Characterization in the visible and infrared spectrum of agricultural crops from a multirotor air vehicle

Abstract

Plant health has a direct impact on the quality and quantity of agricultural products. Due to this fact, farmers must monitor crop conditions frequently, however the current tools for achieving this are complex and inaccessible. Therefore, this article proposes a method for the characterization of agricultural crops that allows a monitoring of the plants using photographs in the visible and infrared spectrum acquired from a multi-rotor air vehicle, using low cost cameras and free use software. The characterization is performed by identifying the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the photographic mosaics of the crops. This index provides information about plant health, consequently it is calculated and represented on a NDVI map, where the status of a crop is analyzed. The highest values of NDVI represent healthy plants and the lowest, plants with problems, water or others. The proposed method allows the monitoring of agricultural crops in a temporary and spatial form letting to a producer adopt measures that help the optimization of resources.