Under the European Union’s field crop subsidy scheme each Member State is required by the existing regulations to check 5% of the subsidy claims. In Belgium the Ministry of Agriculture uses a computerised system to check the acreages for which subsidies are claimed with data obtained by remote sensing (satellite imagery and aerial photographs).

A geographic database of the land under cultivation has been compiled from orthorectified aerial photos. This database can be used to check the reported acreages.

The orthorectified satellite images taken at different times during the vegetative growth cycle are classified automatically by their spectral signatures. This makes it possible to identify the most likely crop class for each plot of land. This result is then checked by photo interpreters before going out into the field. In this way, the field checks can be limited to dubious or contested cases.

The subsidies are checked mainly with the help of remote sensing. Without satellite imagery it would be financially and materially impossible to check the farmers’ declarations effectively and, above all, within the required deadlines.

SATELLITE IMAGERY

SPOT

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