MIT researchers César Terrer and Wenzhe Jiao were developing methods to assess drought’s effects on plants using remote sensing, ground observations and machine learning. Supported by J-WAFS seed funding, the project brought together expertise in plant–soil interactions and hydrology.
The team combined information from satellite systems including Sentinel, Landsat and Planet with meteorological observations, using MIT SuperCloud for analysis. Its stated goals included water-stress metrics at 10–30-metre resolution and, eventually, forecasts based on soil moisture and delayed plant responses. The March 2023 profile described research ambitions; it did not announce a completed operational forecasting service for farmers.
