Scouting/Monitoring Plant Health

One of the uses for drone imagery that has already been rolled out with great success is for monitoring plant health. Drones equipped with special imaging equipment called Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) use detailed colour information to indicate plant health. This allows farmers to monitor crops as they grow so any problems can be dealt with fast enough to save the plants. This image illustrates simply how NDVI works.

Drones using ‘regular’ cameras are also used to monitor crop health. Many farmers already use satellite imagery to monitor crop growth, density, and colouration, but accessing satellite data is costly and not as effective in many cases as closer drone imaging. Because drones fly close to fields, cloud cover and poor light conditions matter less than when using satellite imaging. Satellite imaging may offer to the meter accuracy, but drone imaging is capable of producing accurate image location to the millimetre. This means that after planting, areas with stand gaps can be spotted and replanted as needed, and disease or pest problems can be detected and treated for right away.

Predictions about the billions of dollars that drone technology represents are as pervasive as they are extreme. Drone industry experts are currently tracking over 75 firms that offer drone market reports or forecasts of some type, all of which offer various opinions and numbers around what sort of an impact the technology will enable in industries like construction and agriculture as well as maritime and offshore services.

It’s easy and in some cases justified to get excited about the potential of the technology, but many of these predictions are based on how the drones might be utilized, as opposed to the difference they’re actually making. It’s why figuring out the ROI of UAVs is a key consideration when it comes to adoption, and it’s why the current applications of drones in maritime and offshore services are so important to consider. The use cases of today are what will make some of those billion dollar predictions possible, and makes it essential to see these uses explored in depth and detail at industry events.

Gathering Data for Inspection Purposes

Many professionals think of drones as little more than sensors in the sky, gathering information in faster, cheaper and safer ways than are otherwise available. Those differences are almost always realized in the context of augmenting or supporting work that’s already being done, by providing technology alternatives. In maritime environments, these differences can be seen directly and indirectly.

The impact drones can have on safety considerations is sometimes difficult to measure, but easy to understand. Sending a drone to visualize a flare tip is far safer and more efficient than having a person climb up scaffolding. Drones are also able to enter environments and conditions (in order to conduct the inspection of an industrial chimney, for example) that would otherwise need to be totally shut down before a human could go into them, causing costly delays.