Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany

Unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) are widely used for yield estimations in agricultural production. Many significant improvements have been made towards the usage of hyperspectral and thermal sensors. The practical application of these new techniques meanwhile has been limited by the cost of data col...

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Main Authors: Shovkat Khodjaev, Lena Kuhn, Ihtiyor Bobojonov, Thomas Glauben
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:European Journal of Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2023.2294121
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author Shovkat Khodjaev
Lena Kuhn
Ihtiyor Bobojonov
Thomas Glauben
author_facet Shovkat Khodjaev
Lena Kuhn
Ihtiyor Bobojonov
Thomas Glauben
author_sort Shovkat Khodjaev
collection DOAJ
description Unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) are widely used for yield estimations in agricultural production. Many significant improvements have been made towards the usage of hyperspectral and thermal sensors. The practical application of these new techniques meanwhile has been limited by the cost of data collection and the complexities of data processing. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of wheat yield estimations based on integrating vegetation indices (VI), solar radiation and crop height (CH), all of which are characterized by lower cost of data collection and processing. The VIs, solar radiation and CH were calculated based on UAV-based multispectral images obtained from two separate plots in Southern Germany and validated with data from a third plot. We compare the individual and joint predictive performance of different VIs, CH, and solar radiation by contrasting the estimated yield with actual yield based on multiple linear regression and quantile regression. The best predictive power was found for a combined estimation with CH, solar radiation and a Normalized Difference Red-edge Index (R2 = 0.75,  RMSE = 0.53). This combined estimation resulted in a 15–20% improvement in the prediction of wheat yield accuracy as compared with utilizing any of the indices separately.
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spelling doaj-art-4d324e8681374e16aec6b19abed1d5342024-12-11T11:43:31ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Remote Sensing2279-72542024-12-0157110.1080/22797254.2023.2294121Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from GermanyShovkat Khodjaev0Lena Kuhn1Ihtiyor Bobojonov2Thomas Glauben3Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Department of Agricultural Markets, Marketing and World Agricultural Trade, Halle (Saale), GermanyLeibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Department of Agricultural Markets, Marketing and World Agricultural Trade, Halle (Saale), GermanyLeibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Department of Agricultural Markets, Marketing and World Agricultural Trade, Halle (Saale), GermanyLeibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Department of Agricultural Markets, Marketing and World Agricultural Trade, Halle (Saale), GermanyUnmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) are widely used for yield estimations in agricultural production. Many significant improvements have been made towards the usage of hyperspectral and thermal sensors. The practical application of these new techniques meanwhile has been limited by the cost of data collection and the complexities of data processing. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of wheat yield estimations based on integrating vegetation indices (VI), solar radiation and crop height (CH), all of which are characterized by lower cost of data collection and processing. The VIs, solar radiation and CH were calculated based on UAV-based multispectral images obtained from two separate plots in Southern Germany and validated with data from a third plot. We compare the individual and joint predictive performance of different VIs, CH, and solar radiation by contrasting the estimated yield with actual yield based on multiple linear regression and quantile regression. The best predictive power was found for a combined estimation with CH, solar radiation and a Normalized Difference Red-edge Index (R2 = 0.75,  RMSE = 0.53). This combined estimation resulted in a 15–20% improvement in the prediction of wheat yield accuracy as compared with utilizing any of the indices separately.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2023.2294121Drone sensorscrop heightmultiple linear regressionquantile regressionmultiple indicatorscrop surface model
spellingShingle Shovkat Khodjaev
Lena Kuhn
Ihtiyor Bobojonov
Thomas Glauben
Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany
European Journal of Remote Sensing
Drone sensors
crop height
multiple linear regression
quantile regression
multiple indicators
crop surface model
title Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany
title_full Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany
title_fullStr Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany
title_full_unstemmed Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany
title_short Combining multiple UAV-Based indicators for wheat yield estimation, a case study from Germany
title_sort combining multiple uav based indicators for wheat yield estimation a case study from germany
topic Drone sensors
crop height
multiple linear regression
quantile regression
multiple indicators
crop surface model
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2023.2294121
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AT ihtiyorbobojonov combiningmultipleuavbasedindicatorsforwheatyieldestimationacasestudyfromgermany
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