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Agriculture: farm decisions on measured ground: the systems behind it. The loop, step by step: 1. Midday heat builds over the dry plots. 2. Sensor, link, edge and console stand ready. 3. The root zone dries below the crop line. 4. Soil probes read falling moisture. 5. Each reading is stamped with time and place. 6. Readings reach the gateway over LoRaWAN. 7. Relays carry the packets without reading them. 8. The edge verifies every signature first. 9. The edge model schedules tonight’s irrigation. 10. Only a confirmed result leaves the edge. 11. The farm manager approves the plan. 12. The alert arrives with its evidence attached. 13. Valves open and the wet front spreads. 14. Instruments confirm the response took effect. 15. The whole chain is archived for audit. 16. Moisture holds and the pumps fall silent.

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Midday heat builds over the dry plots

Nexus Observatory

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Agriculture

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Systems and technologies
The systems behind agriculture.

The technologies that carry this industry’s observations, ranked against what it needs to observe and drawn from across the spectrum.

Plan a deploymentUse casesOpen the explainer
  1. Agriculture · Systems and technologies

    Farm decisions on measured ground

    Agrometeorological stations and soil-moisture profiles, frost and disease alerts, low-power coverage across the farm, crop condition from orbit and drone, and cooperative networks where neighbours share one grid. Needs: soil moisture and evapotranspiration, frost, heat and disease risk, crop condition, water use and coverage across fields.

  2. Platform · Sensors & instruments

    Measurements that carry their own proof

    Weather and environment stations to WMO practice, RF spectrum sensing in the band, and calibration that is traceable, recorded and repeated. Every value leaves with its metadata, quality flag and provenance. Or buy the observations and leave the hardware to us: Sensing as a Service.

    Sensors & instruments
  3. Platform · Data & licensing

    Grid data, licensed for your use

    Research, commercial API, enterprise and government tiers, the licence of every source carried through to every product, routes from licensed to open release, and residency fixed by contract. It is delivered and supported by Nexus Observatory Inc. The evidence travels with the data wherever it goes.

    Data & licensing
  4. Platform · Connectivity

    Private 5G, AI-RAN and orbit, on site

    Standalone private 5G and O-RAN, AI-RAN on shared accelerated compute, LEO and GEO backhaul and 3GPP direct-to-device, LPWAN and mesh for sensors over kilometres, PTP timing inside the budget, and the spectrum route for each country. Every reading and every change leaves a record that can be checked later.

    Connectivity
  5. Platform · Earth observation & GeoAI

    The ground, measured and modelled

    Ground-segment downlink and processing at the edge, drone and imagery campaigns planned to the ground sample distance, site twins measured in 3D, and GeoAI trained and checked against field truth, with the source and licence of every layer in view.

    Earth observation & GeoAI
  6. Platform · Field services

    Survey to decommission, one accountable crew

    Ground, RF and power surveyed before anything is chosen, installation and commissioning to the plan, a Managed Site run for you, support by plan, training on your own site, and decommissioning with every part recorded. Changes are versioned, tested and reversible.

    Field services
  7. Platform · Digital twins and simulation

    Model the site before you build it

    The same design repeats from the first site to the last. It runs on the open Observatory Protocol, so other providers can join. Crews, software and records stay the same as the network grows. Changes are versioned, tested and reversible.

    Digital twins and simulation
  8. Platform · Space and satellite systems

    From orbit to the ground, on one protocol

    Spacecraft buses and payload classes, constellations sized to revisit and coverage, non-terrestrial networks and 3GPP direct-to-device, tasking and downlink, and space safety from tracking to conjunction awareness. Every pass, product and link carries its provenance into the grid. The same design repeats from the first site to the last.

    Space and satellite systems
  9. How it scales

    One base unit, repeated

    A programme starts with one base node and the instruments it reads. A station adds power and radio, a site adds a relay, a fleet repeats the proven site across many places, and a network federates fleets through edge and core. Capacity grows by adding units, never by replacing what works.

  10. Updates

    Updates in rings, with rollback

    Software and configuration reach the fleet in rings: a canary site first, then a few, then all, each ring gated on health and data completeness. A failed gate stops the wave and returns each node to its last good release, without a site visit.

