Applications of low altitude remote sensing in agriculture upon farmers' requests--a case study in northeastern Ontario, Canada

PLoS One. 2014 Nov 11;9(11):e112894. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112894. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

With the growth of the low altitude remote sensing (LARS) industry in recent years, their practical application in precision agriculture seems all the more possible. However, only a few scientists have reported using LARS to monitor crop conditions. Moreover, there have been concerns regarding the feasibility of such systems for producers given the issues related to the post-processing of images, technical expertise, and timely delivery of information. The purpose of this study is to showcase actual requests by farmers to monitor crop conditions in their fields using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Working in collaboration with farmers in northeastern Ontario, we use optical and near-infrared imagery to monitor fertilizer trials, conduct crop scouting and map field tile drainage. We demonstrate that LARS imagery has many practical applications. However, several obstacles remain, including the costs associated with both the LARS system and the image processing software, the extent of professional training required to operate the LARS and to process the imagery, and the influence from local weather conditions (e.g. clouds, wind) on image acquisition all need to be considered. Consequently, at present a feasible solution for producers might be the use of LARS service provided by private consultants or in collaboration with LARS scientific research teams.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture*
  • Altitude
  • Animals
  • Crops, Agricultural*
  • Equipment Design
  • Farmers
  • Fertilizers
  • Insecta / physiology
  • Ontario
  • Remote Sensing Technology / instrumentation
  • Remote Sensing Technology / methods*

Substances

  • Fertilizers

Grants and funding

Funding for this project was provided by a grant (project #920161) awarded to John M. Kovacs and Dan Walters from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation of Canada (http://nohfc.ca/en). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.