Agriculturalists are moving towards applying more advanced technology in order to maximize crop production and workflow efficiency. Some technological advances that have been made are the development in artificial intelligence (AI), electronic devices, and sensors. These technologies are often applied to data collection such as crop count, plant disease assessment, drought monitoring, and soil analysis. Data is processed with software applications to generate 2D and 3D maps which will be analyzed to meet the goal(s) of the users. This information can be used to compare field data from year to year, making decisions, and planning for the future.
Many agriculturists have embraced the ideas behind precision agriculture by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), to scout and monitor their fields and crops for environmental and biological factors. This new method of farm management aids in determining different factors that are affecting the health of a crop. The UAVs used in such surveys have been equipped with multispectral or hyperspectral sensors/cameras to record images. These sensors detect different spectral ranges, which are not visible to the naked eye, thus we are able to determine disease or plant stress much earlier than when it becomes apparent at the visible part of the light spectrum. Below is a list of popular sensors used by drone professionals in agriculture.
| Sensor/Camera Types | Purpose | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color (Red, Green, Blue, RGB) Cameras | Estimating the size of crop’s canopy, plant’s leafy density, and other type of records based on visible wavelength. | The standard sensor is included on most camera drones so no additional expense to initial drone package purchase. | Unable to detect the non-visible parts of light spectrum, i.e., it can’t be used for early detection of crop’s environmental stressors or plant diseases. |
| Modified Multipectral Sensors | Detection of plant responses to abiotic and biotic factors. | Less expensive than other options. It can be used with drones with a lower payload, which won’t allow two sensors. | It is not as accurate as actual multispectral sensors and application will be limited. |
| Multiband Multispectral Sensors | Detection of plant responses to abiotic and biotic factors. | Some setups are less expensive than others. | Depending on the range, it can be expensive. More bands require more time to process data. |
| Hyperspectral Sensors | Detection of plant responses to abiotic and biotic factors | This sensor brings forth more detail in the data recorded which results in greater accuracy for identifying materials and substances reflected from plants and soil | Expensive |
| Thermal Cameras | Detects and measures heat that radiates off plants and soil, which allows user to conduct crop monitoring, early detection of plant disease, monitor soil moister levels. | The cameras can show thermographic data, GPS tags, and temperature measurements. | The thermal camera’s spatial resolution has limitations which makes it difficult to observe the differences in fields that have very little changes across it, for example fields with mostly bare areas. |
Resources and References:
SRI Charan, Yiannis Ampatzidis.Types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) Sensing Technologies, and Software for Agriculture Applications.University of Florida, IFAS Extension. Publication #AE565. Release Date: October 28, 2021. Reviewed At: May 1, 2023.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AE565
Vishal Mishra, Ram Avtar, A. P. Prathiba, Prabuddh Kumar Mishra, Anuj Tiwari, Surendra Kumar Sharma, Chandra Has Singh, Bankim Chandra Yadav, Kamal Jain, “Uncrewed Aerial Systems in Water Resource Management and Monitoring: A Review of Sensors, Applications, Software, and Issues”, Advances in Civil Engineering, vol. 2023, Article ID 3544724, 28 pages, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/3544724
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