Asparuh Atanasov1, Aleksandrina Bankova1 and Ginka Zhecheva1
1 Technical University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department Mechanics and Elements of Machines, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria
2Technical University, Faculty of Shipbuilding, Department of Engineering Design, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria
ORCID 0000-0001-9898-8472
Atanasov, A., Bankova, A. & Zhecheva, G. (2023). Observation of the vegetation processes of agricultural crops using small unmanned aerial vehicles in Dobrudja region. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 29 (1), 176–181
The presented study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of small unmanned aerial vehicles used to assess vegetation processes and predict yield. The UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is equipped with a 20 MP camera with RGB spectrum and another 12 MP camera with NIR spectrum mounted on it. The flights were conducted in different light conditions throughout the crops growing season in the economic year of 2020/21. Classical yield estimation methods, which consist of manual field sampling of a limited number of plants, are time consuming and are often insufficient in gaining representative yield data. The information obtaining methods have been observed and tested. The application of innovative phenotypological technologies such as UAV, high resolution cameras, and visual computational algorithms allowed for the estimation method testing. The method proved to be time-saving and able to provide accurate estimation data, in comparison to the manual methods.