January 29, 2025 • 8 mins
Jodi and Sarah talk about what's available in GK Technology's expansive imagery library. The library offers subscribers access to Landsat, Sentinel, NAIP, and Lidar data layers.
They discuss further...
• Significance of multi-layer data in agriculture
• GK Technology's robust imagery library
• Different types of imagery available and their resolutions
• Importance of ongoing updates to data for accuracy
• Discussion on the geographical coverage of data
• Emphasis on accessible resources for all agricultural practitioners
Access data layers easier and faster with GK Technology's imagery library!
Resources on accessing and downloading publicly available GIS data:
https://gktechinc.com/data-links/
ADMS: https://gktechinc.com/adms-product/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jodi Boe (00:00):
And now it's time for a tiny bite of knowledge.
You know, Sarah, I finally gotsome yield data for a field, but
I've listened to tiny bites andI keep hearing that I shouldn't
(00:21):
just use one layer to make azone map.
But cool, I want imagery.
Where can I go to find imagery?
And where can I go to findelevation data?
I don't have RTK on my tractor.
Is this something that I canjust look one place and like a
one-stop shop to find all thisstuff?
(00:41):
Because I don't even know whereto start to find these
different layers?
Sarah Lovas (00:46):
Boy.
Jodi, do I have a deal for you?
You can check that imageryright out of the GK imagery
library.
Did you know that GK technologyhas an extremely robust imagery
library available?
Has an extremely robust imagerylibrary available.
We actually have data compiledall in one spot.
(01:07):
Actually, in Halstead we have aserver room that is a petabyte
worth of storage in there, which, for those listening, is like a
thousand terabytes.
It's a lot of data that's inthere.
Jodi Boe (01:20):
We've got all that data.
What exactly is contained inthat petabyte of storage?
Sarah Lovas (01:33):
We have four major categories of data that we've
got stored on our servers.
We've got Landsat imagery,which is a US satellite logging
30-meter resolution In ourlibrary storage.
We actually have that data fromthe 1980s up until about 2021.
We also have imagery data thatcomes from the Sentinel
satellites, which is theSentinel 2A and 2B satellites.
(01:54):
Those are satellites that areflown by the European Space
Agency.
That imagery is 10-meterresolution data and it was flown
from 2015 2015 until presentand we continue to actively add
to that library.
We also have NAEP imagery thatstands for National Agriculture
(02:15):
Imagery Program.
These are images that you, youknow, you go to the FSA office
and you certify your farm everyyear from the Farm Service
Agency.
Those are those images.
They've been geo-referenced andthey are available for our use.
We update those in multiplestates all over the place.
We also have elevation data,which is LIDAR data.
Generally, lidar data isoperated and stewarded by
(02:39):
individual states and theavailability of LIDAR data does
vary across the nation.
But if there is LIDAR availablein an area, we will do our best
to make sure that we get thatonto the servers.
So generally, we have two formsof satellite imagery one form
of just detailed imagery andalso elevation data, the
(03:01):
satellites, just to recapLandsat data 30 meter resolution
, sentinel data 10 meterresolution, lidar data for
elevation and NAEP imagery.
Those are the maps that yougenerally certify off of very
detailed images.
Jodi Boe (03:16):
One thing to note with this, too, is that this data
that we're putting up, almostall the data that's on the GK
library is publicly available.
So if you wanted to create yourown library, you most certainly
could do that, and if you go tothe GK website, if you go to
gktechnccom and go to our pagethat's got data links on it
(03:36):
you'll be able to findinstructions for how to access
and download all of that too.
I will say we do offer this asa service because it is so handy
and nifty to be able to be.
You know, you've got a fieldboundary in 8MS and you say,
okay, I want to pull in imageryfor this and I want to pull in
LIDAR.
It is so nifty to just say,okay, bring me to the catalog
(03:56):
tab and find me the images thatare within this boundary.
So we do offer that.
Sarah Lovas (04:02):
Of course, again, there's the option you can
download it yourself, but youcan save yourself a lot of time
and building and organizing thatby getting access to the GK
technology library and we dohave customers that currently
actually they use a lower levelof software from us and they
make their own imagery library.
But we also have a number ofgrowers out there that are in
(04:25):
the consultants package.
If you get the consultantspackage, that's where you will
get access to our imagerylibrary and everybody absolutely
that uses it loves it becauseit's just there, ready to go.
Boom, click, there's yourimages.
It's really great.
Jodi Boe (04:41):
It's super handy and on top of that too, I mean we
have Kendra down in South Dakotawho's updating the imagery from
Sentinel throughout the growingseason and pulling in those new
satellite images as they becomeavailable.
So it's not like the image iscoming off the satellite and
it's in the library, but it'spretty close to that.
So instead of you having to sitdown and do that yourself, we
(05:05):
do that for you with this accessand right now, for the area
that we cover.
