(Source: Bullseye Farms, Woodland, California imagery provided by Ceres Imaging) What does the future hold? The reduction in red and yellow areas in these water stress images - taken a few months apart - shows improved irrigation distribution uniformity in an almond orchard. For example, Resource Conservation Districts in California are subsidizing certain imagery providers due to the increased water efficiency benefits. Even governments and policymakers are coming around on imagery use for irrigation and efficiency. Irrigation dealers increasingly use thermal-based aerial imagery to design irrigation systems and check on warranty claims for equipment malfunctions. They also use analytics products derived from thermal-based imagery to measure the distribution uniformity of their irrigation set, saving significant time and making it easy to prioritize blocks or sections of the field.В Farmers are not alone in using imagery for irrigation management. (Source: DCB Farming, Merced, California imagery provided by Ceres Imaging)ДЇarmers are now using imagery to automatically create zones for variable rate irrigation as well. Some variations in water stress correspond to differences in typography and soil type, but a linear stress pattern like shown in this tomato field can indicate a drip irrigation issue. Some companies that also specialize in solving these types of irrigation issues will offer money-back guarantees to customers for whom they do not identify issues over the course of a season. In fact, itвЂ™s typical to find one 5- to 10-acre irrigation issue for every 150 acres analyzed. With the improvements in thermal image capture, as well as advances in artificial intelligence, growers have begun using imagery in a variety of ways.В Typically, growers who havenвЂ™t relied on imagery in the past use it to identify irrigation leaks, clogged emitters and pressure issues before they impact their crop yield. With the advent of plane- and drone-based image capture, some imagery companies have been able to generate highly accurate models of crop water stress showing relative temperature differences of 0.1 degree Celsius between plants. As a result, this is not seen as the best solution for thermal imagery capture by many experts. Also, the water vapor and other atmospheric interference means that satellites have low thermal accuracy and are error prone.

Thermal imagery from satellites has 50- to 100-meter thermal pixels, which are not very helpful for farmers. Satellite-based imagery does not provide the most accurate measurements of thermal radiation reflecting off plants.

One of the biggest reasons to explain the rise in the use of imagery in irrigation management is the improvements in thermal image capture. Because water cools vegetation, thermal imagery is useful for detecting leaks, clogs and even some other irrigation issues. Thermal image capture is used to measure crop temperature, which is critical in understanding crop water stress.В Thermal imagery captured from the air makes the heat emitted from objects on the ground visible, revealing temperature differences that correspond to crop stress. So, why has there been a recent rapid increase of imagery use in irrigation management, and what does the future hold? It all starts with thermal. For example, the acceleration of imagery for irrigation management among growers has been particularly swift, going from very little ongoing use a couple of years ago to as much as an estimated 30% of growers in California currently. Yet, most growers will tell you itвЂ™s only been in the past few years that imagery has become heavily relied on as a widely used tool. In 1972, imagery became more available when Landsat satellites began being used in agriculture. In 1933, British botanist Frederick Bawden used aerial photography to detect viral disease in potatoes. Imagery has been used in agriculture for longer than you might expect.

Types of imagery in we alone