This presentation by Mitch Maguire, a master's student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was presented at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute’s Research Forum on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Mitch is a 2016-2017 student support grantee of the Institute.

1. Improving Variable Rate Irrigation Efficiency
Using a Real-time Soil Moisture Adaptive Control
Model Informed by Sensors Deployed on
Unmanned Aircraft
Mitch Maguire
Department of Biological Systems Engineering
Advisors: Christopher Neale and Wayne Woldt

2. Research Topic
• Improving Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI)
efficiency using imagery from unmanned aircraft
systems to inform models.
• Why is this important to DWFI mission?
• Maximizing crop water use efficiencies and/or yield
• Working to improve high productivity irrigated
agriculture

3. Research Activities
• Implement real-time model-based adaptive
control strategies to determine site-specific
irrigation on production field scale (~160 acres)
• Inform models using low altitude UAS multi-spectral
and thermal infrared imagery.
• Previous research used Landsat imagery to
inform TSEB and WB models
• Weather, soil, and crop measurements are needed
to calibrate models

4. Research Activities
• Models require surface reflectance data to calculate
parameters
• TSEB (Two source energy balance)
• Fraction of vegetative cover
• Leaf area index
• Crop height
• WB (Water balance)
• Vegetation index based crop coefficient
• Fraction of vegetative cover

5. Outcomes to Date
• Last year’s focus was primarily on the data collection
process and initial post processing of data (image
stitching)
• Dual Sensor Integration
• Micasense RedEdge Multi-spectral camera
• (5 bands, 1280x960
• Flir Tau 2 thermal infrared camera
• (640x512)
UASUSA Tempest Aircraft

6. Outcomes to Date
• Flight planning and image collection and post-processing
Programmed flight plan
Multi-spectral imagery tie points

7. Outcomes to Date
• High resolution multi-spectral and thermal infrared imagery
• 18 flights during 2016 summer
• Multi-spectral ~ 8-16cm resolution (400-800ft Altitude)
• Thermal Infrared ~ 17-35cm resolution (400-800ft Altitude)

8. May 26th, 2016 ~8cm June 17th, 2016 ~8cm June 24th, 2016 ~8cm
August 4th, 2016 ~8cm Sept 8th, 2016 ~8cm Sept 19th, 2016 ~8cm

9. Red band reflectance mapNIR band reflectance map
VRI Field
Sept 19th, 2016
~8cm resolution

10. NDVI
June 30th, 2016
~ 8cm resolution

11. Canopy Temperature
Sept 28th, 2016
800ft Altitude
~ 35cm resolution
Temp oC

12. Summer Research Activities
• Weekly flights acquiring imagery over VRI and CSP fields
• (roughly 160 acres each located at ENREC Mead, NE)
• VRI - corn/soybean
• CSP (Flux Tower and Eddy Covariance systems)
- irrigated corn
- irrigated corn/soybean rotation (corn 2017)
- dryland corn
• Match flights with Landsat overpass
• Determine relationships between satellite and UAS imagery.
• Compare UAS imagery with Flux Tower and Eddy Covariance data
• Compare UAS imagery to NDVI and IRT data (VRI field)
• Test UAS imagery in models using Eddy Covariance systems for
comparisons

13. Tempest UAS

14. Outputs/Presentations
• Poster presentation 2017 Water For Food Conference
• Poster presentation UNL Graduate Research Fair
• Presenting at 2017 ASABE Annual International Meeting

15. Questions?
Mitch Maguire
Department of Biological Systems Engineering
Advisors: Christopher Neale and Wayne Woldt