UAS imaging-based decision tools for arid winter wheat and irrigated potato production management

Abstract

Small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are gaining global attention for rapid image-based decision making in agricultural production. In this study, the aim was to evaluate UAS-based imagery for rapid assessment of wheat winter survival and spring stand in winter wheat production and crop necrosis in potato production. Both are critical aspects of field (arid) and row (irrigated) crop farming practices. Aerial images from 97 hard and 352 soft single nucleotide polymorphism winter wheat plots, and 32 potato field plots (with 1 and 2 years of green manure applications) were acquired using a multi-band imaging sensor integrated with UAS. The UAS-based imagery was useful in evaluating winter wheat plant winter survival and spring stand, with Pearson correlation coefficient (r) in the range 0.60–0.82 between imagery and ground reference data. Similarly, the image-based potato field necrosis assessment showed a strong relationship with ground reference data (r = 0.93 and 0.88 for 1 and 2 years of green manure application, respectively). Overall, UAS imagery provided quantifiable, timely, and unbiased field data with high spatial resolution (about 2.3 cm/pixel for images acquired at 100 m altitude) that can aid in field and row crop production decision making.