  11. Field service

    One crew, from survey to repair

    The same crew surveys, installs, commissions, calibrates and repairs, working from the site’s own record. Each visit updates it, so the next crew knows exactly what is there, when it was last checked and why it was changed. Spares and references are planned from that history.

  12. What you get

    Agricultural field observatories

    Soil moisture profiles, micro-weather and evapotranspiration with irrigation thresholds per field. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for growers, agribusiness, irrigation districts, crop insurers. Scale: Farm to region. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales
  13. Next step

    Plan an agriculture deployment

    Tell us the sites, the measurements and the people who will use them. We reply with a design and a scope for agriculture. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the StudioRead the stories

01Remote sensing and Earth observation

Processing levels and analysis-ready data.

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Processing levels and analysis-ready data

Level 0: raw instrument data

Time-ordered packets as received, with communications artefacts removed.

CCSDS 133.0-B (Space Packet Protocol) · CCSDS 131.0-B (TM synchronisation and channel coding)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Processing levels and analysis-ready data

Level 1: calibrated and geolocated

Radiometric and geometric corrections applied, sensor units and geolocation attached (L1A, L1B, L1C).

NASA EOSDIS data processing levels · ISO 19115-2 (imagery and gridded data metadata)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Processing levels and analysis-ready data

Level 2: geophysical variables

Per-scene surface reflectance, temperature, backscatter, water or gas quantities at native resolution.

CEOS ARD product family specifications

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Processing levels and analysis-ready data

Levels 3 and 4: gridded, composited and modelled

Space-time composites on fixed grids, and model or assimilation outputs that fill gaps.

NASA EOSDIS data processing levels · CF Conventions

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Processing levels and analysis-ready data

CEOS analysis-ready data

Products pre-processed to threshold and goal requirements so they can be stacked and compared without expert reprocessing.

CEOS ARD framework and product family specifications

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Processing levels and analysis-ready data

Atmospheric, terrain and radiometric terrain correction

Removal of atmosphere, illumination and topographic effects so pixels represent the surface.

CEOS ARD Surface Reflectance · CEOS ARD SAR (Normalised Radar Backscatter)

All 9 in this layer

02Remote sensing and Earth observation

Tasking, ground segment and access.

Frontier · Remote sensing and Earth observation · Tasking, ground segment and access

Optical ground stations

Laser downlink terminals that relieve radio spectrum limits, with weather-diverse site networks.

CCSDS 141.0-B (optical communications physical layer)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Tasking, ground segment and access

Tasking, mission planning and revisit analysis

Choosing what to acquire and when, modelling revisit, look angle and cloud risk against need.

OGC API – Connected Systems Part 2 (commands and tasking) · OGC Sensor Planning Service 2.0

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Tasking, ground segment and access

Orbit and conjunction data

Standard orbit and conjunction messages used to predict passes and coordinate operations.

CCSDS 502.0-B (Orbit Data Messages) · CCSDS 508.0-B (Conjunction Data Message)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Tasking, ground segment and access

Ground stations and downlink

Tracking antennas and modems for S, X and Ka-band downlink in Earth exploration-satellite allocations.

ITU Radio Regulations (EESS allocations, e.g. 8025-8400 MHz, 25.5-27 GHz) · ETSI EN 302 307-1 (DVB-S2) · CCSDS 131.0-B

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Tasking, ground segment and access

Space link extension and station networking

Standard services that let a mission use stations operated by others.

CCSDS Space Link Extension (SLE) services

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Tasking, ground segment and access

Direct broadcast and edge processing

Receiving and processing satellite data on site for minutes-latency products without a round trip to a central archive.

WMO Direct Broadcast Network (DBNet) · CGMS direct readout guidance

All 9 in this layer

03Ground segment

Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks.

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Shared antenna networks

Pay-per-pass access to antennas across many sites so missions do not have to build their own.

CCSDS 910.4-B (cross support reference model) · CCSDS 911.1-B (SLE return all frames)

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Space link extension services

Standard services that deliver frames and accept commands between a ground station and a remote mission centre.

CCSDS 911.1-B (RAF) · CCSDS 911.2-B (RCF) · CCSDS 912.1-B (forward CLTU)

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Pass scheduling and resource management

Booking, deconfliction and configuration of antennas and modems for each contact.

