Drones, which are becoming increasingly ubiquitous on farms around the world, may soon become as common on agricultural fields as tractors. Drone use in agriculture enables farmers to enhance revenues and productivity at a lower cost while also reducing their environmental effect. The use of drones to monitor crops can be more precise and less expensive than traditional approaches, and they can provide valuable insights into crop development as well as identifying inefficient and unproductive practices. Using drones, farmers can create 3D maps rapidly and affordably, which may be used to assist them in making critical decisions about seed planting pattern design and nitrogen control.
Drones can capture multispectral data, which can be used by farmers to gain valuable insights about the health of their crops. Early intervention is critical in resolving any concerns that may arise. The use of drones outfitted with monitoring equipment can be used to identify parts of a field that are suffering from hydric stress (lack of water). Thermal sensors provide critical information that allows for the focused diagnosis of locations that are receiving excessive or insufficient water. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can fly over a potential planting zone to check the ideal growing conditions. Afterwards, they can drop biodegradable pods into the ground that are loaded with seeds and nutrients.
Drones have the ability to cover big areas quickly while spraying liquids with pinpoint accuracy and have the potential to play a significant role in the insurance industry, both before and after a claim is filed. Site inspection, claims judgments, fraud prevention, and risk management are all made easier with the use of a drone. Drones are being used by farmers to monitor their cattle. Drones equipped with loudspeakers can be used to detect animal movement by playing a pre-recorded sound in some circumstances.
The application of new technologies in agriculture is playing an increasingly important role in increasing the efficiency of major farming operations, and multispectral technology is no exception to this. The data collected by multispectral sensors mounted on drones can help operations become increasingly effective by providing information that enables for more efficient use of resources and more localized applications, among other things.
Crop inspection is a critical element of farming, and a drone can be used to collect information that is quick, accurate, and valuable. Zoom, infrared, multispectral, NDVI, and vision cameras can all be carried on board drones, allowing them to acquire accurate data that cannot be seen with the human eye or is impossible to obtain from the ground. As a result, agricultural specialists are able to spot concerns quickly, precisely, and reliably, as well as better target their field scouting.
Multispectral sensors are capable of detecting even the smallest changes in the health of crops. This is due to the fact that multispectral imagery captures a vital section of the light spectrum for studying plants (712–722 nm), known as the red edge band, which is captured by multispectral images. Stress begins to manifest itself in this area of the spectrum when the first indicators of stress in a plant appear. Stress has been linked to disease in the plant in some instances. Growers may diagnose, monitor, and track disease-related stress by using the analytics created by the red edge band on their plants. It is how multispectral sensors can assist producers in detecting disease earlier and acting more quickly to prevent the spread of the disease.
Drones can be deployed to do these surveys on a regular basis, or as frequently as the work requires. Having precise and repeatable drone data over a long period of time enables for improved planning and monitoring of improvements, such as ditches and changing fertilizer treatments, over time.
As an extra benefit, this valuable data may be processed promptly and shared with important personnel and decision-makers in real time, allowing them to assist in increasing agricultural yields.