Mapping Maize Planting Densities Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Multispectral Remote Sensing, and Deep Learning Technology

作者：Jianing Shen, Qilei Wang, Meng Zhao, Jingyu Hu, Jian Wang, Meiyan Shu, Yang Liu, Wei Guo, Hongbo Qiao, Qinglin Niu, Jibo Yue · 发表于：Drones · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.3390/drones8040140 · 被引用次数：20 · 研究领域：Remote Sensing in Agriculture、Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications、Smart Agriculture and AI

Maize is a globally important cereal and fodder crop. Accurate monitoring of maize planting densities is vital for informed decision-making by agricultural managers. Compared to traditional manual methods for collecting crop trait parameters, approaches using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing can enhance the efficiency, minimize personnel costs and biases, and, more importantly, rapidly provide density maps of maize fields. This study involved the following steps: (1) Two UAV remote sensing-based methods were developed for monitoring maize planting densities. These methods are based on (a) ultrahigh-definition imagery combined with object detection (UHDI-OD) and (b) multispectral remote sensing combined with machine learning (Multi-ML) for the monitoring of maize planting densities. (2) The maize planting density measurements, UAV ultrahigh-definition imagery, and multispectral imagery collection were implemented at a maize breeding trial site. Experimental testing and validation were conducted using the proposed maize planting density monitoring methods. (3) An in-depth analysis of the applicability and limitations of both methods was conducted to explore the advantages and disadvantages of the two estimation models. The study revealed the following findings: (1) UHDI-OD can provide highly accurate estimation results for maize densities (R2 = 0.99, RMSE = 0.09 plants/m2). (2) Multi-ML provides accurate maize density estimation results by combining remote sensing v...