How do drones and satellites help agriculture?

It is not always apparent at a glance when there is a crop that is lagging behind due to nematode damage or soil compaction. And often it is not possible to detect spreading or spraying errors from the tractor or with your feet on the ground. A satellite or drone sees the entire plot from a different point of view. Each method has its strengths, but also its limitations.

The options for mapping each plant have been further developed. Satellite images are also increasingly being made available (for free) and are becoming increasingly accurate. In addition, it is not often that you do not receive images for weeks, due to clouds. More and more current crop maps are also being produced; especially now drone images (such as eBee crop cards) have become commonplace and crop images have been digitally archived via the Akkerweb app Satellite.

Each plot has its own history and characteristics† Agrifirm has been interpreting and examining various types of soil, crop and yield maps for years. Within the various study groups, various sources of information are analyzed in order to determine the causes of the crop and yield differences. Data analysis is necessary to discover patterns and with the results a grower can make adjustments and take better cultivation measures.

Via the Akkerweb app NBS, growers have gained knowledge and experience with variable planting, haulm killing, applying granulate, soil herbicides, spreading compost and/or fertilizing with nitrogen. As a result, for a number of growers the new way of working, i.e. actions that can easily be carried out on a site-specific basis, has now become a standard way of working.

Resolution and precision
The grower's goal determines precision and image resolutions. If a grower wants to fertilize variably, but cannot vary within his working width, a coarser image may be sufficient. The more location-specific he can work, the more an image or crop map with a high resolution and many details is desired. With the eBee, the plants can be mapped individually. The resolution, partly depending on the flying height, ranges from 5 to 15 centimeters pixels. The eBee can therefore map every plant very accurately.

The satellite images can differ considerably in resolution: Formosat-2 has a resolution of 2 meters and DMC-2 has a resolution of 25 meters. The higher the resolution, the higher the purchase price. In addition, the frequency of images is often also lower. Crop maps obtained by satellite imagery can also be viewed for free at akkerweb.nl.

A crop sensor on the machine can also be a choice: measuring and acting 'on the go'. The most detailed (drone) images often result in a feast of recognition for the grower, but also often yield new insights. The effect of an old pasture can still affect the crop decades later. Drone images can be used to map the plot sharply.

Get started
A crop map is a snapshot. That is why it remains indispensable to really look into the plot. For example, it may turn out that a place with a lot of biomass on the map is a large weed hot spot. If one starts looking for the cause (of a spot on the map that gives a low, average and/or high biomass value), additional investigations and/or measurements will often be required.

The crop also shows the soil variation and moisture availability, among other things. Agrifirm's specialists can monitor and advise on next steps. A good start of the crop is the basis for a good yield.

Precision agricultural technology + cultivation knowledge + precise farming = an excellent basis for an optimal yield.The e-Bee crop card Ci-Red of 20 June 2018.The satellite image of the NDVI from June 25, 2018.