AXA Climate and dutch firm VanderSat have entered a strategic partnership to offer a satellite data-driven parametric cover against drought-related losses.
The parametric insurance product features policies that will pay out based on high-precision microwave technology measuring soil moisture in individual field zones.
Soil Moisture is a direct indicator of water available for the plant hence being closely linked to yield volatility.
AXA Climate uses VanderSat’s satellite monitoring to trigger swift payouts as soon as the index is above or below a certain level.
This means no costly farm visits to assess the losses and payouts can quickly reach impacted clients.
“Technological advancements are at the core of our business,” said Antoine Denoix, CEO of AXA Climate.
“Integration of VanderSat’s satellite data into our product offering will allow us to make claims’ processing much faster and smoother for our clients.”
The microwave data from VanderSat is collected daily for every field around the world at a spatial resolution of 100 x 100 meters.
It provides a unique and independent layer of information to build a parametric insurance cover.
“One major advantage of microwave sensing is that cloud cover does not interfere with the measurement from space,” said Richard de Jeu, founder and Chief Technology Officer of VanderSat.
“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.”
