Coala Enabling Platform: Advancing Low-Impact Agriculture in Australia with Irrigation Management Solutions

The COALA platform provides an automated data processing chain integrating Copernicus Sentinel-2 data, weather models, and robust algorithms for atmospheric correction, crop biophysical indicators, and evapotranspiration ET) estimation. This system delivers high-quality, scalable Earth Observation (EO) products, including irrigation mapping, crop water requirements, water stress monitoring, and fertilization support. Its Application Programming Interface (API) supports customizable outputs, seamless integration, and machine-to-machine communication standards. COALA's development was completed in 2023, with a three-year legacy phase planned to exploit results and generate new research and business opportunities. This paper highlights applications developed during the project in Australia, exploring their potential for deployment in new regions and use cases. The validation of the COALA satellite-derived products against district-level water irrigation volumes and TERN CMRSET actual evapotranspiration (AET) data showed strong agreement. For example, the comparison of monthly averages of ET showed a RMSE of 0.63 mm/day and R2 of 0.91. Most divergences relate to standing water from flooding irrigation events that are picked up by the TERN CMRSET dataset and not by the COALA dataset. Technical and operational differences and their implications will be discussed and opportunities for further collaborations explored.