Japanese Rice, ”Seiten no Hekireki (青天の霹靂)”, and use of satellite data

-Measuring the value of Earth Observations-

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by PROTOSTAR

”Seiten no Hekireki”

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“Bolt from the Blue”

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Team Members (Role)

Yuki Odagaki (Leader, Speaker)

Miho Watanabe (Planner, Sub-leader)

Kaneko Mochizuki (Researcher, Designer)

Adam Harding　 （Translater, Proofreader）

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WHAT IS REMOTE SENSING?

• Remote Sensing

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• When a material is exposed to heat or electromagnetic waves such as light, it has properties of reflecting and absorbing (electromagnetic waves), and radiating (heat). Based on these properties, it is possible to determine the nature of the material.
• Technology for observing the state of the atmosphere, vegetation, soil, water, etc. near the earth's surface using sensors mounted on various platforms to obtain information about objects and use it in various fields.

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• Features of satelite Remote Sensing

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• Able to simultaneously observe a wide area （wide area simultaneity)
• Able to observe regularly with a fixed period (repeatability)
• Able to observe not just visible light, but various wave bands (multi-wavelength)

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参考文献：リモートセンシング学会,リモートセンシングとは？,2021/10/02 (Sat) 13:54, https://www.rssj.or.jp/outline/mission/#4

https://www.rssj.or.jp/outline/mission/#4

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日本における米

Rice in Japan

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Rice is a staple food of Japan

There were over 1000 different varieties and brands of rice producers that were inspected in 2019 in Japan.

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日本で作付けされている稲（いね）の品種の数をおしえてください。：農林水産省 (maff.go.jp)

https://www.maff.go.jp/j/seisan/syoryu/kensa/sentaku/

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→As food culture becomes more diverse, there is a need for good-tasting, high-quality rice to meet the diverse demands of consumers.

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About Aomori Prefecture’s Rice “Seiten no hekireki”

It is a driving force for improving the image and reputation of rice

produced in Aomori prefecture.

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・It has excellent disease resistance and cold tolerance.

・It has superior appearance, great taste with moderate stickiness and hardness, and good balance.

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R2_ippin2_18-47.pdf (aomori-itc.or.jp) https://www.aomori-itc.or.jp/_files/00146012/R2_ippin2_18-47.pdf

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2015

“Seiten no Hekireki” and the Use of Satellites

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• Although we can examine the conditions in each field, the total area of all the fields is too large.
• If we use satellite data, we can understand the conditions in each rice field over a large area.

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宇宙産業シンポジウム | EU-Japan https://www.eu-japan.eu/ja/events/yu-zhou-chan-ye-sinpoziumu

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Satellite Use for “Seiten no Hekireki”

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Geo-Eye-1

（Journal of the Remote Sensing Society of Japan Vol. 33 No. 3 (2013) pp.185-199）

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Rapid Eye

(The 243rd Annual Meeting of the Crop Science Society of Japan, March 29, 2017, “Development of Harvest Guidance Using Satellite Remote Sensing for the rice variety “Seiten no Hekireki”, Eiji Skaiya)

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/dojo/89/1/89_890113/_pdf/-char/ja

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Necessity of Quality Control for “Seiten no Hekireki”

(Determining Harvest Time)

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Because the the eating quality drops as the harvest is delayed, it is necessary to harvest “Seiten no Hekireki” at the optimum time.

R2_ippin2_18-47.pdf (aomori-itc.or.jp)

https://www.aomori-itc.or.jp/_files/00146012/R2_ippin2_18-47.pdf

Overall Appearance Aroma Taste Stickiness Hardness

Evaluation

Good

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Bad

Fig. 2 Quality of “Seiten no Hekireki” that was harvested late.

We can Check the Optimum Harvest Time from the Field Color

• Harvesting at the optimum time

• The color of rice in the field is observed by satellite from August to September

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• August→green

Optimum harvest time→yellow

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• We can know the comparative growth conditions from photos taken by satellite

https://sorabatake.jp/3699/

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”Seiten Navi (青天ナビ)”

A system for producing delicious rice.

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Reference links:

https://www.pref.aomori.lg.jp/soshiki/nourin/nosui/files/R1s1.pdf

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/pub/pdfpreview/jcsproc/243/0_243_169.jpg

In addition, a protein map, yield map, and humus soil map are produced by satellite, and by using the “Seiten Navi” program, it is possible for an operator to search for rice producers, manage the quality and yield of each field, and provide individual guidance to each producer.

Fig. 3-1 Harvest map　(2019 Bulletin of Aomori Agriculture and Forestry Research Center )

intended use: harvest guidance

Determination Error of harvest period start (heat growth period) 1.2 days

Use of AMeDAS (challenge)

• From the temperature data, we estimated the harvest time

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• MatLab was used in the data treatement

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• We estimated the harvest day for each field
• We used the 3 points of AMeDAS, i.e.., “Hirosak”，”Kuroiwa”，”Goshyogawara”
• We produce a program, wherein if we obtain AMeDAS data and we enter the sprouting date, we can obtain the optimum harvesting day by adding the daily average temperature and estimating when the total temperature from the sprouting date to day X will reach between 900 ℃ to 1100℃) .
• period: July to September

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Evaluation Results

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Ranking of Rice Quality

Grade: 4 categories ranging from Grade 1 to off-specification

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Food Quality Ranking (Japan Grain Inspection Association, implemented since 1971 for Grade 1)

The rice is cooked in a designated rice cooker and evaluated by 20 experts based on 6 criteria: appearance, aroma, taste, stickiness, hardness, and overall evaluation.

