UAV Remote Sensing Assessment of Crop Growth

Abstract

The introduction of unmanned-aerial-vehicle remote sensing for collecting high-spatial- and temporal-resolution imagery to derive crop-growth indicators and analyze and present timely results could potentially improve the management of agricultural businesses and enable farmers to apply appropriate solution, leading to a better food-security framework. This study aimed to analyze crop-growth indicators such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), crop height, and vegetated surface roughness to determine the growth of corn crops from planting to harvest. Digital elevation models and orthophotos generated from the data captured using multispectral, red/green/blue, and near-infrared sensors mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle were processed and analyzed to calculate the various crop-growth indicators. The results suggest that remote sensing-based growth indicators can effectively determine crop growth over time, and that there are similarities and correlations between the indicators.