Unmanned System Crop Monitoring Study

Introduction

For this blog post, I will be covering an article that highlights the use of sensors in an unmanned system. I will provide a summary of the article and discuss the relevance of the article to the topics covered in Module 1 of UNSY 605.

A recent news article from the 103 year old news company Farm and Dairy highlights the innovate use of infrared sensors in crop monitoring. Farm and Dairy is a news company serving rural communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Continue reading for a summary of the article.

Crop Monitoring Study

Dean Stevens, a corn and soybean farmer from Falls City, Nebraska, has began monitoring his crops using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This study is being conducted with the support from the Farmer Rancher Grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Ag Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) by a $15,000 two-year grant. 

From a height of 30 to 100 feet, Mr. Stevens monitors his crop weekly for plant nitrogen with multiple infrared sensors. This sensor data is fed through two algorithms to determine the optimal in-season nitrogen rate for each strip of crop. This nitrogen rate data is then used to determine how much fertilizer to precisely apply using an aerial applicator (sprayer plane). 

The results from this first year of study will be shared this winter in Nebraska On-Farm Research Network meetings. Next summer, a neighboring crop and dairy farm will join the research study.

Relevance to UNSY 605 Module 1

Mobile 1 of UNSY in an introduction to exteroceptive and proprioceptive sensors on unmanned ground, sea, and aerial vehicles. Although this article from Farm and Dairy mainly touches on the use of an infrared sensor, the aircraft that the sensor is aboard  has a range of other exteroceptive and proprioceptive sensors. Small unmanned systems for agriculture and commercial use are commonly equipped with ultrasonic, vision, and radar based exteroceptive sensors. Each of these sensors have different strengths that can be used in conjunction to provide horizontal obstacle distance information and height above ground.

References

News, Other. (2017, November 4). Farmer uses drones to assess plant health. Dairy and Farmer. Retrieved from https://www.farmanddairy.com/news/farmer-uses-drones-to-assess-plant-health/455151.html