Hutton researcher invited to Chinese academy to deliver talk on smart farming
A researcher from The James Hutton Institute was invited to a Chinese academy to give a talk on smart farming and digital agriculture.
Dr Chen Wang, a landscape and visualisation modeller from the Scottish research institute, visited Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZAAS) in March. While there, he delivered a presentation titled “Digital Twins for Shaping Future Agriculture Landscapes and Smart Farming” to students and academics.
Digital twins are digital equivalents of real-life spaces and objects which mirror the states and behaviour of the original in a virtual space. When used in agriculture, these twins allow farmers to manage operations remotely based on digital information, instead of having to rely on direct observation and manual work. Digital twins can also be used to simulate changes or interventions based on real -life data.
During his presentation, Dr Wang discussed two Scottish case studies – one from the Aberdeenshire village of Tarland and another from Glensaugh, one of the Hutton’s research farms – and explained how a digital twin prototype for both had been developed as an interactive Geographical Information System Virtual Reality (GIS-VR) platform by integrating 3D modelling, scenario simulation and data visualization. He also covered how these twins allow for wider modelling of the landscape, helping land managers visualise and asses different uses of the land and natural resources.
Following his talk, Dr Wang visited the academy’s Department of Digital Agriculture and State Key Lab for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, where he identified fresh opportunities for collaboration around GIS mapping, land use and classification, digital farming systems and more.
He said, “I’m very grateful to ZAAS for inviting me to deliver my presentation and giving me such a warm welcome. It was fantastic to visit the academy and learn more about their work, while passing on some of our knowledge and finding new ways to work together in the future.
Dr Chen Wang
“I hope the chance to learn about our models and a couple of Scottish case studies will prove helpful to researchers at ZAAS, and I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.”
Last year, delegates from the academy visited the Hutton’s Craigiebuckler campus for a tour of the facilities, including the Virtual Landscape Theatre. The two groups also discussed the possibility of arranging a student exchange, staff visits, digital agriculture and applying for international funds to research the identification and control of new pollutants.
Blog by Joyce Reid, Media Officer, Matteo Bell, at matteo.bell@hutton.ac.uk or on 07494422228.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post are the views of the author, and not an official position of the institute or funder.
