.svg){kind=small}
Sat Kumar Tomer
| Sat Kumar Tomer | |
| |
| Born | 30 August 1985 Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Scientist · Agritech entrepreneur · Agricultural technologist |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Education | B.Tech. · M.E. · Ph.D. |
| Alma mater | Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology Indian Institute of Science |
| Known for | Precision agriculture · Satellite remote sensing · Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-based agricultural analytics |
| Organization | Satyukt Analytics Private Limited |
| Position | Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) |
| Spouse | Dr. Yukti Gill |
| Parents | Late Shri Munishwer Singh Late Smt. Bimlesh |
| Residence | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Website | satyukt.com |
Dr. Sat Kumar Tomer is an Indian scientist, entrepreneur, and agricultural technologist best known as the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Satyukt Analytics Private Limited, a Bengaluru-based agritech company specialising in satellite remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and precision agriculture solutions. He is recognised for pioneering the commercial application of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and multi-satellite remote sensing technologies for agricultural monitoring and advisory systems in India.
Dr. Tomer's work focuses on the integration of microwave satellite data, machine learning, and agro-hydrological modelling to provide farm-level intelligence on soil moisture, crop health, irrigation management, and soil nutrient estimation. Under his leadership, Satyukt Analytics has developed scalable satellite-driven platforms for farmers, agri-finance institutions, and insurance providers across India and multiple international markets.
Early life and education
Sat Kumar Tomer was born on 30 August 1985 in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India. He completed his early education in Uttar Pradesh before pursuing engineering studies.
He obtained a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) degree in Civil Engineering from the Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology (KNIT), Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, between 2003 and 2006.
Following his undergraduate studies, he joined the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, where he completed a Master of Engineering (M.E.) in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering from 2006 to 2008. He subsequently pursued doctoral research at IISc and obtained a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources Science in 2012.
His doctoral research focused on soil moisture retrieval and assimilation using microwave remote sensing techniques. The research was conducted over the Berambadi watershed in Karnataka, a semi-arid tropical region extensively used for hydrological and agricultural experiments.
After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Tomer moved to France for post-doctoral research at the Centre d'Études Spatiales de la Biosphère (CESBIO) in Toulouse, affiliated with the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency. Between 2012 and 2015, he worked on multi-satellite soil moisture retrieval algorithms in collaboration with European remote sensing scientists.
He later returned to India and served as a Research Associate at IISc Bengaluru before transitioning into entrepreneurship.
Scientific research and contributions
Dr. Tomer's scientific work lies primarily in the field of microwave remote sensing for hydrological and agricultural applications. He is regarded as one of the few Indian researchers with specialised expertise in processing both active and passive microwave satellite data for agricultural monitoring.
MAPSM algorithm
One of his most significant academic contributions is the development of the MAPSM (Merge Active and Passive microwave Soil Moisture) algorithm. The algorithm combines active microwave satellite observations from SAR platforms with passive microwave data to generate soil moisture estimates at both high spatial and temporal resolutions.
The work addressed a longstanding limitation in satellite remote sensing:
- Active SAR satellites provide high spatial resolution but infrequent revisit times.
- Passive microwave satellites provide frequent observations but at coarse spatial resolutions.
MAPSM merged these datasets through a spatio-temporal approach using the concept of Water Change Capacity (WCC), enabling farm-scale soil moisture estimation suitable for precision agriculture and irrigation management.
The research was validated over the Berambadi watershed in Karnataka between 2010 and 2013 and later published in the peer-reviewed journal Remote Sensing in 2016.
Microwave remote sensing research
Dr. Tomer has also contributed to research involving:
- Soil moisture retrieval using L-band SAR data
- Agro-hydrological modelling
- Multi-satellite data fusion
- Remote sensing-based crop monitoring
- Precision irrigation systems
- Satellite-derived nutrient estimation
- Climate-resilient agriculture
His research has been cited in several international publications related to remote sensing and hydrology.
Patent work
In 2024, Satyukt Analytics, under Dr. Tomer's scientific leadership, received a patent for a satellite-based method of estimating soil nitrogen content. The invention enables non-invasive soil nutrient assessment at the farm scale without requiring physical soil sampling.
Entrepreneurship
Satyukt Analytics
In July 2018, Dr. Tomer co-founded Satyukt Analytics Private Limited in Bengaluru along with Dr. Yukti Gill. The company's name is derived from a combination of the founders' first names: Sat and Yukti.
Dr. Tomer serves as the company's Chief Executive Officer.
Satyukt Analytics specialises in the use of satellite remote sensing, SAR data processing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning for precision agriculture applications. The company is recognised for its expertise in processing microwave satellite data capable of functioning under cloud cover and monsoon conditions.
The company integrates data from multiple satellite constellations and proprietary algorithms to provide agricultural intelligence at approximately 10-metre spatial resolution with revisit frequencies as low as three days.
