Aerial Imaging for Better Data Collection

Rural Delivery Series Eleven, Episode 24
Saturday 22 August 7am TVOne

The use of sensors of one kind or another is nothing new in agriculture, particularly in the hands of cropping farmers.  But a new imaging tool is currently being evaluated at Massey University.  It was originally designed for space exploration and military operations but is now being adapted for data collection, to help farmers make the best management decisions possible.

The sensor is flown over land, gathering images from more than 450 wavebands including visible, near, short and infra-red.  Maps of farms are developed, identifying pasture quality, nutrient content, potassium and sulphur levels, land surface temperatures, and areas of poor drainage as well as nutrient movements on slopes.

Professor Ian Yule of Precision Agriculture at Massey University says in the past, remote sensing has tended to focus on nitrogen use but the more sophisticated sensors allow the presence and concentration of other nutrients to be determined.

The technology is being used as part of Pioneering to Precision, a Primary Growth Partnership Programme (PGP) with particular interest in fertiliser application on hill country, but Professor Yule says it will also have significance for the dairy industry.