details. Shots of Lake Chad showing its sandy banks and fishermen in a boat. Several satellite photographs of Lake Chad from Landsat are examined by Bill Trevett (Remote Sensing Manager, Hunting Technical Services). He explains some techniques used to make it easier for the human eye to resolve detail. Trevett next looks at Landsat photographs of Lake Chad in more detail, picking out and explaining various features. Trevett goes on to discuss the use of radar imagery to monitor agricultural areas when these are cloud covered. Radar images of Lake Chad and of the Nigerian Coast illustrate his points. Leonard Curtis (Department of Geography, University of Bristol), discusses the problem of handling the vast amount of data which are pouring in from systems such as Landsat. Film of a computer room. Curtis goes on to discuss, briefly, the benefits of using Landsat imagery in the U.S.A. Curtis points out the shortcomings of the Landsat system when trying to monitor European farms. Landsat pictures of S.E. England and the Thames Estuary illustrate his points. Finally, Curtis discusses the proposed European satellite which, with its higher resolution visible system, will be able to monitor European agriculture. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72495 |
| Production number: | 00525_5301 |
| Videofinder number: | 1052 |
| Available to public: | no |
