As part of the prototype development of a yield forecasting and precision agriculture service for Chilean horticulture, we evaluated the use of an eight-rotor Mikrokopter for high-resolution aerial imaging to support ground-based surveys. Specific considerations for UAV and communications performance under Chilean conditions are windy conditions, limited space for take-off and landing in orchards, tree height and plantation density, and the presence of high metal contents in soils. We discuss our experiences with this hobby-grade UAV after two seasons of flights.

 

We also compared several free and commercial image stitching and orthomosaicing programs, including in-house software for pre- and post-processing. Criteria for comparisons were based on our requirements for application in the field, in particular, ease of use by non-specialists and rapid processing times on a laptop. Other considerations included value (features vs cost), technical support and hardware requirements. Mosaics were evaluated for their suitability for decision making in terms of accuracy of global and local features. Results for the different software are presented in terms of number of images, GPS accuracy, and processing times.