Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for High-Throughput Phenotyping and Agronomic Research

Advances in automation and data science have led agriculturists to seek real-time, high-quality, high-volume crop data to accelerate crop improvement through breeding and to optimize agronomic practices. Breeders have recently gained massive data-collection capability in genome sequencing of plants. Faster phenotypic trait data collection and analysis relative to genetic data leads to faster and better selections in crop improvement. Furthermore, faster and higher-resolution crop data collection leads to greater capability for scientists and growers to improve precision-agriculture practices on increasingly larger farms; e.g., site-specific application of water and nutrients. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently gained traction as agricultural data collection systems. Using UAVs for agricultural remote sensing is an innovative technology that differs from traditional remote sensing in more ways than strictly higher-resolution images; it provides many new and unique possibilities, as well as new and unique challenges. Herein we report on processes and lessons learned from year 1-the summer 2015 and winter 2016 growing seasons-of a large multidisciplinary project evaluating UAV images across a range of breeding and agronomic research trials on a large research farm. Included are team and project planning, UAV and sensor selection and integration, and data collection and analysis workflow. The study involved many crops and both breeding plots and agronomic fields. The project's goal was to develop methods for UAVs to collect high-quality, high-volume crop data with fast turnaround time to field scientists. The project included five teams: Administration, Flight Operations, Sensors, Data Management, and Field Research. Four case studies involving multiple crops in breeding and agronomic applications add practical descriptive detail. Lessons learned include critical information on sensors, air vehicles, and configuration parameters for both. As the first and most comprehensive project of its kind to date, these lessons are particularly salient to researchers embarking on agricultural research with UAVs

Recuperação de área impactada pela mineração de níquel com uso de espécies vegetais nativas do cerrado, Barro Alto, Go

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Campus Planaltina, 2015.Tendo em vista a necessidade de medidas que mitiguem os impactos ambientais advindos das atividades econômicas, como a mineração, o presente estudo teve como objetivo geral desenvolver estratégias para a recuperação de área impactada pela mineração de níquel com uso de espécies vegetais nativas do Cerrado. A justificativa para a utilização de espécies vegetais nativas encontra respaldo na maior capacidade destas espécies em tolerar ambientes naturalmente ricos em metais, além disso, aumenta as chances de devolver parte da diversidade vegetal perdida pelos processos de exploração mineral. A recuperação de ambientes pós-atividade de mineração é desafiadora, pois o conhecimento da ecologia vegetal de ambientes peculiares ainda está no início. Somado a isto, estes ambientes possuem topografia acidentada e perda das características químicas e físicas originais do solo que implicam em um processo de recuperação complexo. Visto isto, os objetivos específicos deste trabalho foram avaliar a cobertura vegetal proporcionada por distintos tratamentos com espécies nativas e leguminosas condicionadoras de solo e a combinação de ambos, como também testar distintas metodologias para avaliação inicial da cobertura vegetal. Tanto a implantação do método de recuperação quanto o monitoramento, são partes essenciais para o planejamento geral do processo de recuperação, pois subsidia ao tomador de decisões informações quanto à eficiência na obtenção dos dados frente aos objetivos pré-estabelecidos. Para este trabalho o objetivo pré-estabelecido foi quantificar a cobertura vegetal proporcionada por coquetéis compostos por espécies vegetais nativas, leguminosas condicionadoras de solo a mistura dos dois e um tratamentos controle, assim como indicar possíveis estratégias para recuperação da área. Para o monitoramento, após a semeadura a lanço destes coquetéis foi feito um acompanhamento mensal durante um ano e dois meses, com intervalos durante o período da seca e um monitoramento em fevereiro do ano seguinte. Para a análise da cobertura vegetal utilizou-se métodos tradicionais, manuais-visíveis e métodos de analises de imagens. Os métodos foram avaliados segundo suas limitações e eficiência para o objetivo deste trabalho, posteriormente sendo indicado o método que melhor se adequou a análise da cobertura vegetal. As análises da cobertura com o método selecionado indicou as espécies nativas com um bom potencial para recuperação da área, pois apresentaram melhor cobertura vegetal.In view of the need for measures that mitigate the environmental impacts resulting from economic activities such as mining, this study aimed at studying the recovery area impacted by mining nickel with the use of native plant species of the Cerrado. The justification for the use of native plant species becomes of great encouragement amid the devastation and loss of biodiversity in the biome. The recovery of postmining activity environments and challenging, because information on the flora present in these ecosystems are few and associated with this has topographic features and physical and chemical characteristics in the soil involving the recovery process becoming the most complex activity. Seen that the aim of this study was to evaluate the vegetative cover provided by different treatments with native species and soil conditioner pulses as test different methodologies for evaluation of vegetation cover. After application recovery methods monitoring and essential part of planning, since it provides the borrower information decisions efficiency in data collection across the pre-established goals. For this work, the pre-established objective was to quantify the vegetation cover provided by cocktails composed of native plant species, soil conditioner legumes mixing the two and control treatments. For monitoring after planting to haul these cocktails was made a monthly monitoring for a year and two months, at intervals during the dry season and December and January the following year. For the analysis of the vegetation cover, we used traditional methods, visible-manuals and methods of image analysis. They were evaluated according to their limitations and efficiency for the purpose of this study, subsequently indicated the method best suited to the analysis of vegetation cover. The analysis of coverage to the selected method indicated the native species with good potential for recovery of the area as it showed better vegetation