Boermarke-Zeijen is a 350-year old farmers collective in the North of the Netherlands. The farmer collective
owns 1200 hectares of land and consists of five dairy farms, four arable farms, two mixed farms, and one chicken
farm. The farmers are developing economically and ecologically sustainable farming practices to strengthen soil
fertility and biodiversity at company and regional scale. The soils are sandy with peat patches, which is
representative of the soils of the Netherlands. The farmers producing agricultural crops face subsoil compaction
and soil crusting, leading to decreased infiltration capacity. Some of the dairy farms face phosphate deficiencies.
As part of AI4SoilHealth project, Planet Labs is teaming up with the farmer collective and the regional water
board Noorderzijlvest, to correlate in-situ measurements with Planet’s satellite data products to demonstrate its
value for monitoring and decision making. The farmers have a specific interest in monitoring nutrient fluxes, soil
moisture, land surface temperature and biomass conditions, specifically for the sustainable application of
fertilizer.
The in-situ monitoring network collects location-specific, real-time information about the weather outlook, the
level of surface water and groundwater, the moisture content of the topsoil and the water quality. Legacy data
includes in-situ samples and soil profiles covering a range of soil parameters. A field sampling campaign is
planned in April 2025 to collect the AI4SoilHealth baseline indicators (texture, SOC, pH, CEC, nutrients, density)
and additional indicators (e.g. enzymatic activity, eDNA, Macrofauna, NIR-spectroscopy).
We have used Planet’s high spatial and temporal resolution satellite data [Planet Product] to monitor and
characterize the landscape of Boermarke Zijen, by looking at Vegetation health [PlanetScope, Crop Biomass];
Water balance [Soil Water Content]; Environmental stresses [Land Surface Temperature]; Soil health [Tanager,
Sentinel, PlanetScope] and Above ground carbon [Forest Carbon, Crop Biomass]. With the recent launch of
Planet’s Hyperspectral Mission Tanager, the pilot at Boermarken Zijen will also facilitate investigations into the
feasibility of soil property estimation using spaceborne hyperspectral sensors. Using our satellite data products
in combination with the in-situ sample data, will evaluate the water regime and the potential and effects of
year-round greenery to address some of the challenges that the farmers at Boermarke Zijen are facing.