A NEW satellite based positioning system is coming to Australia, and the responsible agency, Geoscience Australia, wants to partner with agriculture to test the technology.
Geoscience Australia and the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information will spend around $400,000 testing the Satellite-Based Augmentation System for agriculture.
The technology, which is new to Australia, could improve a range of applications for agriculture, such as monitoring, precision machinery and yield mapping.
Geoscience Australia currently operates a national Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network.
The new SBAS technology uses space and ground-based infrastructure to improve the accuracy, integrity and availability signals provided by the GNSS network, which includes those currently provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Geocience’s testing with agricultural business will look into industry-specific requirements and potential future demands.
The user testing involving agriculture is part of a two-year project to trial SBAS in the Australasian region. Government has committed $12m to the project and the New Zealand government an additional $2m.
The project will conduct testing with nine industries in total including agriculture, aviation, construction, maritime, rail, resources, road, spatial and utilities.
Interested businesses can apply for the trial by completing an application form available from the CRCSI website. Expressions of interest closes on Friday, April 28.