Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for precision agriculture information gathering to advance crop monitoring and management

Authors: Flynn, Kyle; HASSAN KDRISHMURTHY, CHINMAYI - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); SAPKOTA, BALA RAM - Texas Agrilife Research; BAATH, GURJINDER - Texas Agrilife Research

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/27/2025
Publication Date: 2/27/2025
Citation: Flynn, K.C., Hassan Krishmurthy, C., Sapkota, B., Baath, G. 2025. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for precision agriculture information gathering to advance crop monitoring and management. International Symposium on Collaborative Informatics. 2025:K3-1 - K3-7.

Interpretive Summary: Precision agriculture is heavily dependent on the gathering of adequate agricultural information at high temporal and spatial resolutions. Such information can lead to advances in monitoring and management resulting in potential benefits in efficiency, production, environmental health, and cost-savings. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with sensors generally provide opportunities for greater temporal and spatial resolutions, which are paramount for agricultural managers. While many studies have examined applications of UAVs in agriculture, the advances in sensor technology and analytical methods provide ample opportunity to develop precision agriculture monitoring methods at the forefront of UAV-based remote sensing. With this perspective, we highlight some of the works being undertaken via collaborative efforts between the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and the Texas A&M AgriLife Research focused on the advancements of UAV-based remote sensing in precision agriculture. Recent models aim to monitor measurements of chlorophyll content, nitrogen content, canopy cover, leaf area index (LAI), and crop height. Early findings suggest the advancements in information/monitoring are promising and will have long lasting impact on precision agriculture management.

Technical Abstract: Precision agriculture is heavily dependent on the gathering of adequate agricultural information at high temporal and spatial resolutions. Such information can lead to advances in monitoring and management resulting in potential benefits in efficiency, production, environmental health, and cost-savings. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with sensors (e.g. multispectral, hyperspectral, LiDAR) generally provide opportunities for greater temporal and spatial resolutions, which are paramount for agricultural managers. While many studies have examined applications of UAVs in agriculture, the advances in sensor technology and analytical methods provide ample opportunity to develop precision agriculture monitoring methods at the forefront of UAV-based remote sensing. With this perspective, we highlight some of the works being undertaken via collaborative efforts between the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and the Texas A&M AgriLife Research focused on the advancements of UAV-based remote sensing in precision agriculture. These advancements focus on a multitude of sensor types (multispectral, hyperspectral, and LiDAR) and post-processing methods (vegetation indices, LiDAR penetration indices, and structure from motion). Recent models aim to monitor measurements of chlorophyll content, nitrogen content, canopy cover, leaf area index (LAI), and crop height. Early findings suggest the advancements in information/monitoring are promising and will have long lasting impact on precision agriculture management.