Satellite crop monitoring for every field you manage
Mothmr reads each field from the satellites that pass over it — Sentinel-2 every few days, Landsat for surface temperature and Sentinel-1 radar through cloud — inside the field’s own boundary, and keeps every reading with its date and the share of the field it covered. A change becomes a reason to visit, not a guess.
How it works
- 01
Draw or import the field
Outline it on the map or bring a CSV, GeoJSON, KML or KMZ file; its satellite record starts building as soon as it is saved.
- 02
Read what changed, with its date
Each pass is checked for cloud, measured over the field and compared with earlier ones, so a sudden drop and a slow decline are told apart.
- 03
Send someone to look
Turn a change into an inspection task for the right person, with the reading and its date attached.
What it covers
Satellite history, parcel by parcel
Every satellite pass over your field is recorded with its acquisition date and how much of the field it actually covered; a pass the cloud hid stays on the record as exactly that. Choose a year, a day and a pass to see the field in true colour with its boundary drawn on, filter the archive by period, coverage or cloud, and open any pass for its time, cloud figures, resolution and plant-reading statistics.
Crop monitoring over time
Dated series for plant vigour, canopy moisture and a chlorophyll-sensitive reading, each with its latest value, the change since a comparable earlier pass and a recent baseline. A sharp drop is told apart from a decline that persists over successive passes, you choose the window, and the measurements behind every comparison — coverage and usable pixels included — are one click away. A change is a reason to visit, not a diagnosis.
Seventeen readings, three groups
Readings in three groups, computed from the same cloud-masked imagery: plant, for the vigour of the canopy; water, for the moisture the crop holds; and soil, for the condition of exposed ground. Map overlays are drawn at true 10 m wherever the bands allow it.
Heat that shows thirst
Landsat 8 and 9 measure the surface temperature of every field. Mothmr compares the field with the open ground around it: a crop with water runs cooler, and a field that has warmed to match its surroundings is worth checking. Readings arrive about every eight days and suit fields of roughly five hectares and larger.
Radar that sees through cloud
Sentinel-1 radar passes about every six days whatever the weather. It shows whether the ground turned wetter or drier since the last pass from the same direction, how much of the field is lying under standing water, and how the canopy is building up, so a cloudy week still has a reading. These are relative cues, not a soil-moisture measurement.
The lie of the land
Elevation, the rise and fall across the field and its average slope, from the Copernicus 30 m elevation model, so you can see where water will run off and where it will collect before you plan irrigation or drainage.
Zones within the field
Switch on zone borders over a reading’s map to see where the field is much lower, lower, typical, higher or much higher than the rest of it on that pass, with the strongest outlines around the areas that differ most. Each class shows its average reading, its share of the field and its approximate hectares, and a field that reads evenly is reported as even. Zones point a visit at a place; they are not a treatment map.
What to keep in mind
Satellite observations
Sentinel-2, every few days, free and public. Cloud hides the ground, so some passes produce no usable reading — every reading is shown with its own acquisition date and the share of the field it covered.
Questions
A useful tool should be clear about what it can do, and where your judgement still matters.
How does satellite crop monitoring work?
Satellites such as Sentinel-2 image the same fields every few days, including in light the eye cannot see. For each pass, Mothmr checks how much of your field was clear of cloud, measures the plants, water and soil within the field’s own boundary, and compares the result with earlier passes, so a sudden drop or a slow decline shows up with its date. Sentinel-1 radar keeps reading through cloud, and Landsat adds the surface temperature.
Are satellite observations live?
No. The satellite passes every few days, and clouds can hide the ground. Each reading shows its acquisition date and usable coverage. When a pass is obscured, the last usable reading remains dated and visible. Sentinel-1 radar is not stopped by cloud, so a cloudy week still has a moisture reading.
Does Mothmr work for small farms?
Yes. A smallholding is read the same way as the estates shown above, by the same routines, whether it is 5 hectares or 2,500. An individual grower can follow their own fields without a team and bring people in when they need them. Below about 0.4 hectares, a field holds only a few dozen of the satellite’s 10-metre squares, so its readings are less detailed.
Does Mothmr diagnose pests or disease?
No. A falling reading, a zone lower than the rest of the field or a low probe value is a reason to inspect, shown with the dates and figures behind it. Mothmr does not diagnose pests or disease, prescribe a product or a dose, or calculate an irrigation amount — the person in the field decides.
See it on your own fields
Tell us about your farm and the work you want to coordinate, and we will plan a demonstration around your fields and roles.
Request a demo