Texas Tech University

Sensor-equipped drones help detect crop stress, aid decision making

Cotton Farming

July 1, 2020

Cotton Farming - A researcher with Texas Tech’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is using drones to detect crop growth conditions in agricultural fields, with temperature variation being one of the ways scientists can see if there is a problem.

Wenxuan Guo, an assistant professor of crop ecophysiology and precision agriculture with Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science, is using drones that measure about 6 feet wide. They can carry up to 20 pounds of payload such as thermal, hyperspectral and multispectral sensors, which can measure or determine temperature, plant count, height, leaf area, canopy cover and plant maturity.

To read the full story, click here.