Location: Sustainable Water Management Research
Project Number: 6066-13000-006-001-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2018
End Date: Apr 1, 2022
Objective:
The objective of this research is to develop and evaluate unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing systems and methods to map plant biotic and abiotic characteristics for precision irrigation.
Approach:
Collaborative research will be conducted jointly between USDA ARS Crop Production System Research Unit (CPSRU) in Stoneville, Mississippi, and Farmland Irrigation Research Institute (FIRI), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Xinxiang, China. Experiments and data analysis relevant to this research will be conducted at locations of the two parties. UAV-based areal imaging systems which consist of UAVs, cameras, and GPS receivers will be fabricated and tested to mapping crops for plant biotic and abiotic characteristics. Algorithms for determining crop water stress and methods for creating variable rate irrigation (VRI) prescriptions will be investigated using the images acquired by the UAV-based remote sensing systems. Field evaluation of the systems and methods will be conducted with various crops including corn, soybean, and wheat in two diverse climatic zones (Stoneville, USA and Xinxiang, China) and with different field management practices.
