Galileo HAS ready to increase efficiency of farming tasks. Latest tests prove suitability for precision agriculture

In a collaboration between the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) of EUSPA, Hemisphere GNSS and Case New Holland, experts from all entities tested the Galileo HAS service to assess its suitability for precision agriculture applications. The tests were performed at the Campus facilities of New Holland located in Peñarrubias del Pirón, Segovia (Spain).The working width used for the test was 2.55 m, while the test area covered approximately 20,000 m² with a perimeter of about 740 meters. This would show that HAS can optimise agricultural operations by reducing costs associated with overlaps (reworking the same area), leading to savings such as reduced fuel consumption, minimal input waste and improved crop yield.For the test setup, in addition to the onboard guidance system, an independent antenna was mounted on the tractor cab. Tractor used for the testing campaign (Photo Credit: Case New Holland) An RTK base station deployed for the occasion provided the rover with precise RTK corrections and enabled generating a “reference path” against which to compare the tested Galileo HAS, in this case based on corrections obtained directly from the Signal in Space (SIS) via the Galileo E6 band.The driving was performed in automatic mode, with manual intervention required only for turning at the end of each pass. Converge time and data set during the test The data analysis showed that the Galileo HAS system consistently maintained horizontal errors of 3-6 cm.With a 95% horizontal error of 5.9 cm and its maximum value below 8 cm, the error remains well below the 20 cm HAS accuracy target.As regards the vertical axis, the 95% vertical error was 12.4 cm, with its maximum value below 25 cm, (remaining well below the 40 cm HAS accuracy target). Galileo's system design and system evolution are entrusted by EUSPA to ESA.Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story.