This book compiles a set of original and innovative papers included in the Special Issue on UAVs for vegetation monitoring, which proves the wide scope of UAVs in very diverse vegetation applications, both in agricultural and forestry scenarios, ranging from the characterization of relevant vegetation features to the detection of plant or crop stressors. New methods and techniques are developed and applied to diverse vegetation scenarios to meet the main challenge of sustainability.
This annotated bibliography documents literature addressing the design and implementation of vegetation monitoring. It provides resources managers, ecologists, and scientists access to the great volume of literature addressing many aspects of vegetation monitoring: planning and objective setting, choosing vegetation attributes to measure, sampling design, sampling methods, statistical and graphical analysis, and communication of results. Over half of the 1400 references have been annotated. Keywords pertaining to the type of monitoring or method are included with each bibliographic entry. Keyword index.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have already become an affordable and cost-efficient tool to quickly map a targeted area for many emerging applications in the arena of ecological monitoring and biodiversity conservation. Managers, owners, companies, and scientists are using professional drones equipped with high-resolution visible, multispectral, or thermal cameras to assess the state of ecosystems, the effect of disturbances, or the dynamics and changes within biological communities inter alia. We are now at a tipping point on the use of drones for these type of applications over natural areas. UAV missions are increasing but most of them are testing applicability. It is time now to move to frequent revisiting missions, aiding in the retrieval of important biophysical parameters in ecosystems or mapping species distributions. This Special Issue shows UAV applications contributing to a better understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem status, threats, changes, and trends. It documents the enhancement of knowledge in ecological integrity parameters mapping, long-term ecological monitoring based on drones, mapping of alien species spread and distribution, upscaling ecological variables from drone to satellite images: methods and approaches, rapid risk and disturbance assessment using drones, mapping albedo with UAVs, wildlife tracking, bird colony and chimpanzee nest mapping, habitat mapping and monitoring, and a review on drones for conservation in protected areas.
This book aims to further build capacity in the conservation community to use drones for conservation and inspire others to adapt emerging technologies for conservation.
This book showcases how new and emerging technologies like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are trying to provide solutions to unresolved socio-economic and environmental problems. Unmanned vehicles can be classified into five different types according to their operation. These five types are unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles (operating on the surface of the water), unmanned underwater vehicles, and unmanned spacecraft. Unmanned vehicles can be guided remotely or function as autonomous vehicles. The technology has a wide range of uses including agriculture, industry, transport, communication, surveillance and environment applications. UAVs are widely used in precision agriculture; from monitoring the crops to crop damage assessment. This book explains the different methods in which they are used, providing step-by-step image processing and sample data. It also discusses how smart UAVs will provide unique opportunities for manufacturers to utilise new technological trends to overcome the current challenges of UAV applications. The book will be of great interest to researchers engaged in forest carbon measurement, road patrolling, plantation monitoring, crop yield estimation, crop damage assessment, terrain modelling, fertilizer control, and pest control.
Unmanned Aerial Systems for Monitoring Soil, Vegetation, and Riverine Environments provides an overview of how unmanned aerial systems have revolutionized our capability to monitor river systems, soil characteristics, and related processes at unparalleled spatio-temporal resolutions. This capability has enabled enhancements in our capacity to describe water cycle and hydrological processes. The book includes guidelines, technical advice, and practical experience to support practitioners and scientists in increasing the efficiency of monitoring with the help of UAS. The book contains field survey datasets to use as practical exercises, allowing proposed techniques and methods to be applied to real world case studies. - Includes a summary of technical UAS issues allowing readers to focus on how the exact technology fits their scientific question - Provides specific applications enabling readers to understand the benefits and threats within the field - Includes a comprehensive literature review in each chapter, allowing readers to know the key players and research in the field
Hyperspectral narrow-band (or imaging spectroscopy) spectral data are fast emerging as practical solutions in modeling and mapping vegetation. Recent research has demonstrated the advances in and merit of hyperspectral data in a range of applications including quantifying agricultural crops, modeling forest canopy biochemical properties, detecting crop stress and disease, mapping leaf chlorophyll content as it influences crop production, identifying plants affected by contaminants such as arsenic, demonstrating sensitivity to plant nitrogen content, classifying vegetation species and type, characterizing wetlands, and mapping invasive species. The need for significant improvements in quantifying, modeling, and mapping plant chemical, physical, and water properties is more critical than ever before to reduce uncertainties in our understanding of the Earth and to better sustain it. There is also a need for a synthesis of the vast knowledge spread throughout the literature from more than 40 years of research. Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Vegetation integrates this knowledge, guiding readers to harness the capabilities of the most recent advances in applying hyperspectral remote sensing technology to the study of terrestrial vegetation. Taking a practical approach to a complex subject, the book demonstrates the experience, utility, methods and models used in studying vegetation using hyperspectral data. Written by leading experts, including pioneers in the field, each chapter presents specific applications, reviews existing state-of-the-art knowledge, highlights the advances made, and provides guidance for the appropriate use of hyperspectral data in the study of vegetation as well as its numerous applications, such as crop yield modeling, crop and vegetation biophysical and biochemical property characterization, and crop moisture assessment. This comprehensive book brings together the best global expertise on hyperspectral remote sensing of agriculture, crop water use, plant species detection, vegetation classification, biophysical and biochemical modeling, crop productivity and water productivity mapping, and modeling. It provides the pertinent facts, synthesizing findings so that readers can get the correct picture on issues such as the best wavebands for their practical applications, methods of analysis using whole spectra, hyperspectral vegetation indices targeted to study specific biophysical and biochemical quantities, and methods for detecting parameters such as crop moisture variability, chlorophyll content, and stress levels. A collective "knowledge bank," it guides professionals to adopt the best practices for their own work.