We actually cover quite a bitof ground with our libraries
right now and what we've gotdata for.
So we have in total for theUnited States, we've got
coverage of at least some datafor 38 states.
If there are crops grown there,there's a very, very good
chance that we've got imageryfor it.
(05:27):
More importantly, too, ifyou're somebody that's listening
in Alaska and you're like, hey,I want to do some zone mapping
and I'm really interested ingetting access to your library
of data inputs, we can mostcertainly look for what's
publicly available for Alaskaand pull that into our catalog.
So just let us know if you'renot currently covered by what
(05:47):
we've got and we'll work onmaking sure that we get what we
can for that area you're workingin.
Sarah Lovas (05:54):
We put data in our servers on a demand basis.
So if you're a customer that'sin a place where we currently
don't have data available andyou request it and you want to
do business with us, we willmake sure that that becomes
available for you and veryhappily do that.
We also have a coverage up inCanada, actually quite a bit.
We've got Alberta, manitoba andSaskatchewan.
(06:17):
That's covered.
We also have Sentinel dataavailable in Ontario as well.
Absolutely.
Jodi Boe (06:22):
I mean, the beautiful thing about getting imagery from
satellites is that they prettymuch cover the globe, and so for
Sentinel and for Landsat, theypretty much cover the globe.
And so for Sentinel and forLandsat, we can take a look back
at what the satellites havecaptured for imagery and we can
pull that into the software.
If you're listening to thispodcast in I don't know, gambia
or like Rome, and you're like,hey, I really want some Sentinel
(06:45):
imagery to look at and use, ifyou're using the ADMS software,
we're happy to pull that in foryou too.
Sarah Lovas (06:51):
If you are in Puerto Rico and South Africa, we
actually do have some Landsatdata in there for you as well to
check out, so it's very fun.
It makes data very accessible,so you can really actively do
precision agriculture and goodprecision agriculture, using
more than one layer of data.
Well, jodi, I don't know aboutyou, but I think I should go to
(07:14):
the image library and check outan image.
Jodi Boe (07:18):
And the best part, Sarah, is that there's no due
dates.
Sarah Lovas (07:22):
There's no due dates.
Jodi Boe (07:24):
Tune in next time for a tiny bite of knowledge from GK
Technology, where we have a mapand an app for that.
Sarah Lovas (07:41):
The best part about the image library is that it
really isn't a book, it's animage.
You don't have to bring it back, you don't have to return it no
late fees and you can.
You don't have to use your back, you don't have to return it no
late fees and you don't have touse your library voice while
you're checking out the imagelibrary and you don't even have
to read, you can just look.
Jodi Boe (07:55):
It's like a picture book.
It's no effort, but it's like abunch of fine Waldo books and
you got to figure out which onesyou want to keep.
Sarah Lovas (08:03):
Good talk, we should start an image library
book club.
And now it's time for a tiny bite of knowledge.
You know, Sarah, I finally gotsome yield data for a field, but
I've listened to tiny bites andI keep hearing that I shouldn't
(00:21):
just use one layer to make azone map.
But cool, I want imagery.
Where can I go to find imagery?
And where can I go to findelevation data?
I don't have RTK on my tractor.
Is this something that I canjust look one place and like a
one-stop shop to find all thisstuff?
(00:41):
Because I don't even know whereto start to find these
different layers?
Sarah Lovas (00:46):
Boy.
Jodi, do I have a deal for you?
You can check that imageryright out of the GK imagery
library.
Did you know that GK technologyhas an extremely robust imagery
library available?
Has an extremely robust imagerylibrary available.
We actually have data compiledall in one spot.
(01:07):
Actually, in Halstead we have aserver room that is a petabyte
worth of storage in there, which, for those listening, is like a
thousand terabytes.
It's a lot of data that's inthere.
Jodi Boe (01:20):
We've got all that data.
What exactly is contained inthat petabyte of storage?
Sarah Lovas (01:33):
We have four major categories of data that we've
got stored on our servers.
We've got Landsat imagery,which is a US satellite logging
30-meter resolution In ourlibrary storage.
We actually have that data fromthe 1980s up until about 2021.
We also have imagery data thatcomes from the Sentinel
satellites, which is theSentinel 2A and 2B satellites.
(01:54):
Those are satellites that areflown by the European Space
Agency.
That imagery is 10-meterresolution data and it was flown
from 2015 2015 until presentand we continue to actively add
to that library.
We also have NAEP imagery thatstands for National Agriculture
(02:15):
Imagery Program.
These are images that you, youknow, you go to the FSA office
and you certify your farm everyyear from the Farm Service
Agency.
Those are those images.
They've been geo-referenced andthey are available for our use.
We update those in multiplestates all over the place.
We also have elevation data,which is LIDAR data.
Generally, lidar data isoperated and stewarded by
(02:39):
individual states and theavailability of LIDAR data does
vary across the nation.
