The New Reality of Advanced Agricultural Imaging

Farmers are known for being risk-averse, preferring older, reliable farming techniques over new, unproven ones, despite the potential for improved yields and efficiency. When it comes to new imaging technology, however, farmers are rapidly adopting drones with advanced imaging capabilities.

Why would this happen? What’s driving the adoption of agricultural imaging technology?

New Agricultural Imaging Technology Provides Clear Benefits

The latest imaging technology, in part enabled by new drone technology, provides clear benefits over previous imaging solutions. In the past, images of crops were taken by satellites, but the images were unclear and the information they revealed was limited.

Advanced imaging technology and drones are now enabling cheaper inspection of crops, greater precision of monitoring, earlier detection of problems, and a much wider range of crop monitoring options depending on the specific farming operation.

These new imaging solutions lead to thousands of dollars in improved yield every year, justifying farmers’ fast adoption of new imaging technology.

How are Farmers Using Agricultural Imaging Technology for Improved Yields?

Most agriculture applications depend on multi-spectral imaging to measure crop health. This is possible because plants reflect different amounts of visible green light and near-infrared light (NIR), depending on how healthy they are.

ROI Calculator

Discover the potential cost savings of robotic automation over a 20-year system life

This calculator compares your current manual labor costs against the total cost of owning and operating a robotic system over its 20-year lifespan.

EXPLORE TODAY

Drones are flown over a crop field and the difference between visible light and NIR is measured over time. The varying intensities of the measured light are used to create a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).

The result is an NDVI-processed image where unhealthy crops are clearly demarcated by one color, as opposed to healthy crops in a different color. This way, farmers can quickly and accurately determine where their crop fields are experiencing trouble – something that was inaccurate and extremely time consuming before drones made this type of imaging possible.

Multi-spectral imaging is just one example of the many advanced imaging techniques being used in the agricultural industry today. Farmers are adopting imaging technology because it’s providing clear benefits to their annual yields.

Imaging technology is only advancing, and as it advances, farmers will find new and innovative ways to leverage this technology.