Multispectral Imaging Drones In Farming Yield Big

Benefits
Posted March 2, 2017 by Fintan Corrigan

Multispectral imaging sensors on agricultural drones will allow the farmer manage crops
and soil more effectively. This multispectral imaging agriculture remote sensing
technology use Green, Red, Red-Edge and Near Infrared wavebands to capture both
visible and invisible images of crops and vegetation.
The multispectral images integrate with specialized software applications which output
the information into meaningful data. This land telemetry, soil and crop data allow the
farmer to monitor, plan and manage the farm more effectively saving time and money
along with reducing the use of pesticides.
In this article, we look at the basics of multispectral imaging technology, reflectance,
wavebands and vegetation indices along with how all this knowledge put together, gives
the farmer a full picture of the health of the soil and plants.
We also take a list and give information on the latest multispectral sensors and drones
for farming with a few videos along the way.

Multispectral Imaging Agriculture Drones

Benefits Of Multispectral Imaging

Multispectral images are a very effective tool for evaluating soil productivity and
analyzing plant health. Viewing the health of soil and crops with the naked eye is very
limited and is reactionary. Multispectral sensor technology allows the farmer to see
further than the naked eye.
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Data from multispectral imaging has the following benefits;

Identify pests, disease and weeds. Optimize pesticide usage and crop sprays
through early detection.
Provide data on soil fertility and refine fertilization by detecting nutrient
deficiencies. Help with land management and whether to take ground in or out of
production or rotate crops etc.
Count plants and determine population or spacing issues. Estimate crop yield.
Measure irrigation. Control crop irrigation by identifying areas where water stress
is suspected. Make land improvements such as install drainage systems and
waterways based on multispectral data.
 View damage to crops from farm machinery and make necessary repairs or
replace problematic machinery.
Survey fencing and farm buildings.
Monitor livestock.

Year Round Solution

What is terrific about multispectral imagery is that this sensor technology can be used
throughout the crop cycle. Whether used during sowing, irrigation, fertilization or
harvesting, drones providing multispectral imagery can be used at each step allowing
the farmer to manage his crops very effectively in every season.
With multispectral advanced sensors and imaging capabilities, this gives farmers new
ways to increase yields and reduce crop damage.

Multispectral Remote Sensing Drones

Survey / Inspect / 3D Maps / Multispectral Imaging

Before we delve further into the subject of

multispectral imaging technology in farming, one of most basic tasks on any farm is to
visibly inspect crops, fencing and buildings.
Top drones for this type of work need to have Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), First
Person View (FPV), stabilized gimbals, excellent cameras and even autonomous
waypoint navigation.
The drones listed below can be used to survey crops, fencing and buildings as they
have terrific cameras mounted on the best stabilized gimbals. These drones can also
build elevation models and photogrammetry maps using software such as Pix4D. They
can also be adapted to carry multispectral sensors such as the Sequoia UAS sensor
(see below) and the Canon S110 NIR.

DJI Phantom 4/ 4 Pro

DJI Mavic Pro
DJI Inspire 1
DJI Phantom 3
3DR SOLO
SenseFly eBee

The DJI Phantom 4, Inspire 1 and 3DR Solo can also be adapted for the FLIR Vue
thermal sensor which can output terrific data used in precision farming.
The above drones are reviewed in the article on the latest top drones.

DJI Inspire 1 For Multispectral Imagery

One of the most innovative drones on the market to date and perfect for any farm is
the DJI Inspire 1. This drone comes with excellent stabilization technology and a 4k
camera. The Inspire 1 will give you perfectly clear video and images of your visual
inspection around the farm.
The Inspire 1 has many intelligent flight modes including waypoints. Using Pix4D
software along with waypoints, you can create 3d photogrammetry maps of your land.
The DJI Inspire 1 is very adaptable. The Zenmuse XT gimbal was designed specifically
for the Inspire 1 to carry the FLIR Thermal camera. Also the latest Parrot Sequoia
multispectral imaging sensing system can be added to the Inspire 1 making it the perfect
drone for every farm.