CCSDS cross support service management

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

High-latitude and polar ground sites

Northern sites that see polar-orbiting satellites on most orbits and cut data latency.

ITU RR Appendix 7 · Rec. ITU-R P.618

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Ground segment cybersecurity

Access control, segmentation, monitoring and recovery for command and control systems.

NIST IR 8401 (satellite ground segment and the Cybersecurity Framework) · ISO/IEC 27001

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Federated and hybrid ground networks

Combining owned, partner and agency antennas behind one scheduling and data interface.

CCSDS 910.4-B (cross support reference model)

All 7 in this layer

04Ground segment

Data downlink, processing and distribution.

Ground segment · Data downlink, processing and distribution

Level-0 to Level-2 processing chains

Decommutation, calibration, geolocation and geophysical retrieval that turn raw downlink into usable products.

CEOS Analysis Ready Data framework · ISO 19115-1 (metadata)

Ground segment · Data downlink, processing and distribution

Analysis-ready data production

Products corrected and packaged to a common specification so users can analyse them without reprocessing.

CEOS Analysis Ready Data product family specifications

Ground segment · Data downlink, processing and distribution

Catalogues and discovery

Searchable catalogues of scenes and products with standard metadata.

SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) specification · OGC API – Records

Ground segment · Data downlink, processing and distribution

Cloud-native geospatial formats

Tiled, chunked formats that let users read only the part of a large raster or array they need.

OGC Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF Standard · OGC Zarr Storage Specification

Ground segment · Data downlink, processing and distribution

Calibration and validation

Ground truth, vicarious calibration and uncertainty reporting behind every product value.

CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation · QA4EO (CEOS quality assurance framework)

Ground segment · Data downlink, processing and distribution

Low-latency tasking-to-delivery pipelines

Automated chains from request to delivered product for time-critical uses such as fire and flood.

OGC API – Processes · OGC Sensor Planning Service 2.0

All 8 in this layer

05AI systems

Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial.

Frontier · AI systems · Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial

Geospatial embeddings and similarity search

Vector representations of places and scenes that make large archives searchable by example.

OGC GeoAI Domain Working Group

Frontier · AI systems · Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial

Super-resolution and gap filling

Generative methods that sharpen or fill imagery, labelled as model output with stated uncertainty.

ISO 19157-1

Frontier · AI systems · Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial

AI weather and climate emulators

Learned models that emulate numerical weather prediction at much lower compute cost.

WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS)

AI systems · Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial

EO foundation models

Large pretrained models over optical, SAR and multi-temporal imagery, fine-tuned for many downstream tasks.

OGC Training Data Markup Language for AI (TrainingDML-AI) · CEOS Analysis Ready Data framework

AI systems · Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial

Training data and labels

Documented, licensed training sets with known label quality and geographic coverage.

OGC TrainingDML-AI · ISO 19157-1 (data quality)

AI systems · Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial

Land cover and change detection

Classification and change maps with accuracy reported against reference data.

ISO 19144-2 (Land Cover Meta Language) · ISO 19157-1

All 9 in this layer

06IoT, LPWAN and mesh

Low-power wide-area networks.

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

LoRaWAN

Long-range, low-power star-of-stars networks in licence-exempt bands for sensors over kilometres.

LoRaWAN L2 1.0.4 (TS001-1.0.4) · LoRaWAN Backend Interfaces (TS002)

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

LoRaWAN Regional Parameters

Per-region channel plans, data rates, power limits and duty cycles that a deployment must follow.

LoRaWAN Regional Parameters RP002-1.0.4

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

LR-FHSS and LoRaWAN relay

Frequency-hopping modulation for dense and satellite links, and relays that extend coverage into shadowed sites.

LoRaWAN Regional Parameters RP002-1.0.2 and later (LR-FHSS data rates) · LoRaWAN Relay specification (TS011)

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

NB-IoT and LTE-M

Licensed cellular IoT with deep coverage, mobility (LTE-M) and operator-managed security.

3GPP TS 36.300 (E-UTRA, Rel-13 onward) · GSMA LTE-M and NB-IoT deployment guides

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

Power saving mode and eDRX

Cellular sleep and extended paging cycles that set battery life for cellular sensors.

