Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology

Recent advances in the ability to capture high spatial resolution images by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have shown the potential of this technology for a wide range of application including exploring the effects of different external stimuli when monitoring environmental and structural variables...

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Main Authors: Belton, David, Helmholz, Petra, Long, John, Zerihun, Ayalsew
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80202
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author Belton, David
Helmholz, Petra
Long, John
Zerihun, Ayalsew
author_facet Belton, David
Helmholz, Petra
Long, John
Zerihun, Ayalsew
author_sort Belton, David
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Recent advances in the ability to capture high spatial resolution images by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have shown the potential of this technology for a wide range of application including exploring the effects of different external stimuli when monitoring environmental and structural variables. In this paper, we show the application of UAV technology for crop height monitoring and modelling to provide quantitative crop growth data and demonstrate the remote sensing and photogrammetric capabilities of the technology to the farming industry. This study was carried out in a field trial involving a combination of six wheat varieties and three different fungicide treatments. The UAV imagery of the field trial site was captured on five occasions throughout crop development. These were used to create digital surface models from which crop surface models (CSMs) were extracted for the cropped areas. Crop heights are estimated from the photogrammetric derived CSMs and are compared against the reference heights captured using Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to validate the CSMs. Furthermore, crop growth differences among varieties are analysed; and crop height correlations with grain yield as well as with independently estimated vegetation indices are evaluated. These evaluations show that the technology is suitable (with average bias range 2–10 cm depending on wind conditions relative to GNSS height) and has potential for quantitative and qualitative monitoring of canopy and/or crop height and growth.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-802022020-12-09T02:29:35Z Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology Belton, David Helmholz, Petra Long, John Zerihun, Ayalsew Science & Technology Technology Remote Sensing Imaging Science & Photographic Technology Crop monitoring Crop surface model Digital surface model Low-cost sensor system Unmanned aerial vehicles UAV in agriculture PHOTOGRAMMETRY SYSTEMS YIELD MODEL LIDAR Recent advances in the ability to capture high spatial resolution images by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have shown the potential of this technology for a wide range of application including exploring the effects of different external stimuli when monitoring environmental and structural variables. In this paper, we show the application of UAV technology for crop height monitoring and modelling to provide quantitative crop growth data and demonstrate the remote sensing and photogrammetric capabilities of the technology to the farming industry. This study was carried out in a field trial involving a combination of six wheat varieties and three different fungicide treatments. The UAV imagery of the field trial site was captured on five occasions throughout crop development. These were used to create digital surface models from which crop surface models (CSMs) were extracted for the cropped areas. Crop heights are estimated from the photogrammetric derived CSMs and are compared against the reference heights captured using Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to validate the CSMs. Furthermore, crop growth differences among varieties are analysed; and crop height correlations with grain yield as well as with independently estimated vegetation indices are evaluated. These evaluations show that the technology is suitable (with average bias range 2–10 cm depending on wind conditions relative to GNSS height) and has potential for quantitative and qualitative monitoring of canopy and/or crop height and growth. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80202 10.1007/s41064-019-00087-8 English Springer Nature fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Technology
Remote Sensing
Imaging Science & Photographic Technology
Crop monitoring
Crop surface model
Digital surface model
Low-cost sensor system
Unmanned aerial vehicles
UAV in agriculture
PHOTOGRAMMETRY
SYSTEMS
YIELD
MODEL
LIDAR
Belton, David
Helmholz, Petra
Long, John
Zerihun, Ayalsew
Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology
title Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology
title_full Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology
title_fullStr Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology
title_full_unstemmed Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology
title_short Crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and UAV Technology
title_sort crop height monitoring using a consumer-grade camera and uav technology
topic Science & Technology
Technology
Remote Sensing
Imaging Science & Photographic Technology
Crop monitoring
Crop surface model
Digital surface model
Low-cost sensor system
Unmanned aerial vehicles
UAV in agriculture
PHOTOGRAMMETRY
SYSTEMS
YIELD
MODEL
LIDAR
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80202