The field notebook
Practical guides for interpreting field information, planning a ground check and evaluating the tools that support your decisions.
In-depth articles on satellite imagery, cloud and timing, NDVI, Prairie crop statistics and digital technology on Canadian farms, with charts drawn from the published figures.
Article · Satellite basics
Two public satellite programmes supply most of the free imagery used to look at crops field by field. Sentinel-2 comes from Europe's Copernicus programme and Landsat from the United States. This guide explains what each one measures, how often it passes over and how much detail a single pixel can hold over a Prairie quarter section.
Article · Satellite basics
A satellite can pass over a field every few days and still leave you looking at an image that is two weeks old. This guide explains the difference between a revisit and a usable image, why cloud and cloud shadow matter, what radar can and cannot add, and what to check before reading any satellite-based field map.
Article · Reading the data
NDVI is the most familiar number in satellite crop monitoring. This guide explains the light behind it, works through the arithmetic, and sets out what the published literature says the index cannot do on its own.
Article · Prairie data
How much canola, wheat and barley the three Prairie provinces grow, what a Saskatchewan average yield looked like in 2025, and why one provincial number says little about a single field.
Article · Prairie data
The 2021 Census of Agriculture asked every farm in Canada which of eight technologies it used. The answers show a clear split: guidance and mapping tools are common on the Prairies, while drones and robotics are still used by only a few farms.
Short guides from AgriNova AI on reading a field score, turning a satellite signal into a field check and preparing for a farm-software pilot.
Field guide · Understand the score
A single score can make a long list of fields easier to review. It can also hide detail if you treat the number as a complete answer. The useful question is not simply 'Is the score high or low?' It is 'What information produced this score, and what should I check next?'
Field guide · Observe & investigate
A changing pattern on a field map can focus attention. It becomes more useful when you turn it into a question that can be checked. The aim is to connect the remote observation with the conditions a grower or adviser can actually investigate.
Field guide · Evaluate a pilot
A useful pilot starts with a clear question. Before trying a new tool, decide which part of your work you want to understand or improve. That makes it easier to choose a suitable scope and judge the outcome honestly.
Reference · 8 technical terms
Short definitions of technical terms about satellite imagery, field scores and pilot planning.
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