Multispectral Imaging Technology

What Are Multispectral Images Answered

A multispectral image sensor captures image data at specific frequencies across
the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or by the
use of instruments which are sensitive to particular wavelengths, including light from
frequencies beyond our visible sight, such as infrared. Spectral imaging also allows for
extraction of additional information which the human eye fails to capture.

Importance of Multispectral Images

The human eye is sensitive only to wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm which is
known as the visible spectrum. Humans can perceive a variety of colors ranging from
violet to red. Wavelengths however can also be shorter (ultraviolet) or longer (infrared)
than those of our visible eyesight. Even though we cannot see them, these invisible
wavebands are very indicative of the agronomic characteristics of soil, plants and crops.
Here an excellent video which explains a bit more on the subject of remote spectral
sensing and mapping.

Multispectral Imaging For Agriculture

Basics Of Multispectral Imagery

Every surface reflects back some of the light that it receives. Objects having different
surface features reflect or absorb the suns radiation in different ways. The ratio of
reflected light to incident light is known as reflectance and is expressed as a percentage.

Vegetation Indices
Vegetation reflectance properties are used to derive vegetation indices (VIs). The
indices are used to analyze various ecologies. Vegetation Indices are constructed from
reflectance measurements in two or more wavelengths to analyze specific
characteristics of vegetation, such as total leaf area and water content.
Vegetation interacts with solar radiation differently from other natural materials, such as
soils and water bodies. The absorption and reflection of solar radiation is the result of
many interactions with different plant materials, which varies considerably by
wavelength.
Water, pigments, nutrients, and carbon are each expressed in the reflected optical
spectrum from 400 nm to 2500 nm, with often overlapping, but spectrally distinct,
reflectance behaviors. These known signatures allow scientists to combine reflectance
measurements at different wavelengths to enhance specific vegetation characteristics by
defining VIs.
More than 150 vegetation indexes have been published in scientific literature, but only a
small subset have substantial biophysical basis or have been systematically tested. Here
is a list of the
Multispectral Software Applications
Many precision farming and agricultural crop stress tools and applications are built
around VIs to give a complete solution which include processing, storage, presentation,
and analysis of multispectral data. More on the multispectral software applications
below.

Vegetation Spectrum
The reflectance properties of an object depend on the particular material and its physical
and chemical state (e.g. moisture), the surface roughness as well as the geometric
circumstances (e.g. incidence angle of the sunlight). The most important surface
features are color, structure and surface texture. The perceived color of an object
corresponds to the wavelength of the visible spectrum with the greatest reflectance.
These differences make it possible to identify different earth surface features or
materials by analyzing their spectral reflectance patterns or spectral signatures. These
signatures can be visualized in so called spectral reflectance curves as a function of
wavelengths.
The below diagram show typical spectral reflectance curves of three basic types of Earth
features: green vegetation, dry bare soil and clear water. Green, Red, and Infrared are
the main ones used in agriculture. The Red Edge (short band corresponding to the Near
Infrared entry point) is also sometimes used for obtaining additional indices.
The vegetation spectrum image is from Markelowitz with further details and explanations
regarding the reflectance and vegetation wavebands below.
Vegetation Curve
The spectral reflectance curve of healthy green vegetation has a significant minimum of
reflectance in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum resulting from the
pigments in plant leaves. Healthy vegetation will absorb in both the blue and red bands,
giving rise to what is called the green bump of healthy vegetation.
Reflectance increases dramatically in the near infrared. Stressed vegetation can also be
detected because stressed vegetation has a significantly lower reflectance in the
infrared.
Soil Curve
The spectral reflectance curve of bare soil is considerably less variable. The reflectance
curve is affected by moisture content, soil texture, surface roughness, presence of iron
oxide and organic matter. These factors are less dominant than the absorbance features
observed in vegetation reflectance spectra.
Water Curve
The water curve is characterized by a high absorption at near infrared wavelengths
range and beyond. Because of this absorption property, water bodies as well as features
containing water can easily be detected, located and delineated with remote sensing
data. Turbid water has a higher reflectance in the visible region than clear water. This is
also true for waters containing high chlorophyll concentrations. These reflectance
patterns are used to detect algae colonies.

