Aerial Technology (ATI) has announced they are expanding their UAS technology into the ag industry. The goal of the move is provide useful data that will enable farmers and produce growers the ability to make cost-effective decisions.

ATI provides data through video, thermal imaging, multi-spectral imaging and tailored software applications, integrated into their UAS technology.

Aerial Technology has teamed up with MicaSense, a firm that provides multi-spectral camera solutions and data processing and analytics. Using multi-spectral cameras, this highly sensitive application will capture videos and photos of crops remotely, sense different colors of light, provide data processing, sensitive mapping strategies and analytics of data gathered to determine crop vigor.

The information will assist farmers to track the health of their crops, detect irrigation problems, pesticide spraying needs, assess crop yields, identify insect invasions, track down cattle, and predict problems with enough time to correct issues before crop damage occurs. 

ATI co-founder Stephen Burtt explains, “The applications available to agriculture are endless right now. The analysis from data collected from ATI’s UAS technology help farmers and vineyard growers to make accurate, informed decisions never before possible”, Burtt says.

Walking the field to monitor crops is a time-consuming process and doesn't always allow a farmer to react to problems like a disease outbreak before it's too late, or before the costs to fix the problem have soared.