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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Crop Production Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306416

Title: Remote sensing for cotton farming

Author
item Huang, Yanbo
item Thomson, Steven

Submitted to: Cotton
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2014
Publication Date: 5/15/2015
Citation: Huang, Y. and Thomson, S.J. 2015. Remote sensing for cotton farming. In: Cotton, 2nd edition, Eds. D. D. Fang and R.G. Percy. American Society of Agronomy, Inc., Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Society of America, Inc. Madison, WI, USA, Agronomy Monograph 57:1-26.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Application of remote sensing technologies in agriculture began with the use of aerial photography to identify cotton root rot in the late 1920s. From then on, agricultural remote sensing has developed gradually until the introduction of precision farming technologies in the late 1980s and biotechnological innovations in the early 21st century. Remote sensing technologies for crop production management have advanced rapidly since then and are being developed for cotton growth monitoring, estimation of evapotranspiration and irrigation scheduling, nitrogen efficiency analysis, pest management (weeds, insects, and diseases), application of harvesting aids, and prediction of yield. In the next ten years or so, more specialized remote sensing analysis techniques for cotton management will be developed with improvements in unmanned aerial technologies and dual uses for agricultural aircraft. This chapter begins with the history of agricultural remote sensing, then discusses precision farming and the biotechnology interface for remote sensing on cotton, presents several research aspects of remote sensing for cotton, presents two research cases for remote sensing of cotton, discusses limitations of remote sensing for support of cotton management, and presents a perspective on remote sensing for cotton farming in the future.