New AI to Help Farmers After Hurricanes
Farmers across Florida may soon have a powerful new tool at their fingertips to quickly assess crop damage after hurricanes, thanks to a new initiative led by University of Florida artificial intelligence (AI) scientist Nikolaos Tziolas.
With a $297,000 grant from the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Tziolas plans to develop a conversational AI platform, akin to ChatGPT, that will translate complex satellite imagery into easily digestible information for growers and Extension agents.
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The innovative web-based platform, accessible via smartphones and computers, aims to revolutionize post-storm damage assessment, a process currently reliant on time-consuming field visits or expensive, static drone imagery.
“Imagine typing something like, ‘How much of my farm is flooded?,’ or ‘How did my crops do, compared to last year?’ and getting answers with maps and numbers tailored to your fields,” said Tziolas, an assistant professor of soil, water, and ecosystem sciences at the UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center.
Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, pose a significant threat to agricultural systems, impacting food production and livelihoods.
Florida’s agriculture sector, for instance, experienced an estimated $190.4 million to $642.7 million in losses during last year’s Hurricane Milton alone. Traditional methods for assessing such widespread damage are often slow and complex, hindering timely decision-making for recovery and future planning.
Tziolas’s project directly addresses these challenges by harnessing the power of conversational AI. The system will enhance satellite imagery to provide highly detailed information, allowing users to readily identify flooded areas or compare crop health before and after a storm. This will equip farmers with accurate and timely insights crucial for filing insurance claims, seeking aid, and strategically planning their next planting season.
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“This project aims to address these challenges by developing an AI conversational platform that enables farmers, policymakers and other non-experts to assess crop damage and monitor recovery, using satellite data and artificial intelligence,” Tziolas stated.
He emphasizes that by making advanced technology accessible and actionable, the platform will help users reduce costs and improve their resilience to future extreme weather events.
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