If 100 satellites are used for image gathering, with down links of
bits per second, we can transmit
images per
second, or about
images per day. Each grid
point will be sampled approximately once every three to four months.
A typical wheat farm ( acres or
square meters)
consists of
grid points. Thus we would collect, on
average, 3,668 images per day that pertain to the entire farm. In
order to properly determine the state of the crops, it will be
necessary to look at samples at different times during the day. Thus,
the data we will have available for this farm is the equivalent of
approximately
grid points sampled once every four hours, and from
this data we are to determine the health of a field of 10,000 acres.