Drone technology in agriculture

 

Drone technology in agriculture

They increase crop efficiency, lower costs and are respectful with the environment; drones have burst into the agricultural sector with multiple possibilities from above, offering various solutions and benefits for so-called precision agriculture.

 

And it is because the use of this technological tool has allowed that it is no longer necessary to use only satellite or aircraft images to obtain images of crops, a practice that was often poorly detailed, expensive, sometimes imprecise and many times discontinuous due to weather difficulties.

Today, it is possible to have fast, detailed and high precision information thanks to drones; Let's see how the use of these unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture can make a difference.

 

The arrival of drones in the agricultural sector

Some years ago, the difficulty of having images of the crops in a timely manner forced farmers to use alternative methods to obtain data. Thus, aerial photographs began to be taken with the help of manned aircraft.

 

This activity, which initially offered very good results, had some drawbacks for users: high costs per flight and logistical problems, especially when several acquisitions were needed to temporarily monitor the crops.

 

This is how the first proposals to use unmanned aerial vehicles - UAVs in the work of collecting images that help to properly manage crops emerged. The use of high definition cameras and video recorders mounted on the drones allowed a much faster and more efficient work in terms of costs.

 

Subsequently, the drones were provided with GPS, which helped direct them through a programmed autonomous tour, over the area from which the information was to be extracted. In this way, data could be collected with greater precision, autonomy and security.

 

Thus, at present, drones equipped with GPS start from a base, carry out a previously established flight through specialized software and return at the scheduled time with very valuable data for farmers. After the corresponding battery charge, they are ready for the next flight.

 

This technology allows you to automatically program the day and time of the next flights, as well as collate the meteorological data to carry out the flight according to the meteorological and lighting conditions.

 

Types of drones for agriculture

There is a wide variety of drones that are used as tools for precision agriculture. Among them, the multirotors or rotary wing stand out, which are the most used and come equipped with a motor at each end of the chassis.

 

There are also those with fixed wings, which are similar to the classic airplanes and that have a wing profile that gives them the possibility of supporting themselves and moving through the air, which gives them great flight autonomy.

 

For their part, VTOL aircraft have the ability to take off and land vertically, while helicopters are so named because of their resemblance to life-size ones.

 

Depending on the specific use that will be given to this vehicle, the most suitable drone for the task can be chosen. For example, fixed-wing drones are ideal for mapping large areas, thanks to their great autonomy that allows them to cover large areas in a single flight.

 

If what is needed is to collect data from medium-sized surfaces, it is convenient to use a rotary-wing drone, since they are more versatile due to the fact that they take off and land vertically.

 

Drones that are equipped with multispectral cameras are very useful for taking images in crops, especially those that are sensitive in the near infrared region. When flying at such a low altitude (<120 m), the vegetative state of can be visualized with a sampling detail of less than 10 cm, or in other words, at the leaf level ... being a good alternative to satellite images.

 

Uses of drones in agricultural tasks

 

The drone revolution in agricultural work allows its low flight height to be exploited to carry out activities that previously farmers could only do from the ground. A drone with multispectral cameras can, for example, analyze solar energy reflected by vegetation in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum (near infrared) that is directly correlated with the health of plants.

 

Generally, they are autonomous flights with multispectral or thermal sensors with which data is captured, aerial maps are generated, and relevant information is generated for decision-making. The key is in the information, statistically analyzed to generate state patterns, vegetation indices, detect pathologies and alert about anomalies.

 

With this technology, it is possible to determine if there are areas of the land that are more humid or drier, analyze if a certain crop is green or mature or establish the amount of chlorophyll or nitrates. Through thermographic images, water stress or chlorosis problems can be observed.

 

Some of these drones are used to simulate birds of prey and with their flight scare away large flocks of birds that are harmful to crops. Also, drones are being used for phytosanitary treatments in the vineyards, based on the maps that have been generated from the drone itself and that identify critical points where it is necessary to apply products.

 

Fixed-wing UAVs can scan more than 200 hectares of land area in a single flight. In the case of flying over a swamp, one of its immediate applications is the detection of possible pollutants from its multispectral sensors.

 

Increasing production, improving crop quality and optimizing costs are just some of the benefits that these unmanned aerial vehicles offer us; For this reason, more and more farmers are turning to new technologies to get the most out of their crops.

 

From this new aeronautical sector, the expectations generated with the use of drones for the field bring us closer to a much more efficient and productive agriculture.

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