AXA Climate has integrated VanderSat’s unique satellite data to provide its customers with a parametric insurance cover against drought and soil moisture excess
AXA Climate and VanderSat partner in satellite-driven data on agri insurance. (Credit: Pixabay/Free-Photos.)
AXA Climate, a subsidiary of AXA, has partnered with VanderSat, a Dutch satellite-observed data provider, to offer satellite data-driven parametric cover against drought-related losses.
The parametric insurance product, developed by VanderSat’s insights, will feature policies that will pay out based on the measurement of soil moisture in individual field zones.
Measured using precision microwave sensing from space, the soil moisture indicates the availability of water for the plants and is closely linked with yield volatility.
AXA Climate’s new policies can trigger payouts based on satellite-driven data
The new policies offered by AXA Climate are also expected to contrast conventional insurance policies that rely on loss adjustment in the field. AXA Climate will use VanderSat’s satellite monitoring to trigger swift payouts as soon as the index is above or below a certain level.
This model is expected to reduce costs related to farm visits, loss assessment while shortening payout time for the impacted clients.
The new risk management solution which is both adjustable and transparent will be available worldwide to agribusiness supply chain actors including input suppliers, processors and cooperatives.
VanderSat chief technology officer and founder Richard de Jeu said: “One major advantage of microwave sensing is that cloud cover does not interfere with the measurement from space.
“We have been collecting daily information on soil moisture from different satellites for many years. As a result, we now have an archive of data that goes back to more than 18 years.
“These elements in combination with high-resolution sensing make AXA Climate’s satellite-derived products highly reliable for providing a flexible and cost-effective insurance policy to its customers.”
The Dutch company stated that it will collect the microwave data from every field at a spatial resolution of 100 x 100m, offering an independent layer of information to build a parametric insurance cover.
The companies argue that changing weather patterns can result in increased risk of drought and/ or excess of water for the agricultural sector.
AXA Climate CEO Antoine Denoix said: “Technological advancements are at the core of our business. Integration of VanderSat’s satellite data into our product offering will allow us to make claims’ processing much faster and smoother for our clients.”