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一等米ってなに？お米の等級ごとの違いや基準についてご紹介！ | 「お米のくりや」ブログ (kuriya.co.jp)

ランキング試験｜食味試験｜日本穀物検定協会 (kokken.or.jp)

https://kuriya.co.jp/blog/other/20200509-1799.html

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“Seiten no Hekireki” received “A+” in food quality Ranking consecutively since 2015

ランキグ試験｜食味試験｜日本穀物検定協会 (kokken.or.jp)

https://www.kokken.or.jp/ranking_area.html

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Harvest Yield per 10 Acres in Rice from Aomori is No. 1 in Japan

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News：Harvet Yield 628 kg, No. 1 in Japan for second year／2020 rice from Aomori｜ Daily Touhoku Digital

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Source: Daily Tohoku Digital　December 10, 2020 8:15　https://www.daily-tohoku.news/archives/50863

Comparison of Acreage of the Three Major Brands of Rice in Aomori Prefecture

Seiten no Hekireki has increased in 5 years

Rice cultivation started in 2015, and the planted area expanded to 3.6% of the total in 2019.

The acreage of “Seiten no Hekireki” has tripled in five years.

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References : https://www.komenet.jp/pdf/H27sakutuke.pdf https://www.komenet.jp/pdf/R01sakutuke.pdf

Uruchi rice planted area share

Seiten no Hekireki

Tsuugaru Roman

Maxtushigura

Increased acreage :

“Seiten no Hekireki”, The number of farmers has increased rapidly in 3 years, and the planted area has tripled.

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Referencess: Web Hibashi-oku https://www.toonippo.co.jp/articles/-/467319

Changes in the planted area of Seiten no Hekireki and the number of farmers

Comparison of the Three Major Brand of Rice in Aomori

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*1 1 bag / 5 kg　*2 Production in 2020. cheapest price.

NO.1

NO.2

NO.3

Rice Sales Ranking （Major website in Japan）

“Seiten no Hekireki”, Top 1% of sales in Japan

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【300人に聞いた！】

美味しいお米の人気おすすめランキング27選【ブランド米も！】

2021/08/13 更新　gooランキング

https://ranking.goo.ne.jp/select/1144

白米・胚芽米 の 売れ筋ランキング　Amazon ランキング �AmAmazon.co.jpの売れ筋ランキング。ランキングは1時間ごとに更新されます。https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/bestsellers/food-beverage/2421961051?&linkId=6d4d4f561f15c383222713a57c1ba5af

goo ranking :

Amazon ranking :

Costs of Satellite Photos are lower than Costs of Soil Chemical Analysis.

Cost Comparison

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• Chemical Analysis 120,000,000 Yen　

（1,000 yen/sample）

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• Satellite image 920,000 Yen

（3,000km² worth of images）

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The satellite image cost was 1/130 of chemical analysis.

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宇宙産業シンポジウム | EU-Japan https://www.eu-japan.eu/ja/events/yu-zhou-chan-ye-sinpoziumu

Taking Photos with a Satellite is lower than with a Cessna Plane

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https://sorabatake.jp/3699/ https://sorabatake.jp/3699/

Taking photos of Tugaru area

Comparison of costs (unit: 10,000 Yen)

Cessna

Artificial sattelite

Farming Efficiency is improved by using Photos from Satellite

ーWe can check conditions in rice field with artificial sattelite

By combining remote sensing with satellite data, such as photos, erros of anticipated harvesting day reduce compared with that with only AMeDAS data.

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Man-power in field is insufficient and there is needs for improving act efficiency.

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Only 11 days quality is maintained as high rank rice.→anticipated optimum harvest day directly relates to rice quality

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• 引用元：空畑「「青天の霹靂」に聞く！衛星データを用いた広大な稲作地帯の収穫時期予測」https://sorabatake.jp/3699/ https://sorabatake.jp/3699/

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The value of Earth Observations in this Project

We obtained the following 7 indicators to evaluate the value of Earth observations in this project;

1. Continuous high level food quality ranking

2. Increasing yield

3. Increasing planting area

4. Higher price compared with other rice brands

5. High sales ranking

6. Obtaining data at lower cost compared to using airplanes or chemical analysis

7. Improvement of farming efficiency

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Use of Satellite Data Improves the Quality of Plants

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• We believe that the data from satellites can be used for plants other than rice.

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• If satellite use further increases, the cost will be further reduced and we can use the satellite more. (Positive feedback)

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Summary

• We used satellite data to select cases where “Seiten no Hekireki” could be harvested at the optimal time.
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• The use of satellite data has had a positive effect on the cultivation, harvesting, and marketing, etc. of “Seiten no Hekireki”.

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Referencess: Web Hibashi-oku https://www.toonippo.co.jp/articles/-/467319