Project Number: 5347-13660-006-01
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 03, 2006
End Date: May 31, 2009

Objective:
Combining instantaneous remote sensing transect data from uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV) and temporally continuous remote sensing data from fixed-locations would potentially return a valuable vegetation data set for crop management, not achieved elsewhere, at moderate costs. The main limitations are knowing how to integrate the data streams into decision-making remote sensing models and how to ensure the UAV and fixed-location data sets are sufficiently representative of spatial variabilities at farm scales. The objective of the proposed research is to develop optimal sampling strategies for combining data from these platforms to obtain the high temporal and high spatial resolution remote sensing information needed to effectively monitor crop vegetation.

Approach:
Research to develop these UAV and fixed-location remote sensing methodologies will use both existing and new remote sensing data collected over cropped fields in Arizona. The primary resource material will be archived 0.3-m spatial resolution images obtained over a cotton field between 2001 and 2003. Data from these images will be used in spatial statistical algorithms to determine optimal subset sampling designs, i.e., transects and fixed sensor locations, that reproduce the spatial characterization of remote sensing indices from the images. The methodology will also be tested using new remote sensing data from UAV and fixed sensors collected in cropped fields where high resolution images are also obtained during the season with helicopter over flights. Documents SCA with U. of AZ. Formerly 5347-13660-005-01S (3/07).