Remote Sensing Applications for Insurance: A Predictive Model for Pasture Yield in the Presence of Systemic Weather

North American Actuarial Journal, 24(2), 333-354.

46 Pages Posted: 27 Jun 2018 Last revised: 15 Sep 2020

See all articles by C. Brock Porth

C. Brock Porth

University of Manitoba - Department of Biosystems Engineering

Lysa Porth

University of Manitoba - Warren Centre for Actuarial Studies and Research; University of Waterloo - Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science; University of Manitoba - Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics

Wenjun Zhu

Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University

Milton Boyd

University of Manitoba - Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics; University of Manitoba - Asper School of Business

Ken Seng Tan

University of Waterloo

Kai Liu

University of Prince Edward Island

Date Written: June 14, 2018

Abstract

A robust predictive model for crop yield is essential for designing a commercially viable index-based insurance policy. Index insurance for crops is still at a relatively infant stage, and more research and development is needed in order to address a main limitation, which is referred to as basis risk (the mismatch between the loss indicated by the index and the actual loss suffered by the insured). Traditionally ground weather station measurements have been the most common approach used in weather indices, and this approach has often led to high levels of basis risk. Recent advances in satellite-based remote sensing provides new opportunities to use publicly available and transparent “big data,” to potentially make index-based insurance policies more relevant by reducing basis risk. This is the first paper to provide a comprehensive comparison of thirteen Pasture Production Indices (PPI’s), including those developed based on satellite-derived vegetation and biophysical parameter indices using data products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer - MODIS. A validation protocol is established, and a unique dataset covering the period from 2002 to 2016 from a network of pasture clip sites in the province of Alberta, Canada is used to demonstrate new applications for insurance based on remote sensing derived data. The results of the satellite-deriverd PPI’s are compared to those PPI’s based on ground weather station data as benchmarks, which to date are the most common design for index insurance. Overall, the satellite-based indices report higher correlations with the ground truth forage yield data compared to the weather station PPI’s. As an example, in 2015 and 2016 the best performing satellite-based PPI’s produce correlations of close to 90%. When considering the whole sample period, the highest overall average correlation is 62.0% for the biophysical parameter PPI based on FPAR 500 meter MODIS, and the lowest overall average correlation is 43.8% for the vegetation PPI based on EVI 250 meter MODIS. Comparatively, the highest correlation reported for the weather station indices is for precipitation at 12.51%. A straightforward, yet effective PCA-based prediction model is introduced in this paper to address the issues of variable selection and dimension reduction in insurance design. This research makes an important contribution to the field of actuarial science and insurance, as it highlights potential new opportunities for insurance design and predictive analytics using large and comprehensive satellite datasets that remain relatively unexplored to date in insurance practice. While agriculture is used as the example here, the research could be extended to other crops, and other areas in the Property & Casualty sector, including for fire and flood.

Keywords: Crop Yield Prediction; Forage Insurance; Remote Sensing; Index-Based Insurance; Principal Component Analysis; Predictive Analytics

Suggested Citation

Porth, C. Brock and Porth, Lysa and Porth, Lysa and Zhu, Wenjun and Boyd, Milton S. and Tan, Ken Seng and Liu, Kai, Remote Sensing Applications for Insurance: A Predictive Model for Pasture Yield in the Presence of Systemic Weather (June 14, 2018). North American Actuarial Journal, 24(2), 333-354., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3195389 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3195389

C. Brock Porth

University of Manitoba - Department of Biosystems Engineering ( email )

Winnipeg
Canada

Lysa Porth

University of Waterloo - Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science ( email )

Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
Canada

University of Manitoba - Warren Centre for Actuarial Studies and Research ( email )

638 Drake Centre, 181 Freedman Crescent
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2
Canada

University of Manitoba - Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics ( email )

Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2
Canada

Wenjun Zhu (Contact Author)

Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University ( email )

91 Nanyang Avenue
Singapore, 639956
Singapore
(65) 6592-1859 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/view/wenjun-zhu

Milton S. Boyd

University of Manitoba - Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics ( email )

Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2
Canada

University of Manitoba - Asper School of Business ( email )

181 Freedman Crescent
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 5V4
Canada

Ken Seng Tan

University of Waterloo ( email )

Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
Canada

Kai Liu

University of Prince Edward Island ( email )

Cass Science Hall 414
550 University Avenue
Charlottetown, C1E 4P3
Canada
5197298397 (Phone)

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