USE OF GREENDRONE UAS SYSTEM FOR MAIZE CROP MONITORING

Abstract. This research work presents the use of a low-cost Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) – GreenDrone for the monitoring of Maize crop. GreenDrone consist of a long endurance fixed wing air-frame equipped with a modified Canon camera for the calculation of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and FLIR thermal camera for Water Stress Index (WSI) calculations. Several flights were conducted over the study site in order to acquire data during different phases of the crop growth. By the calculation of NDVI and NGB images we were able to identify areas with potential low yield, spatial variability in the plant counts, and irregularities in nitrogen application and water application related issues. Furthermore, some parameters which are important for the acquisition of good aerial images in order to create quality Orthomosaic image are also discussed.