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Monitoring nitrogen status of potatoes using small unmanned aerial vehicles

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Abstract

Small unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) are potential remote sensing platforms for precision agriculture. However, to be useful for in-season management, nitrogen status needs to be estimated sufficiently early in the growing season. To determine when differences in nitrogen status of irrigated potatoes could be detected, an experiment was established in 2013 with a randomized block design with four N fertilization rates and three replicates. Over the growing season, a small parafoil-wing UAV was used to acquire color-infrared images with pixel sizes between 20 and 25 mm. Two normalized difference spectral indices were determined from image digital numbers, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI), which were then calibrated using reflectance-based NDVI and GNDVI. Unexpectedly, there were decreases in the NDVI and GNDVI calibrations with increased camera exposure time. After calibration, both NDVI and GNDVI were about equal to indices calculated using reflectances from high-altitude aerial photography and the WorldView-2 satellite. During tuber initiation and early tuber bulking, differences in measured leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll meter values and spectral indices were only detectable at the lowest N fertilization rate. Later in the growing season, all N treatments could be distinguished in the imagery, but too late to mitigate yield losses from N deficiency. Linear relationships between plot GNDVI and NDVI were hypothesized to differ among N treatments because there would be less chlorophyll content per leaf area. Contrary to the hypothesis, there were no differences among fertilization rates on either of the two sampling dates. Compared with alternative technologies, small UAV platforms and sensors may not provide value to farmers for in-season nitrogen management.

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Acknowledgements

USDA-ARS, Oregon State University, and Paradigm ISR were funded in part by Boeing Research & Technology. Thomas Hagen and Daniel J. Gadler (both retired) were the original principal investigators from Boeing Research & Technology. We thank Paul Parks (retired) from Boeing Research & Technology for project management. Digital Globe provided WorldView-2 data via a partnership with USDA for demonstrating the utility of higher spectral and spatial resolution imagery for agriculture. We thank Randall P. Franzen (Paradigm ISR) for piloting the Hawkeye UAV and Alan J. Stern (USDA-ARS) for the MODTRAN simulations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD, USA

    E. Raymond Hunt Jr.

  2. Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Oregon State University, Hermiston, OR, USA

    Donald A. Horneck & Philip B. Hamm

  3. Boeing Research & Technology, The Boeing Company, Mesa, AZ, USA

    Charles B. Spinelli

  4. Boeing Research & Technology, The Boeing Company, Kent, WA, USA

    Robert W. Turner, Alan E. Bruce & Daniel J. Gadler

  5. Paradigm ISR, Bend, OR, USA

    Joshua J. Brungardt

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  1. E. Raymond Hunt Jr.
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  2. Donald A. Horneck
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  3. Charles B. Spinelli
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  4. Robert W. Turner
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Correspondence to E. Raymond Hunt Jr..

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Robert W. Turner and Daniel J. Gadler are retired.

Donald A. Horneck: Passed away on 28 September 2014.

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Hunt, E.R., Horneck, D.A., Spinelli, C.B. et al. Monitoring nitrogen status of potatoes using small unmanned aerial vehicles. Precision Agric 19, 314–333 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-017-9518-5

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