Crop Growth Monitoring with Drone-Borne DInSAR
Gian Oré, Marlon S. Alcântara, Juliana A. Góes, Luciano P. Oliveira, Jhonnatan Yepes, Bárbara Teruel, Valquíria Castro, Leonardo S. Bins, Felicio Castro, Dieter Luebeck, Laila F. Moreira, Lucas H. Gabrielli, Hugo E. Hernández‐Figueroa
Abstract
Accurate, high-resolution maps of for crop growth monitoring are strongly needed by precision agriculture. The information source for such maps has been supplied by satellite-borne radars and optical sensors, and airborne and drone-borne optical sensors. This article presents a novel methodology for obtaining growth deficit maps with an accuracy down to 5 cm and a spatial resolution of 1 m, using differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR). Results are presented with measurements of a drone-borne DInSAR operating in three bands—P, L and C. The decorrelation time of L-band for coffee, sugar cane and corn, and the feasibility for growth deficit maps generation are discussed. A model is presented for evaluating the growth deficit of a corn crop in L-band, starting with 50 cm height. This work shows that the drone-borne DInSAR has potential as a complementary tool for precision agriculture.