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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Water Management and Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #370973
Research Project: Improving the Sustainability of Irrigated Farming Systems in Semi-Arid Regions

Location: Water Management and Systems Research

Title: Unmanned aerial system-based remote sensing applications at the Northern Colorado Limited Irrigation Research Farm

Author
item Zhang, Huihui
item Yemoto, Kevin

Submitted to: International Journal of Precision Agricultural Aviation (IJPAA)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/20/2019
Publication Date: 12/31/2019
Citation: Zhang, H., Yemoto, K.K. 2019. Unmanned aerial system-based remote sensing applications at the Northern Colorado Limited Irrigation Research Farm. International Journal of Precision Agricultural Aviation (IJPAA). 2(2):1–10. https://doi.org//10.33440/j.ijpaa.20190202.50.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33440/j.ijpaa.20190202.50

Interpretive Summary: USDA-ARS (Agricultural Research Service) Water Management and Systems Research Unit established a Limited Irrigation Research Farm (LIRF) in Northern Colorado in 2008 to respond the urgent need of sustaining irrigated agriculture in semi-area regions with limited water resources and increasing population. Agricultural research has been conducted at this facility to optimize irrigation strategy, accurately quantify crop water use, develop sensor-based irrigation scheduling algorithms, and investigate physiological responses to crop water stress. An unmanned aerial system was developed in 2017 and used to collect multispectral and thermal imagery for irrigation and other field applications. The results reported in this paper approved the capability of UAS to collect high-quality, high spatial and temporal resolution crop data for field-based agricultural applications and aid farmers to manage their water resources and sustain crop production in a more advanced way.

Technical Abstract: USDA-ARS (Agricultural Research Service) Water Management and Systems Research Unit established a Limited Irrigation Research Farm (LIRF) in Northern Colorado in 2008 to respond the urgent need of sustaining irrigated agriculture in semi-area regions with limited water resources and increasing population. Agricultural research has been conducted at this facility to optimize irrigation strategy, accurately quantify crop water use, develop sensor-based irrigation scheduling algorithms, and investigate physiological responses to crop water stress. An unmanned aerial system (UAS) was developed and used to collect multispectral and thermal imagery for irrigation and other field applications. The results in the study confirmed the capability of UAS to collect high-quality, high spatial and temporal resolution crop data for field-based agricultural applications and aid farmers to manage their water resources and sustain crop production in a more advanced way.