3GPP TS 23.682 (MTC architecture) · 3GPP TS 24.301 (NAS)

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

5G RedCap and eRedCap

Reduced-capability NR devices for cameras, wearables and industrial sensors on 5G networks.

3GPP TS 38.300 (Rel-17 RedCap, Rel-18 eRedCap)

All 9 in this layer

07Every domain

The rest of the spectrum.

The domains whose layers serve this industry, each with its full directory.

Layers · 8 · items · 61

In situ sensors and instruments

Instruments placed in the air, water, ground and spectrum, from weather stations to seismometers, radars and cameras, with the calibration, metadata and quality control that make their readings evidence.
Layers · 8 · items · 59

Data, software and interoperability

How observations move from the edge into stores, catalogues and APIs with their provenance, licence and residency attached, and how they interoperate through open standards and the open Observatory Protocol.
Layers · 8 · items · 62

5G and 6G radio access networks

The radio access network from site to spectrum: macro, small cells, DAS and repeaters, massive MIMO, NR bands and TDD synchronisation, NR features such as RedCap, positioning and sidelink, private and shared networks, Wi-Fi coexistence, 6G and ISAC, and the planning and assurance that keep it working.
Layers · 8 · items · 60

AI-RAN and Open RAN

Disaggregated, software-defined and AI-assisted radio access: the O-RAN architecture and its open interfaces, 7.2x fronthaul, RAN intelligent controllers with xApps and rApps, SMO and O-Cloud, accelerated L1, shared GPU infrastructure for RAN and AI, AI/ML in the 3GPP air interface, energy saving, and the test and integration work that makes multi-supplier RAN deployable.
Layers · 8 · items · 60

Core and transport networks

The networks behind the radio: the 5G core and its functions, slicing and edge breakout, IMS voice and emergency calling, fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul over microwave, E-band, fibre, free-space optics and satellite, IP/MPLS and segment routing, IPv6, automation and intent, and the security that holds it together.
Layers · 8 · items · 66

Satellite and space systems

The space segment end to end: orbits and constellations, spacecraft buses, communications and Earth observation payloads, inter-satellite links, tracking and command, space safety, launch, and the licensing and filings that let a system operate over a site.
Layers · 8 · items · 63

Ground segment

Everything on the ground that talks to spacecraft: gateways and teleports, user terminals, modems and software-defined radio, shared antenna networks, CCSDS protocol stacks, mission control, data processing and the spectrum coordination behind each earth station.
Layers · 7 · items · 59

Spectrum, timing and PNT

The shared foundations every network and sensor depends on: how spectrum is licensed, shared and monitored, GNSS positioning and its corrections, packet timing with PTP and SyncE, grandmasters and holdover, resilient PNT alternatives, and the detection of interference, jamming and spoofing.
Layers · 8 · items · 54

IoT, LPWAN and mesh

The radios, networks, gateways, device management and field protocols that connect low-power sensors and controllers to the grid, sized to a measured power budget.
Layers · 8 · items · 67

Remote sensing and Earth observation

Every platform, sensor, processing level and ground-segment step that turns remote measurements of the Earth into calibrated, analysis-ready evidence for a site, a region or a network.
Layers · 8 · items · 65

GIS, maps and GeoAI

The reference frames, formats, services, analysis methods, machine learning and 3D models that turn observations into located, queryable and decision-ready geographic information.
Layers · 8 · items · 66

Field operations and lifecycle

Everything that happens on the ground across a site’s life: survey, permits, design packs, logistics, installation, acceptance, training, operations, maintenance, upgrades, decommission and recycling, done safely and recorded as evidence.
Layers · 8 · items · 65

AI systems

AI from model to accountable operation: edge inference and model optimisation, foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial work, time-series and sensor AI, multimodal fusion and supervised agentic operations, federated and privacy-preserving learning, physical AI and robotics within stated red lines, MLOps, evaluation and model risk, and the governance frameworks that apply to each.

Bring us the site.

Survey, design, deployment and operation for agriculture. The form names who receives your details.

Talk to usPlan a deployment

The systems behind agriculture.

Reference design, drawn to scale · drag to turn