ABB infrared camera on Hydrosat satellite delivers strong results and is set to enhance water scarcity insights with next launch

• In 2024, ABB’s infrared camera on board Hydrosat’s VanZyl-1 satellite sucessfully generated thermal imaging to support data to help governments and private sector stakeholders to address water stress in agriculture
• VanZyl-1 carries a unique calibration device that allows to precisely measure the soil temperature from 500 km above
• This summer, a second infrared camera sibling will equip Hydrosat’s VanZyl-2 satellite to provide high-accuracy temperature-sensing information

QUEBEC CITY, June 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABB is collaborating with Hydrosat, a company leveraging thermal satellite data and AI to address critical global challenges in food production, security, and natural resource management to develop and manufacture propriety infrared cameras that generate accurately calibrated surface temperature maps, helping to tackle water scarcity. Following the successful launch and in-orbit commissioning of Hydrosat’s VanZyl-1 satellite in 2024, the ABB infrared camera has started its operational mandate delivering high-accuracy temperature-sensing information 24/7. The strong performance of the payload observed in ABB’s laboratory before the launch has been confirmed also in orbit through in-depth analysis of Earth images by the Hydrosat team.

Building on the partnership success, a second infrared camera sibling will equip Hydrosat’s Vanzyl-2 satellite scheduled to launch during the summer of 2025.

Hydrosat’s thermal data enables frequent and reliable access to sub-field scale insights - and can be used to monitor vegetation health, plan efficient irrigation, measure agricultural water productivity, and detect droughts. It can also be used to monitor heat output from industrial plants, detect ships and other heat sources at night, and pinpoint areas of recent deforestation related to new facility construction, among other commercial and security use cases.

The cameras work by measuring minute temperature variations of less than 0.1 degree Celsius across the Earth’s surface. When a field is under water stress, its temperature reacts more quickly and intensely to the sun illumination. The cameras thus probe soil humidity through the surface temperature proxy, similar to cameras measuring body temperature at airports. The satellite data can provide early warnings, helping to predict and prevent crop losses and poor yields before they occur.