The use of drones and comparison with other remote sensing methods in crop production

The uses of remote sensing technologies are becoming increasingly important also for agriculture. Aerial images from satellites, small aircrafts and drone flights can provide information for resource-saving crop production. The range of aerial drone services in the agricultural sector is still limited. Interested farmers therefore must ask themselves whether their own investment in a flying drone would be profitable. As part of the AgriSens Demmin 4.0 project, this question is addressed at the operational level. The first steps to get started with remote sensing are explained using the example of a multi-rotor drone and the working time required for a drone flight and the processing of aerial images to create an NDVI biomass map are described. Furthermore, the average annual costs of a drone flight are shown as an example for a 1,000-hectare arable farm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and compared with the expenses for remote sensing data from aircraft flights and satellite use. Finally, further possible applications specifically for drones are described e.g. wild animal detection, assessment of damage to crops, e.g. in silage maize cultivation, and quantity recording, e.g. of sugar beet piles.