Multispectral Vegetation Bands

 Green
The Green corresponds to the reflected energy in the 500600 nm spectral band and
has the greatest reflectance of a plant in this band. The reflectance peak is at around
550 nm. It has been proven that this spectral band is strongly correlated with the amount
of chlorophyll contained in the plant.
In this visible portion of the vegetation spectrum, the reflectance curve of a healthy plant
exhibits the greatest reflectance in a green waveband (in the range of 550 nm). This is
why plants appear green to us.
A chemical compound in leaves called chlorophyll strongly absorbs radiation in the red
and blue wavelengths but reflects green wavelengths. Leaves appear greenest to us in
the summer, when chlorophyll content is at its maximum.
In autumn, there is less chlorophyll in the leaves, so there is less absorption and
proportionately more reflection of the red wavelengths, making the leaves appear red or
yellow (yellow is a combination of red and green wavelengths).
The internal structure of healthy crops act as excellent diffuse reflectors of near-infrared
wavelengths. Measuring and monitoring the near-IR reflectance is one way to determine
how healthy (or unhealthy) vegetation may be.
Still most of the light in the visible spectrum reflected by a plant under stress is in the
green range. Hence, to the naked eye, a plant under stress is indistinguishable from a
healthy one. On the other hand, the difference can be seen in the reflectance of light in
the infrared range, which is far less.

Red
Corresponds to the reflected energy in the 600700 nm spectral band. The strong
chlorophyll absorption in this band results in a low reflectance. Reflectance varies
significantly in relation to factors such as biomass, LAI, soil history, crop type, humidity
and plant stress. For most crops this band gives an excellent contrast between the
plants and the soil and it is extensively used for compiling most of the vegetation indices
in agriculture.

Red Edge
This a very narrow band (700730 nm) that corresponds to the entry point of Near
Infrared. It is the point of sudden change in reflectance, from strong absorption of Red to
substantial reflection of Near Infrared. This band is very sensitive to plant stress and
provides information on the chlorophy.

Crop health analysis

Plant counting
Water management

NIR (Near-Infrared)
Corresponds to the wavelengths in the 700 nm to 1.3 m range, has the strongest
reflectance of the bands studied. There is a very strong correlation between this
reflectance and the level of chlorophyll in the plant. A highly significant variation of the
reflectance in this band is produced when a plant is under stress. Along with the Red
spectral band, infrared is extensively used for compiling most of the vegetation indices in
agriculture
NIR is sensitive to the leaf cellular structure and provides critical data to monitor
changes in crop health.

Soil property and moisture analysis

Crop health and stress analysis
Water management
Erosion analysis
Plant counting

Healthy vegetation absorbs blue and red-light energy to fuel photosynthesis and create
chlorophyll. A plant with more chlorophyll will reflect more near-infrared energy than an
unhealthy plant. Thus, analyzing a plants spectrum of both absorption and reflection in
visible and in infrared wavelengths can provide information about the plants health and
productivity.

