Low altitude aerial remote sensing and mobile ground measurements: new approach to field monitoring

In this paper, a new approach to field monitoring has been presented. The concept of this method is based on low altitude aerial remote sensing and ground measurements, conducted by a mobile spectrometer. The presented idea of field monitoring is dedicated mainly for precision farming or experimental stations. We assume that non-metric aerial photos obtained from a low altitude are combined with high precision ground measurements from light reflected from the canopies and passing through the plants layer. Firstly, the data that has been obtained from remote sensing is processed by a geographical information system, which results in the generation spatial variation maps. After this step, a mobile spectrometer is taken manually at specific zones for the determination of the real vegetation state. This approach is effective for a study into the state of developing vegetation in regions where there is a large variability in the soil. In this case, the soil-mosaic has a significant influence on the plants conditions as well as its final yield. Another possibility of the applied presented method is by improving remote sensing of plant diseases and the need of fertilisation during the vegetation season.