Mariana Belgiu receives the Professor De Winter Award Early fertilisation improves nutritional quality of grains

Today, during the DIES Natalis, Mariana Belgiu (ITC) was presented the 2023 Professor De Winter Award. Dr Mariana Belgiu is associate professor in the department of Earth Observation Sciences (EOS) of the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. Dr Belgiu won the award for her article entitled PRISMA and Sentinel-2 spectral response to the nutrient composition of grains, which was published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment: the leading journal in this domain.

Around the world many people suffer from malnutrition, so it is very important that basic products such as rice, soy and wheat are as nutritious as possible. Quality measurements of crops must be carried out to ensure that this is the case. Conventional measurement methods are costly and time consuming and can only be performed after the harvest, which eliminates the option of interventions during growth. Belgiu’s article demonstrates that satellites can collect much more information using remote sensing and at a higher speed, with a greater frequency and for much larger surface areas than before. This makes early fertilisation possible which improves the nutritional quality of grains. The jury praised the inventive research question, the excellent execution and the top-notch presentation of her work.