Thermal Infrared
Thermal infrared radiation is the part of electromagnetic spectrum which has a
wavelength of between 3.0 and 20 micrometers. Most remote sensing applications make
use of the 8 to 13 micrometer range. The main difference between thermal infrared and
the infrared (color infrared CIR) is that thermal infrared is emitted energy that is sensed
digitally, whereas the near infrared (also called the photographic infrared) is reflected
energy.
Thermal imaging has been growing fast and playing an important role in various fields of
agriculture such as;

Nursery monitoring
Plant physiology analysis
Irrigation scheduling,
Soil salinity stress detection
Plant disease detection
Maturity evaluation
Bruise detection of fruits
Yield forecasting

ToF 3D Depth Camera Sensors

In addition to Multispectral sensors for agriculture, Time-of-Flight 3D Cameras can help
to improve the data and provide extra data in 2 ways;

ToF camera sensors can be used as a high precision reactive altimeters giving
extra flight stability to the drone while capturing Multispectral images
ToF 3D depth technology is excellent for measuring volumes. These camera
sensors can be used to measure stockpiles of manure and mulch for example

RGB (Red/Green/Blue)
Visible light is defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400 to 700 nm. In
agriculture, a quality drone with with an excellent gimbal and camera can be used
for visual farm inspections, elevation modeling and even plant counting.
This video gives further detail on multispectral mapping.

Multispectral Remote Systems For Drones

Lets take a look now at some of the latest multispectral imaging remote sensors, the
necessary software to analyse, process and output the data and the compatible drones
in which the sensor is mounted.

Multispectral Imaging Sensors For Agriculture

Sentera 3 Multispectral Sensors For Drones

Sentera multispectral drone sensors deliver exceptional performance and are very
competitive in price, quality and function. Sentera have 3 multispectral sensors for
drones which are for agriculture. These sensors also can be mounted onto DJI
drones. Their sensors produce context rich color and near-infrared (NIR) image data to
deliver top NDVI data to growers.
Sentera NVDI Single Sensor: The Sensor integrates onto a multitude of drone
platforms, enabling any grower to quickly and affordably access critical, precise
TrueNDVI crop data. The sensor produces crisp, detailed RGB imagery or near-
infrared (NIR) imagery, allowing growers to quickly produce normalized difference
vegetation index (NDVI) crop maps. The level of detailed information provides users with
invaluable information about crop health and maturity.

Easily integrates into virtually any system, including several DJI drone platforms
Low-distortion optics + global shutter technology ensure crisp, clear crop imagery
Captures data to create precise NDVI maps, providing users with a complete
crop health report card
Seamless data flow into AgVault allows imagery to be viewed at the field edge
and immediate action to be taken
 Sentera Quad: This is the lightest in weight,
most compact and highest performance multispectral sensor available for drones today.
This advanced sensor has the capacity to recognize six specific bands of light, as well
as measure full-spectrum RGB to generate true color imagery. The Quad Sensor
provides deeper insights about crop health and vigor to the agriculture industry.

Saves time by capturing full-spectrum RGB imagery and comprehensive red

edge data in a single flight
Enables customized application of fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides, based on
data-driven information
Facilitates the spotting and diagnosing of growth issues
Compatible with AgVault so data can be organized, stored, viewed and shared
with a team

Sentera Double 4k Sensor: This agriculture Sensor is the smallest and lightest dual
sensor available today. It is also compatible with any drone. The Double 4K captures 12
megapixel high resolution images and features an enhanced processor which expedites
delivery of precise crop health images to popular stitching tools, including Pix4D
and Agisoft.
With increased image resolution and augmented processor speed, users will completely
satisfied with the crisp crop maps, with improved shapefiles and stitching.

Livestreams NDVI video to mobile device via LiveNDVI technology

Simultaneously captures 12MP NDVI and high-resolution RGB imagery
Expedites imagery download utilizing enhanced processor
Instantly download images via WiFi or wired connection Easily modified to
advance with industry technologies
Capable of 4K ultra-high-definition video capture
Seamlessly integrates with AgVault Software

Parrot Sequoia Multispectral Sensor

The Parrot Sequoia is one of the smallest and lightest multispectral UAS remote sensors
on the market to date. It captures images of crops across the four highly defined, visible
and non-visible spectral bands, plus RGB imagery. This solution uses two sensors.
 The
second sensor is the sunshine Sensor and is mounted on the back of the drone. During
the flight the sunshine sensor will continuously sense and record the light conditions in
the same spectral bands as the multispectral sensor. The light data thus collected allows
the values of the identified spectral signatures to be confirmed.
The Sequoia sensor has its own GPS, IMU and magnetometer so it does not rely on the
drone for this positional data. It is perhaps the best multispectral sensor on the market to
date. Some of the its benefits are as follows;

