Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

A Decade Of Unmanned Aerial Systems In Irrigated Agriculture In The Western U.S., Jose L. Chavez, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Wayne E. Woldt, Huihui Zhang, Christopher Robertson, Gary W. Marek, Dong Wang, Derek M. Heeren, Saleh Taghvaeian, Christopher M. U. Neale

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Several research institutes, laboratories, academic programs, and service companies around the United States have been developing programs to utilize small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) as an instrument to improve the efficiency of in-field water and agronomical management. This article describes a decade of efforts on research and development efforts focused on UAS technologies and methodologies developed for irrigation management, including the evolution of aircraft and sensors in contrast to data from satellites. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations for UAS operation in agriculture have been synthesized along with proposed modifications to enhance UAS contributions to irrigated agriculture. Although it is feasible …