Drones in Agriculture and Forestry

Aims and Scopes

Drones have been transforming the way we work in almost every way, and their applications are only limited by our imaginations. In particular, in the fields of agriculture and forestry, the number of applications of drones dominates all other possible applications. This Section will provide a forum which can be used to exchange the latest research and application results related to the use of drones in agriculture and forestry. The goal of this Section is to publish articles that concern the current state-of-the-art research, recent research, and future directions for the innovative use of drones in agriculture and forestry. The scopes are broad and are listed as—but not limited to—the following:

• Personal remote sensing (PRS);
• Smart farming (crops, dairy, grazing, etc.);
• Site-specific management (SSM) of water, pesticide, fertilizer, etc.;
• Integrated pest management (IPM);
• Phenotyping;
• Yield prediction;
• Environmental emissions (GHG, dust, etc.);
• Water-saving agriculture, irrigation management;
• Applications (crop dusting, seeding, etc.);
• Soil moisture, soil health, soil variability, and carbon-negative practices;
• Smart sensing and smart big data analytics. 

• Forest fire sensing and management;
• Precision forestry and forestry management;
• Forest mapping and biodiversity;
• Mapping of canopy distribution and gaps;
• Capturing forestry informatics (biomass, stockpile, fuel load, etc.);
• 3D mapping for carbon storage;
• Tree planting and reforesting with drones;
• Applications (surface fertilizer, growth stimulant, pesticides, etc.);
• Monitoring illegal logging and quarrying (forest security);
• Combating deforestation and desert forestation dynamics;
• Smart sensing and smart big data analytics.