The Role of Remote Sensing in Olive Growing Farm Management: A Research Outlook from 2000 to the Present in the Framework of Precision Agriculture Applications

Abstract

Given the importance of olive growing, especially in Mediterranean countries, it is crucial that there is a constant process of modernization aimed at both environmental sustainability and the maintenance of high standards of production. The use of remote sensing (RS) allows intervention in a specific and differentiated way in olive groves, depending on their variability, in managing different agronomic aspects. The potentialities of the application of RS in olive growing are topics of great agronomic interest to olive growers. Using the tools provided by RS and the modernization of the olive sector can bring great future prospects by reducing costs, optimizing agronomic management, and improving production quantity and quality. This article is part of a review that aims to cover the past, from the 2000s onwards, and the most recent applications of aerial RS in olive growing in order to be able to include research and all topics related to the use of RS on olive trees. As far as the use of RS platforms such as satellites, aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as olive growing is concerned, a literature review showed the presence of several works devoted to this topic. This article covers purely agronomic matters of interest to olive farms (and related research that includes the application of RS), such as yielding and managing diseases and pests, and detection and counting of olive trees. In addition to these topics, there are other relevant aspects concerning the characterization of the canopy structure of olive trees which is particularly interesting for mechanized pruning management and phenotyping.