Six months of satellite monitoring in Oss: what the project has taught us about target-based management
Earlier this year, a project was launched in the agricultural areas around Oss to map ammonia emissions from agriculture using satellite data. The Agricultural Collective Oss (ACO) is working together with Caeli on this initiative, supported by a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN).
The project has now been running for more than six months. It's time to take stock of the results so far and explore what they mean for the wider agricultural sector.
Why the project was launched
The motivation was straightforward: existing methods for determining ammonia emissions are often too coarse and insufficiently evidence-based when applied to individual farms.
ACO chairman Gerrit van Bergen put it clearly at the project's launch: farmers need to know how much ammonia they emit and where it ends up. The methods available at the time were simply too subjective to provide that insight.
By combining satellite observations with ground-based measurements, it becomes possible to build a more accurate picture of emissions and where those concentrations ultimately accumulate.
This directly supports the national policy direction. The Dutch government wants to base nitrogen policy more firmly on actual measurements and target-based management, giving satellite observations a greater role in monitoring networks and introducing more outcome-based requirements into environmental permits.
Reliable, objective data is essential to making this possible.
Target-based management depends on collaboration
One of the main lessons from this project is that target-based management (doelsturing) is not just a technical challenge, but equally a matter of collaboration.
Data alone does not change anything. But when farmers can connect measurement results to their own farming practices, it becomes possible to identify which measures actually make a difference.
This requires trust. Farmers need to know that the data is fair, transparent and understandable, and that the insights will be used to help them achieve their targets, rather than simply to monitor and control them.
In Oss, this trust is already present, partly because the initiative originated within the farming community itself. ACO was founded by local farmers who did not want to wait for the government to impose measures.
This sense of ownership is proving to be an important condition for the success of projects like this. When farmers take the lead in their own sustainability efforts, there is room to seriously explore and test new monitoring methods.
Combining initial measurements with artificial intelligence
The project combines satellite observations with ground-based monitoring stations. This makes it possible not only to identify the amount of ammonia emitted, but also to understand where concentrations occur across the surrounding area.
This distinction is essential for target-based management. It helps determine whether measures such as changes to livestock housing systems, feeding strategies or fertilisation practices actually result in lower concentrations, rather than relying on general assumptions.
In areas facing more significant nitrogen challenges, the distinction between emissions and deposition is particularly relevant.
Especially in regions with high nitrogen loads and vulnerable nature reserves nearby, a more precise understanding of where ammonia is deposited can make the difference between generic measures and targeted, demonstrably effective action at individual farm level.
And there are plenty of such areas across the Netherlands.
The demand for this type of detailed, area-wide data extends well beyond Oss. This is also demonstrated by the pilot Caeli has been conducting with the Province of Zeeland since this summer.
There, too, existing monitoring networks do not provide sufficient coverage of ammonia emissions. The underlying principle is the same: only with an objective, comprehensive picture of the situation can farmers, provinces and municipalities make informed decisions about nature restoration and nitrogen reduction.
Looking ahead
The project is expected to run for approximately 18 months in total.
During the remaining period, the main focus will be on determining whether the measured effects of individual measures are sufficiently reliable and reproducible to be applied beyond Oss.
The Municipality of Oss, the Dutch national government and LTO Nederland are closely following the project, as its findings could help shape future policies and environmental permitting.
This is target-based management and outcome-oriented permitting in practice.
Are you working with an agricultural collective, cooperative or provincial authority to explore how satellite data can support target-based management? Feel free to contact Martin Smit at martin@caeli.nl or +31 6 55772285.