VISTA Open Day: Pilot B Outcomes and Practical Use Cases
On April 23, the STELAR project hosted a virtual Open Day in collaboration with VISTA GmbH, our consortium partner leading the pilot on Early Crop Growth Predictions. This event brought together experts from agriculture, digital farming, remote sensing, and research to share progress and explore the real-world impact of STELAR’s innovations.
The goal was clear: to reflect on key outcomes as the project nears completion and to engage stakeholders in how early crop development predictions – powered by AI and Earth Observation – are being tested and applied in the field.
Opening Session Insights: What Powers STELAR’s Innovation
Why do Open Days like this matter in research and innovation projects? They provide a space to exchange feedback, align goals with end users, and strengthen the bridge between development and deployment. For those who have followed STELAR’s journey, this Open Day offered an in-depth look at the project’s progress, including the challenges tackled and the tools now available for agricultural decision-making.
After a warm welcome by Julia Mitrović from Foodscale Hub, who set the stage for the event, Dimitris Skoutas, STELAR project coordinator, from the Athena Research Centre, opened the technical session with presenting the foundation of STELAR, its consortium of nine international partners, and the complementary expertise they brought to the table – from platform development and tool creation to dissemination and pilot applications.
He outlined the main challenges in AI-based data pipelines and introduced the Knowledge Lake Management System (KLMS) platform that was designed to streamline metadata collection and organisation, enabling meaningful comparisons and insights that help optimise workflows. He also showcased the current suite of tools supporting various operations such as data discovery, interlinking, annotation, and comparison. To conclude, he provided an overview of all the pilots being implemented within the project.
VISTA’s Role in Crop Prediction and Sustainability
Before exploring the outcomes of Pilot B, the audience was introduced to VISTA and its key areas of expertise. Silke Migdall, Managing Director at VISTA, provided an overview of the company’s core focus areas: harvest and yield prediction, optimisation of agricultural measures, crop monitoring and risk management, and advancing sustainability and carbon farming practices.
She explained how VISTA uses satellite data in combination with scientific models – such as PROMET – to simulate land surface processes, including water, energy, and carbon cycles.
Within STELAR, the goal is to go one step further – to forecast yield developments even earlier in the season. Silke pointed out that achieving this requires the development of new tools, which are currently being built within the project.
Key Insights from VISTA Open Day: Tools and Use Cases in Action
During her presentation, Solveig Blöcher, Project Scientist at VISTA, shared key insights from STELAR’s pilot activities focused on enhancing crop prediction through data-driven tools. She addressed the purpose and challenges of crop prediction in agriculture, framing the discussion around two core use cases:
- B1: Yield prediction for agricultural decision making
- B2: Food Security through Early Warning
She introduced four new tools developed under STELAR:
- EO Data Fusion
- Time Series Imputation
- Field Segmentation
- Crop Type Classification
What makes these tools useful is that they have been tested in real farming conditions and can be adapted to different needs. The yield predictions closely matched what farmers actually reported, and the tools were able to track important crop stages, like peak growth and ripening.
Trials in France and Austria also showed how local factors like soil and weather affect crop results, proving the value of these tools for early warnings and climate-smart farming. Since they are built using free satellite data, they are easy to access and can be added to existing farm management systems. Whether it is about planning a harvest or preparing for food shortages, STELAR’s tools are helping farmers make better decisions and build more resilient farms.
Looking Ahead: From Pilot to Practice
The VISTA Open Day clearly showed how STELAR’s approach is turning advanced technology into practical support for farmers and policymakers. As the project enters its final phase, the focus is now on refining these tools and scaling their adoption.
The next VISTA Open Day is scheduled for May 7 and will offer another opportunity to explore STELAR’s tools and the progress made through its pilot activities.
Everyone interested is encouraged to register here. In the meantime, you can also take a look at our previous event, “Abaco Open Day: Real-World Insights from Pilot 3,” and follow STELAR on LinkedIn for updates on the agenda, speakers, and outcomes from the event.
The full event recording is now available for anyone who could not join us – watch it here.
