The ESA Symposium on Earth Observation for Soil Protection and Remediation, held on 6-7 March at ESA-ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, served as a cornerstone event for the convergence of global efforts in soil protection and remediation. Among the distinguished participants was Francisco José Blanco Velázquez of EVENOR-TECH, SLU (Spain), who took the opportunity to present the groundbreaking initiatives of the NOVASOIL project.
NOVASOIL, which runs from November 2022 to October 2025, is at the forefront of innovative business models for soil health. With a consortium of 16 partners from 10 countries and 17 case studies, NOVASOIL aims to revolutionise the approach to investing in soil health in Europe and beyond. Francisco José Blanco Velázquez’s presentation highlighted the project’s multiple objectives:
Blanco Velázquez highlighted earth observation as a key element in achieving NOVASOIL’s goals. Key environmental variables such as vegetation indices, water stress, soil variables (including soil organic carbon) and leaf area index are monitored from space. This data is critical for establishing baselines, conducting ongoing monitoring and verifying results, all of which are essential to the success of the project.
The symposium provided a unique platform to discuss preferences for different business models, commitment to carbon farming and the supporting role of technology in these endeavours. NOVASOIL’s approach of using Google Earth Engine and related ESA services for baseline validation, monitoring and verification was presented as a model for integration and development in soil health initiatives.
Francisco José Blanco Velázquez’s presentation not only highlighted the innovative advances being made by NOVASOIL, but also emphasised the critical role of collaborative efforts in soil protection and restoration. Through initiatives such as NOVASOIL, the symposium demonstrated a global commitment to harnessing technology and innovative business models for the sustainability of our planet’s soils.
For more information on NOVASOIL and its initiatives, interested parties are encouraged to visit EVENOR-TECH and the NOVASOIL project website.
At a time when environmental sustainability is more critical than ever, the contributions of Francisco José Blanco Velázquez and the NOVASOIL project at the ESA Symposium on Earth Observation for Soil Protection and Restoration mark a significant step forward in our collective journey towards healthier soils and a healthier planet.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Remember Me
Lost your password?
If you would like to receive information about the NOVASOIL project and how you can improve the health of your soil, please leave us your contact details.
We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.
Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners.
Suggested text: Our website address is: http://novasoil-project.eu.
Suggested text: When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Suggested text: If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Suggested text: If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me", your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Suggested text: Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Suggested text: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
Suggested text: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Suggested text: If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Suggested text: Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.