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Applications of UAVs in Plantation Health and Area Management in Malaysia

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Applications in Agriculture and Environment

Abstract

The scope of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as “drone technology,” is increasing, with various applications in the field of remote sensing and environment. UAVs not only provide high-resolution, real-time data, but also have different applications for end users. They have become an essential tool for land surveyors because traditional land survey methods are expensive and time-consuming, requiring trained professionals and many hours to measure a single plot of land. With the advancement of UAVs, we can significantly reduce the cost. In this study, we have collected UAV data in Malaysia to acquire information about the plantation management practices, as well as oil palm health assessment. Our results showed that multispectral data collected from a UAV-borne MicaSense RedEdge camera is useful for identifying physiological stress in mature oil palm plants, which clearly illustrates stunted tree crown with low value of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Ram Avtar, Stanley Anak Suab & Manish Ramaiah

  2. State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geo-environment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Ali P. Yunus

  3. Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Japan

    Pankaj Kumar

  4. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Prashant K. Srivastava

  5. CGIS Enterprise, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Churchill Anak Juan

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  1. Ram Avtar
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  2. Stanley Anak Suab
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  3. Ali P. Yunus
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  4. Pankaj Kumar
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  5. Prashant K. Srivastava
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  6. Manish Ramaiah
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  7. Churchill Anak Juan
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Correspondence to Ram Avtar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Ram Avtar

  2. Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Teiji Watanabe

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Avtar, R. et al. (2020). Applications of UAVs in Plantation Health and Area Management in Malaysia. In: Avtar, R., Watanabe, T. (eds) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Applications in Agriculture and Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27157-2_7

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