Papers

Using Drones to help measure weed infestation in vineyards


Recently, a research paper was published on the Automatic UAV-based detection of Cynodon dactylon (bermudagrass) for site-specific vineyard management. The paper was written by Francisco Manuel Jime´nez-BrenesID, Francisca Lo´pez-Granados, Jorge Torres-Sa´nchez, Jose´ Manuel Peña, Pilar Ramı´rez, Isabel Luisa Castillejo-Gonza´lez, and AnaIsabel de CastroID. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and EU-FEDER funds. Research of AIDC was financed by the Juan de la Cierva Incorporacio´n Program.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Automatic UAV-based detection of Cynodon dactylon for site-specific vineyard management

Click the picture below to download a copy of the research article

a) Microdrones UAV with the Red-Green-Near Infrared (RGNIR) camera attached, flying over one of the vineyards and b) detail of an RGB-image taken by the UAV from field A-2017. The circles in blue color represent bermudagrass patches growing in the inter-rows.

Bermudagrass is a weed that can pose a serious problem in vineyards. Detecting, controlling and managing this invasive weed is vital for vineyard growth and yield. In this research project, a team performed a study to see if it was feasible to create an agricultural map to quantify vineyard growth and help measure bermudagrass infestation. The research used a Microdrones UAV to capture aerial images of two vineyards using two multispectral cameras (RGB and RGNIR.)

Click here to download a .pdf of the research paper.

With the help of the Microdrones UAV solution, the research team was able to conclude that it is possible to map bare soil, grapevines, and bermudagrass at the vegetative stage based on RGB- and RGNIR-imagery. These maps can be used to help farmers improve weed control in organic vineyards through a well-programmed strategy based on site-specific weed management.

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