Ep. 112 - [Northeastern Lecture Series] Geospatial, Big Data and Precision Agriculture Todd Barr, Product Owner at Soulspec Solutions

 

We shoot around the topic of big data around, but it’s hard for us to understand what that actually means. Luckily, Todd Barr helps break down not only Big Data, but also gives us a taste of the fascinating world of Geographic Information Systems, and Precision Agriculture.

Using drones, tractors, or anything that scans data, Todd can gather mass amounts of data, organize it, and give hyper-targeted solutions on certain issues in the food realm. We give tons of examples of how this technology works. For example, we can fix farms really easily because we know what plots of lands need more water, and we know where to put Whole foods in which suburb because we know what type of people live there,

This interview is admittedly really rocky, because I had a hard time trying to understand this! And I want to understand it so I ask a lot of questions. Todd does an amazing job breaking it down with examples on how precision agriculture can feed the world. The first half of the interview is very rough, but I want you to take note how I try and understand the technology and eventually we get to the heart of it.

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Show Notes

What do you do for a living?: I collect data using drones and satellites and analyze data. I color maps like a kindergartner Tractor technology: started as GPS, ended up using new technology. Post Katrina, they are self-driving and getting real-time data. People don’t realize what’s on a farm. There are automatic tractors nowadays Geospatial: is basically X Y Z data. Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Using technology and data to run spatial analytics to solve real-world problems Whole Foods and Trader Joes uses geospatial technology to plant their shops How did you get to the Big Data industry?: 20 years in Washington DC. Introduced through work and learned about it before big data was a thing. Where can you learn about Big Data?: Youtube has great videos, ESRI, Open Source, QGIS Where would you go first?: I’d join the spatial community on twitter #GIStribe and then go to youtube Can you give me an example on this technology?: We did a study on tractor accuracy so reduce how “off” they are in their path Another example: Scanning biomass of orange fields and tells you if biomass is a correlation of yield Is there any software you need?: You need to create a lake database and link it to a JSON file and you chunk it out to do the analysis. You can extract and input a row. We use cloud systems to handle the data. We use Amazon web services. What kind of skill do you need for your job?: You should know a bit about statistics but you should also learn to ask questions. Be interactive. Big Data is about volume velocity My Food Job Rocks: I make food cheaper, and I get to play with data. How do you make food cheaper?: We can scan a whole mass of data and find ways to reduce input. We can target an area that has problems and fine-tuning it. You spend less on resources. More and more farms are asking people to do this during the growing season What is Darin’s course: Darin’s course is about food security and this technology will help with solving food security. A lot of countries are now looking into this technology. Africa, for example, is getting a lot more yield with this technology. What is what you do important?: It’s going to make food cheaper because we can find pain points and reduce it. Planet Labs is taking pictures of the earth every day and the stuff gets processed in under 24 hours. Doves or small satellites. You can buy their services and get the big data. What up and coming technologies will help you in Precision Agriculture?: This technology will be cheaper. However, machine learning will improve this technology by a lot. What will AI do to your industry?: It will come up with recipes in what humans have been doing for years. So it would give you a recipe for maximum yield on a farm. When will this AI be coming?: It’s here, we need to convince people that it’s a proper ROI. Monsanto, Cargill is already implementing it. Medium-sized farms probably won’t buy it yet. How do you feel about self-driving cars?: I hate them. But I like assisted self-driving cars Other technologies: Vertical farming, Hydroponics, Stacking farms on top of each other Favorite book: Fahrenheit 451 Favorite Kitchen Item: Ipad. I can learn to cook or order from seamless. Amazon Echo Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to go to your field?: Don’t be afraid to ask questions, know statistics, don’t be afraid about a computer program. How to learn computer programming: Data camp (in browser coding). You should learn python if you want to go into Big Data. Really easy to learn Where can we find you?: Twitter (Spatial_punk). I havea blog at medium called Spatial Impressionism. Workshops: Spatial R and Spatial Squal classes at Colorado State and going to Miami and Ohio University

 

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