But if there is LIDAR availablein an area, we will do our best
to make sure that we get thatonto the servers.
So generally, we have two formsof satellite imagery one form
of just detailed imagery andalso elevation data, the
(03:01):
satellites, just to recapLandsat data 30 meter resolution
, sentinel data 10 meterresolution, lidar data for
elevation and NAEP imagery.
Those are the maps that yougenerally certify off of very
detailed images.
Jodi Boe (03:16):
One thing to note with this, too, is that this data
that we're putting up, almostall the data that's on the GK
library is publicly available.
So if you wanted to create yourown library, you most certainly
could do that, and if you go tothe GK website, if you go to
gktechnccom and go to our pagethat's got data links on it
(03:36):
you'll be able to findinstructions for how to access
and download all of that too.
I will say we do offer this asa service because it is so handy
and nifty to be able to be.
You know, you've got a fieldboundary in 8MS and you say,
okay, I want to pull in imageryfor this and I want to pull in
LIDAR.
It is so nifty to just say,okay, bring me to the catalog
(03:56):
tab and find me the images thatare within this boundary.
So we do offer that.
Sarah Lovas (04:02):
Of course, again, there's the option you can
download it yourself, but youcan save yourself a lot of time
and building and organizing thatby getting access to the GK
technology library and we dohave customers that currently
actually they use a lower levelof software from us and they
make their own imagery library.
But we also have a number ofgrowers out there that are in
(04:25):
the consultants package.
If you get the consultantspackage, that's where you will
get access to our imagerylibrary and everybody absolutely
that uses it loves it becauseit's just there, ready to go.
Boom, click, there's yourimages.
It's really great.
Jodi Boe (04:41):
It's super handy and on top of that too, I mean we
have Kendra down in South Dakotawho's updating the imagery from
Sentinel throughout the growingseason and pulling in those new
satellite images as they becomeavailable.
So it's not like the image iscoming off the satellite and
it's in the library, but it'spretty close to that.
So instead of you having to sitdown and do that yourself, we
(05:05):
do that for you with this accessand right now, for the area
that we cover.
We actually cover quite a bitof ground with our libraries
right now and what we've gotdata for.
So we have in total for theUnited States, we've got
coverage of at least some datafor 38 states.
If there are crops grown there,there's a very, very good
chance that we've got imageryfor it.
(05:27):
More importantly, too, ifyou're somebody that's listening
in Alaska and you're like, hey,I want to do some zone mapping
and I'm really interested ingetting access to your library
of data inputs, we can mostcertainly look for what's
publicly available for Alaskaand pull that into our catalog.
So just let us know if you'renot currently covered by what
(05:47):
we've got and we'll work onmaking sure that we get what we
can for that area you're workingin.
Sarah Lovas (05:54):
We put data in our servers on a demand basis.
So if you're a customer that'sin a place where we currently
don't have data available andyou request it and you want to
do business with us, we willmake sure that that becomes
available for you and veryhappily do that.
We also have a coverage up inCanada, actually quite a bit.
We've got Alberta, manitoba andSaskatchewan.
(06:17):
That's covered.
We also have Sentinel dataavailable in Ontario as well.
Absolutely.
Jodi Boe (06:22):
I mean, the beautiful thing about getting imagery from
satellites is that they prettymuch cover the globe, and so for
Sentinel and for Landsat, theypretty much cover the globe.
And so for Sentinel and forLandsat, we can take a look back
at what the satellites havecaptured for imagery and we can
pull that into the software.
If you're listening to thispodcast in I don't know, gambia
or like Rome, and you're like,hey, I really want some Sentinel
(06:45):
imagery to look at and use, ifyou're using the ADMS software,
we're happy to pull that in foryou too.
Sarah Lovas (06:51):
If you are in Puerto Rico and South Africa, we
actually do have some Landsatdata in there for you as well to
check out, so it's very fun.
It makes data very accessible,so you can really actively do
precision agriculture and goodprecision agriculture, using
more than one layer of data.
Well, jodi, I don't know aboutyou, but I think I should go to
(07:14):
the image library and check outan image.
Jodi Boe (07:18):
And the best part, Sarah, is that there's no due
dates.
Sarah Lovas (07:22):
There's no due dates.
Jodi Boe (07:24):
Tune in next time for a tiny bite of knowledge from GK
Technology, where we have a mapand an app for that.
Sarah Lovas (07:41):
The best part about the image library is that it
really isn't a book, it's animage.
You don't have to bring it back, you don't have to return it no
late fees and you can.
You don't have to use your back, you don't have to return it no
late fees and you don't have touse your library voice while
you're checking out the imagelibrary and you don't even have
to read, you can just look.
Jodi Boe (07:55):
It's like a picture book.
It's no effort, but it's like abunch of fine Waldo books and
you got to figure out which onesyou want to keep.
Sarah Lovas (08:03):
Good talk, we should start an image library
book club.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.