Applications of Unmanned Aerial Remote Sensing in Precision Agriculture

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the cutting-edge intersection of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) and precision agriculture, aiming to bring together a collection of contributions from leading researchers. The goal is to highlight the transformative role that UAS technology plays in enhancing agricultural practices through precise and detailed remote sensing capabilities.

The Special Issue will outline innovative methodologies, algorithms and applications that leverage the capabilities of UASs for precision agriculture, ranging from crop monitoring and health assessment to soil analysis and irrigation management, exploring how they can provide farmers and agronomists with critical insights and tailored information to optimize agricultural outputs and sustainability.

Researchers and practitioners in fields such as remote sensing, agronomy, environmental science and agricultural engineering will find valuable topics and methodologies to enhance their studies and knowledge in this rapidly evolving interdisciplinary domain.

The topics of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Crop health monitoring and stress detection;
• Precision irrigation and water management;
• Soil moisture and nutrient mapping;
• Weed and pest detection and management;
• Yield estimation and forecasting;
• Multi-spectral, hyper-spectral and thermal imaging applications;
• UAS-based 3D terrain modeling and mapping;
• Temporal analysis for crop growth monitoring;
• Integration of UAS data with ground-based sensors;
• Machine learning and AI for agricultural data analysis;
• Decision support systems for farm management;
• Environmental impact assessment;
• Drought and disease early warning systems;
• UAV flight planning and mission control for agriculture;
• Data fusion techniques combining UAS and satellite imagery;
• Case studies and field experiments;
• Climate change mitigation strategies.

The Special Issue fits within the scope of the journal Remote Sensing as it explores the integration of advanced remote sensing technologies with precision agriculture practices. In fact, unmanned aerial systems allow for capturing high-resolution, multi-dimensional data from agricultural environments, confirming their potential in revolutionize agricultural practices through detailed, timely and accurate data collection and analysis.

This Special Issue addresses how these data can significantly enhance agricultural efficiency, sustainability and productivity. As such, this Special Issue aims to contribute to the broader mission of Remote Sensing in advancing the science and technology of remote sensing applications.

Dr. Erica Isabella Parisi
Dr. Fabiana Di Ciaccio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.