Crop producers face significant and increasing drought risks. We evaluate whether insurances based on globally and freely available satellite-retrieved soil moisture data can reduce farms’ financial drought risk exposure. We design farm individual soil moisture index insurances for wheat, maize and rapeseed production using a case study for Eastern Germany. We find that the satellite-retrieved soil moisture index insurances significantly decrease risk exposure for these crops compared to the situation where production is not insured. The satellite-retrieved index also outperforms one based on soil moisture estimates derived from meteorological measurements at ground stations. Important implications for insurers and policy makers are that they could and should develop better suited insurances. Available satellite-retrieved data can be used to increase farmers’ resilience in a changing climate.

中文翻译：

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从太空为农作物投保：卫星检索的土壤水分在减少农民干旱风险方面的潜力

作物生产者面临重大且不断增加的干旱风险。我们评估基于全球和免费提供的卫星检索土壤水分数据的保险是否可以减少农场的财务干旱风险暴露。我们使用德国东部的案例研究为小麦、玉米和油菜籽生产设计了农场个体土壤水分指数保险。我们发现，与没有生产保险的情况相比，卫星检索的土壤水分指数保险显着降低了这些作物的风险敞口。卫星检索的指数也优于基于地面站气象测量得出的土壤湿度估计的指数。对保险公司和政策制定者的重要影响是，他们可以而且应该开发更适合的保险。