Post Emergence Multispectral Crop Surveys

How to Rapidly Audit your Crop Planting Investment

As identified by McCaine et al (University of Mississippi, 2019), “Plant density estimation during the emergence phase is critical for early-season decision making. Estimation of both crop and weed density is critical for addressing early season issues. Mapping of weeds in crops at any stage can be useful; however, early competition from weeds is frequently most detrimental to yield.”

Planting new crops, especially in times of climate uncertainty, is a risky investment. It pays to make sure your new planting investment has produced the results you expected, and be able to take rapid action to correct any deficiencies while conditions are still suitable for planting.

That’s why Queensland Drones has introduced its Post Emergence Multispectral Crop Surveys service. Using the latest RedEdge Multispectral drone technology and advanced multispectral analysis tools, we can accurately model the results of new plantings within just a few days of emergence, giving you time to fill gaps, thin out over-plantings and correct nutrient or irrigation deficiencies before it’s too late.

In many crops, the first few weeks after planting are a critical time when new seeds can fail to germinate, new seedlings can die or fail to prosper and weed pressures can cause large parts of new crops to fail.

Plant emergence mapping provides a visual record of the health and success of each new seedling in an emerging crop, which ones are growing well and which are not, where seeds have failed to germinate entirely, where plants have been sown too closely, and which plants are growing the fastest. The colour bar (left) shows the relative sizes of plants across an area, while the seedling map (right) shows the relative health of each individual plant in the crop.

This information can be integrated into your existing farm management systems to provide a persistent record of the planting which can be compared with mid-season growth, pre-harvest assessment and yield measurement to help identify improvements in planting processes for subsequent seasons. It can also be used to inform claims against contractors engaged to sow your new fields.

Queensland Drones provides on-site mapping services throughout Australia using fixed wing UAV aircraft to cover large areas in a fraction of the time of multicopter drones (e.g. DJI). Our RedEdge Multispectral sensors can deliver mapping imagery to as little as 8cm per pixel ground resolution and cover up to 400 acres per flight. Higher resolution mapping of smaller areas is also available.

Contact us now on 1300 025 111 to discuss or request a quote

Find out more about RedEdge Multispectral Mapping.

http://qlddrones.com.au/why-multispectral-mapping-beats-nir-mapping-every-time/