Vienna, June 2025 — VISTA and partners present cutting-edge research on drought monitoring, regenerative agriculture, and yield forecasting at the European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium 2025.
The Living Planet Symposium (LPS25), hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA) from June 23–27 in Vienna, Austria, brought together over 5,000 scientists, policy-makers, industry leaders, and innovators to discuss the future of Earth Observation (EO) and its role in supporting a more sustainable and resilient planet.
VISTA, together with partners from VITO, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), EurA AG, and KappaZeta, proudly contributed to three high-impact sessions, presenting results from ongoing ESA projects that apply EO technology to address some of today’s most pressing global challenges: climate resilience, food security, and sustainable land management.
Monitoring Drought and Crop Water Stress in Africa
In session F.02.01 “Harnessing the Power of Remote Sensing for Research and Development in Africa”,Vista presented work conducted in partnership with VITO and Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), focusing on the innovative use of hyperspectral and thermal Earth Observation data to monitor drought and water stress in African agricultural systems.
This work, part of ESA’s EO AFRICA initiative, is already informing stakeholders in countries like Zambia, providing operational indicators on water stress that improve climate adaptation strategies.
Next steps for the project include the development of additional features supporting regenerative farming, including soil carbon mapping and risk management tools for smallholder farms—key enablers of resilient agriculture in vulnerable regions.
EO4CarbonFarming: Quantifying Carbon Sequestration from Sustainable Agriculture
In session B.02.05 “Restoring Biosphere Resilience: Transforming AFOLU from Carbon Source to Sink”, VISTA presented findings from the EO4CarbonFarming (EO4CF) project. This research highlights the measurable impacts of sustainable agricultural practices—such as the use of cover crops—on carbon sequestration.
The presentation demonstrated how EO technologies enable large-scale, data-driven evaluation of regenerative farming practices, informing both climate policy and land-use planning.
Preparing for the Next Generation of Copernicus Missions: ESA CHILL-Y
As part of ESA’s Sentinel User Preparation (SUP) Initiative, VISTA and partners VITO and Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)introduced first results of the CHILL-Y project, which leverages synergistic use of upcoming missions including:
- CHIME (hyperspectral imaging),
- LSTM (land surface temperature), and
- ROSE-L (L-band radar).
The project’s first findings demonstrate how combining these data streams can improve assessments of yield quantity and quality, particularly for key crops such as wheat and sugar beet. These insights will help European users prepare to fully exploit the opportunities presented by the next generation of Copernicus Sentinel missions.
About the Living Planet Symposium
Organized every three years by ESA, the Living Planet Symposium is one of the world’s largest conferences dedicated to Earth Observation. LPS25 highlighted the critical role of satellite data in understanding Earth’s systems, addressing global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development, while also showcasing the latest EO mission results and scientific innovations.
