Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Agricultural Applications with Emphasis on Crop Protection: Three Novel Case-studies

The aim of this work is to introduce new applications for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Agriculture and especially in crop protection. All tests have been carried out in the island of Crete in Greece. Specific applications are: a) detection of symptoms (canopy discoloration) of pest or disease infestation on olive trees, b) mapping of Palm trees and identification of visible signs of infestation by the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus in large palm plantations, c) co-operation of UAV with electronic traps that automatically count insects and send counts to a server which, in turn summons and direct drones to spray in designated areas. Equipment and software, step by step methodology and practical applications of each of the three cases are described. We seek new application of drones in view to expand their possible uses that will allow them to penetrate the business of small to medium sized regional stakeholders. This work puts its emphasis on the practical details of the implementations, serving as a useful reference to relevant field-work.