A UAV is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, commonly known as a drone. It is also referred to as a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. UAVs are used in agriculture primarily for aerial photography. However, the type of payload (camera or sensor) can vary depending on the specific application. Sensor types include Visual, Multispectral, Thermal, Lidar, and Hyperspectral (see right for descriptions). Sensor descriptions and typical agricultural applications include: Visual - High resolution camera:� For aerial� mapping and imaging; Multispectral - Multiple spectral bands: e.g. Near Infrared (NIR) to capture Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for plant assessment; Thermal - Thermal Infrared (TIR) Sensor:� For heat signature detection (e.g. livestock); Lidar - Short range LASER rangefinder: For 3D digital surface modeling (topography); Hyperspectral - Full spectral sensing: For small UAV applications (NDVI, water quality assessment). Potential Considerations include: Cost, although prices are constantly decreasing, Government regulation compliance; Operator training requirements; Site limitations.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.