Remote sensing can be a valuable tool to assess field spatial variability and if flown on a regular schedule can also show patterns in crop development during the season. Various wave lengths of light are important in the detection of crop parameters, including visible, near infrared, and thermal. Image processing and computer enhancement can display areas within a field that relate to certain growing conditions before they would become obvious to an observer on the ground.
During 1998-1999 the Shafter remote sensing group investigated: 1) Early detection of mites in cotton, 2) water stress in cotton, and 3) correlations of mid-season remotely sensed images to final yield. This is the second year that these studies have been conducted allowing researchers to understand year to year variation in the measured parameters and validate agronomic models…