Research Grants

High resolution remote sensing for Digital Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture in 21st century will face major challenges being mandatory to assimilate new technologies to increase agricultural productivity and sustainability. Digital Agriculture is a key technology to face those challenges that includes multiresolution remote sensing, accurate geodetic positioning, geographic information systems, and artificial intelligence. The main aim of this project is to study the use of multitemporal, multi-resolution, and multi-platform images collected from multiple sensors in various resolutions, various types of sensors: orbital, aerial high-resolution systems with UAVs, static ground and mobile will be used. The results will include the development of a terrestrial multi-sensor platform and the corresponding calibration processes, integrated orientation and generation of multispectral point clouds, which will be classified to generate information on the existence of pathogens, nutritional deficiencies, structural changes and fruit quantification or individual plants, being used in this project for Citrus, Coffee and other crops. The focus of this project will be the acquisition and data processing, integrating data coming from multiple sensors, to produce accurate and dense multitemporal multiband 3D data. This data will be analysed and classified with state of art machine learning techniques. Accuracy of multitemporal geospatial data will be a special concern as well as the use of artificial intelligence, intelligence that will support bioeconomic model for measure financial and production impact. In particular, this project will also strength cooperation with international players which will receive students and staff for one-year internships or short visits, deliver tutorials and post-graduate levels and promote joint researches.

Center for research on biodiversity dynamics and climate change

The unprecedented loss of biodiversity and the imminent threats of climate and environmental changes are among the most important challenges faced by humanity. Biodiversity continues to decline worldwide mainly in response to urban and agriculture expansion over natural areas. In addition, climate change is projected to commit over one-third of the Earth's animal and plant species to extinction by 2050. Silently, the deterioration of species' habitats also drives the cryptic extinction of biotic interactions, some of which are essential in sustaining nature's contribution to people (e.g. pollination services) essential for human well-being. Therefore, the erosion of biodiversity cascades into the crumbling of the web of life, threatening the ecological functions that support the very existence of mankind. That reality built the unalienated idea of halting biodiversity loss and preventing drastic changes on global and regional climates as convergent goals. The São Paulo State University-UNESP is well-positioned to play a leading role in the establishment of adaptation and mitigation strategies that address threats to tropical biodiversity in times of rapid environmental shifts. It has some of the most renowned and well-established research groups working on Biodiversity conservation and anthropogenic changes, largely supported by FAPESP in the last 20 years. We propose a CEPID on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change: a unique, innovative Center congregating experts on science, diffusion, and innovation to produce global class and cutting-edge research and solutions targeting the current loss of biodiversity, its synergism with climate change and its consequences to human well-being. These threats include climate and other anthropogenic changes (e.g., the frequency and intensity of droughts and fires, sea levels rise, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, defaunation, invasive species, and unplanned agricultural and urban occupation, leading to geographic expansion of degraded lands) and social (e.g., overpopulation, increasing poverty in urban areas, social and gender inequality) ). Framed by the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 15 - Life on land and 13 - Climate Action, the CEPID mission is the establishment of an observatory of biodiversity and climate change research, promoting innovation focused on nature-based solutions and accelerating diffusion, aligned with the SDGs 4 - Quality Education and 5 - Gender Equality. The CEPID will make the state of São Paulo well-poised to collaborate and exchange expertise with the most successful biodiversity and climate change centers around the world. Such missions and goals are not yet found in any of the actual CEPIDS or CEIs (Centers for Engineering and Innovation)funded by FAPESP

Global Research Alliance on Sustainable Smart Farming

The Global Research Alliance is a thematic network of higher education research institutions from different countries, composed of highly qualified researchers. The initiative is supported by the Capes-Print Project to form global research alliances, with the objective of establishing a strategic plan for the internationalization of Unesp. In addition, the project aims to strengthen collaboration in research, teaching and community service activities, with a focus on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This Global Research Alliance on Sustainable Smart Farming brings together researchers from six universities located in South Africa, Australia, Brazil, the United States, France and England with the aim of finding technological solutions to assist agricultural development, streamlining production. In addition to strengthening collaboration with international researchers to promote joint academic and research programs, the objectives of this GRA are:

– Improvement of sensory technologies to make harvesters more efficient;

– Development of new machinable forestry equipment for silvicultural activities;

– Development of yield prediction models based on data from the atmosphere-plant-soil system;

– Development of smart monitoring devices to support pest prediction and control models decision making;

– Use of images collected from multiple sensors with multiple multi-temporal, multi-resolution and multiplatform resolutions;

– Capture of information related to increased productivity with sustainability and added economic value in order to integrate and evaluate farm management processes;

– Development of new materials to ensure the slow release of fertilizers and biopesticides.