Products and platforms
Sat2Farm
Sat2Farm is a mobile and web-based precision agriculture platform developed by Satyukt Analytics for small and marginal farmers.
The platform provides:
- Satellite-based soil testing
- Soil NPK estimation
- Soil organic carbon mapping
- Soil pH estimation
- Crop health monitoring
- NDVI and LSWI vegetation indices
- Precision irrigation advisory
- Pest and disease early warning
- Hyperlocal weather forecasting
- Crop calendar recommendations
The platform aims to reduce dependence on physical soil sampling and laboratory testing by providing near real-time satellite-derived insights.
Sat4Risk
Sat4Risk is a satellite-based agricultural risk assessment platform developed for banks, insurance companies, fintech institutions, and agricultural lenders.
The system enables:
- Farm-level risk assessment
- Crop monitoring
- Insurance claim verification
- Agricultural loan assessment
- Satellite-based underwriting support
Collaborations and global outreach
Under Dr. Tomer's leadership, Satyukt Analytics has collaborated with organisations including:
- Robert Bosch
- Marico
- Adani Group
- Newport Group (United Kingdom)
- Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC)
- Indian Institute of Science
- Telangana Government
- Paani Foundation
The company's technologies have reportedly been tested or deployed in over 50 countries including Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, countries in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Awards and recognition
| Year | Award / Recognition |
|---|---|
| 2018–19 | BIRAC Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) awarded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. |
| 2019 | Winner, Social Alpha Quest for Agritech Innovations under the Indian Agritech Incubation Network (IAIN). |
| 2020 | National Awards for e-Governance, Government of India. |
| 2021 | Grant support under NITI Aayog's ARISE-ANIC programme. |
| 2021 | Winner, AI for Agriculture Hackathon organised by MyGov, Google, and Hindustan Unilever. |
| 2022 | ISRO R&D support grant for agritech innovation. |
| 2022 | Selected for the Krishi Mangal Scale-Up Accelerator supported by Cisco India CSR. |
| 2023 | Seed investment from NABVENTURES and Social Alpha. |
| 2023 | Finalist, Africa-Korea AgTech Innovation Challenge, Nairobi. |
| 2024 | Winner, STPI Smart Farm Grant Challenge (SFGC). |
| 2024 | Patent granted for satellite-based soil nitrogen estimation. |
Contribution to agri-tech
Dr. Tomer is regarded as a notable contributor to the application of space technology in Indian agriculture.
His contributions include:
Democratisation of soil testing
Through Sat2Farm, Dr. Tomer introduced satellite-based soil testing systems intended to make nutrient analysis accessible to small farmers without laboratory dependence.
Advancement of SAR applications
His work expanded the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data for agriculture in India, particularly for monsoon-prone regions where optical imagery is often obstructed by clouds.
Commercialisation of scientific research
Satyukt Analytics has frequently been cited as an example of the successful translation of academic research into a commercially scalable agritech enterprise.
Global deployment of Indian research
Research originating from Indian hydrological studies has been expanded into globally deployable precision agriculture platforms used across multiple countries.
Selected publications
- Tomer, S.K.; Al Bitar, A.; Sekhar, M.; Zribi, M.; Bandyopadhyay, S.; Corgne, S.; Kerr, Y. (2016). MAPSM: A Spatio-Temporal Algorithm for Merging Soil Moisture from Active and Passive Microwave Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing, 8(12), 990.
- Zribi, M.; Muddu, S.; Bousbih, S.; Al Bitar, A.; Tomer, S.K.; Baghdadi, N.; Bandyopadhyay, S. (2019). Analysis of L-Band SAR Data for Soil Moisture Estimations over Agricultural Areas in the Tropics. Remote Sensing, 11(9), 1122.
- Tomer, S.K. et al. (2015). Retrieval and Multi-Scale Validation of Soil Moisture from Multi-Temporal SAR Data in a Semi-Arid Tropical Region. Remote Sensing, 7, 8128–8153.
Personal life
Dr. Tomer resides in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He is married to Dr. Yukti Gill, who is also the co-founder of Satyukt Analytics.
He is a speaker at various national and international conferences related to agriculture, space technology, climate resilience, and precision farming, including the Bengaluru Tech Summit, EARTH Summit, National Sugarcane Conclave, and academic events hosted by engineering and research institutions.
See also
- Precision agriculture
- Remote sensing
- Synthetic-aperture radar
- Indian Institute of Science
- Agricultural technology
- Artificial intelligence in agriculture
External links
- Pages with short description
- 1985 births
- Living people
- Indian scientists
- Indian businesspeople
- Indian inventors
- Agricultural scientists
- Indian technology chief executives
- Indian Institute of Science alumni
- People from Bijnor
- People from Bengaluru
- Indian chief executives
- Indian entrepreneurs
- Remote sensing scientists
- Precision agriculture