Identify problem areas in a field that need attention and further scouting
Refine fertilization by detecting nutrient deficiencies symptoms
Optimize pesticide input through early detection of biotic stress
Control crop irrigation by identifying areas where water stress is suspected
Estimate crop yield by processing and exploiting agronomic indices

Sequoia Sensor Compatible Drones

The Sequoia multispectral remote sensing system is fully compatible with the following
drones:

SenseFly ebee Ag
3DR Solo
DJI Phantom 3 / 4
DJI Inspire 1
Yuneec Typhoon H

Tetracams ADC Lite Sensor

The ADC Lite from Tetracam is a lightweight (7 ounce) multispectral remote sensing
system which it as an ideal solution for unmanned aerial vehicles. The ADC Lite contains
a single 3.2 megapixel sensor optimized for capture of visible light wavelengths longer
than 520 nm and near-infrared wavelengths up to 920 nm.
Tetracam Multispectral Software
PixelWrench2: is the image processing software included with the multispectral camera
and enables extraction of standard vegetation indices (such as NDVI, SAVI, canopy
segmentation and NIR/Green ratios) from the captured images.

MicaSense RedEdge Sensor

RedEdge multispectral sensing

system simultaneously captures five discrete spectral bands, enabling the creation of
tailored indices for customized applications.
Global shutter design creates distortion-free images on every platform. A variety of
interface options including stand-alone mode, serial, Ethernet, and WiFi, give RedEdge
integrators expanded flexibility.
RedEdges Downwelling Light Sensor (DLS) enables measurement of ambient light
conditions during flight for more accurate data in varying light conditions.

RedEdge Drones
RedEdge is ready for integration with any drone. It comes with flexible interfaces
including Ethernet, serial, and PWM/GPIO trigger,
MicraSense is the best software solution to analyse data from the RedEdge multispectral
sensor. See below for more detail on MicraSense.

Airinov multiSPEC 4C Agronomic Sensor

Here are the main features of the Aironov

multispectral image remote sensing system for precision agriculture.
 The multiSPEC 4C sensor measures reflected light from crops in the four
different spectral bands: green, red, red edge and NIR
10 view points of the same sort to improve accuracy
Correction of reflectance signal for absolute precision
Integrated lux meter measures light intensity and color
The sensor also records the geological position and date of every picture
Wide angle lens enables high speed mapping thanks to large overlap
Typical ground resolution of 5 to 15 cm.
Global shutter provides clear, distortion free images even in windy conditions
Can be adapted to any drone

Multispectral Imaging Companies

Pix4DMappter AG: This software allows you to take multispectral images and convert
them into accurate index maps, like NDVI and orthomosaics of your fields, giving you
vital information for quick response, better yield and operational efficiency.
MicaSense: provide a complete solution for processing, storage, presentation and
analysis of multispectral data. They deliver technologies which cost-effectively gather
crop health information without waiting for satellite passes or paying the high costs of
manned-aircraft flights.
Imagery can be collected at resolutions measured in just inches per pixel. Data captured
on a frequent basis enables growers and agronomists to map the health and vigor of
crops today as well as observe changes in crop health over time.
Airinov: provide drone based remote sensing solutions for precision farming. They help
agriculture professionals to turn their multispectral imagery and data into a real farm
management tool. Airinov support the farmer from the first steps of flight logistics,
through to agronomy interpretation and up to the final integration of the map into a
tractor guiding system.
To finish this article, I leave you with a look at the fantastic Parrot Sequoia multispectral
imaging sensor and how it is changing the way in which we manage farms.