HARIT DHARA 1(1) July – December, 2018 Soil Health/Fertility Management

APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING IN AGRICULTURE

NISHANT K SINHA, M MOHANTY, J SOMASUNDARAM, SHINOGI K C, K M HATI, and R S CHAUDHARY
1ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Remote sensing is the process of acquiring information about 1950 Military Research and Development
the Earth‟s surface by measuring its reflected and emitted 1959 First Space Photograph of the Earth (xplorer-6)
radiation without coming into direct contact with the object. In
1960 First Meteorological Satellite launched
much of remote sensing, the process involves an interaction
between incident radiation and the targets of interest (Figure 1970 Skylab Remote Sensing Observations from Space
1).The most useful electromagnetic radiation in remote sensing 1972 Launch LANDSAT-I and rapid advancement in digital
includes visible light (VIS), near infra red (NIR) and shortwave image processing
infrared(SWIR), to thermal infrared (TIR) and microwave bands 982 Launch od LANDSAT-4 with new generation of sensors
(Figure 2). Passive remote sensing sensors record incident (TM)
radiation reflected or emitted from the objects while active 1986 French Commercial Earth Observational Satellite SPOT
sensors emit their own radiation, which interacts with the target 1986 Development of hyperspectral sensors
to be investigated and returns to the measuring instrument. 1990 Developing high resolution space borne systems and
first commercial developments in remote sensing
1998 Towards cheap one-goal satellite missions
1999 Launch EOS: NASA Earth observing mission
1999 Launch of IKONOS, very high spatial resolution sensor
systems

Figure 1 A depiction of processes involves in remote sensing.

MILESTONES IN HISTORY OF REMOTE SENSING

Year Milestones achieved

1800 Discovery of Infrared by Sir W. Herchel Figure 2 Full range of electromagnetic spectrum.
1839 Beginning of Practice of Photography
1847 Infrared Spectrum Shown by J.B.L. Foucault REMOTE SENSING IN AGRICULTURE
1859 Photography from Balloons
A recent report by the FAO projects that an increase in world
1873 Theory of electromagnetic spectrum by J.C. Maxwell population to 9.15 billion by 2050, which may need the current
1909 Photography from Airplanes food production to increase by 60%. Many efforts are underway
1916 World War I: Aerial Reconnaissance to increase overall production to feed the burgeoning
1935 Development of Radar in Germany population by increasing efficiency in production such as high
1940 World War II: Application of Non-Visible parts of intensity agriculture, efficient water use, and high yield varieties.
Electromagnetic radiation Agricultural production follows strong seasonal patterns related
to the biological lifecycle of crops. The production also depends

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HARIT DHARA 1(1) July – December, 2018 Soil Health/Fertility Management

on the physical landscape (e.g., soil type), as well as climatic procedure if it is carriedout manually because of the vast sizes
driving variables and agricultural management practices. All of the lands being estimated.
these variables are highly variable in space and time.
Moreover, as productivity can change within short time periods, Crop Yield Modelling and Estimation: Remote sensing also
due to unfavourable growing conditions, agricultural monitoring allows farmers and experts to predict the expected crop yield
systems need to be real time for higher productivity. Therefore, from a given farmland by estimating the quality of the crop and
use of remote sensing is indispensable in monitoring of the extent of the farmland. This is then used to determine the
agricultural field, crop & soil health, water management and its overall expected yield of the crop.
quality, and atmospheric conditions with emphasis to yield.
Identification of Pests and Disease Infestation: Remote
During the last two decades, remote sensing techniques are sensing technology aplays a significant role in identification of
applied to explore agricultural applications such as crop pests in farmland and gives data on the right pests control
discrimination, crop acreage estimation, crop condition mechanism to get rid of the pests and diseases on the farm.
assessment, soil moisture estimation, yield estimation,
Soil Moisture Estimation: Soil moisture can be difficult to
precision agriculture, soil survey, agriculture water
measure without the help of remote sensing technology.
management, agro meteorological and agro advisories. The
Remote sensing gives the soil moisture data and helps in
application of remote sensing in agriculture, i.e. in crops and
determining the quantity of moisture in the soil and hence the
soils is extremely complex because of highly dynamic and
type of crop that can be grown in the soil.
inherent complexity of biological materials and soils (Myers,
1983). However, remote-sensing technology provides many Soil Mapping: Soil mapping is one of the most common yet
advantages over the traditional methods in agricultural most important uses of remote sensing. Through soil mapping,
resources survey. The advantages include (a) capability of farmers are able to tell which soils are ideal for which crops and
synoptic view, (b) potential for fast survey, (c) capability of which soil require irrigation and which ones do not. This
repetitive coverage to detect the changes, (d)low cost information helps in precision agriculture.
involvement, (e) higher accuracy, and, (f) use of hyperspectral
data for increased information. As mentioned, there are many Monitoring of Droughts: Remote sensing technology is used
applications of remote sensing in the agricultural sector. Below tomonitor the weather pattern of a given area. The technology
is a summary of these applications. also monitors drought patterns of the area too. The information
can be used to predict the rainfall patterns of an area and also
Crop Production Forecasting: Remote sensing is used to tell the time difference between the current rainfall and the next
forecast the expected crop production and yield over a given rainfall which helps to keep track of the drought.
area and determine how much of the crop will be harvested
under specific conditions. Researchers can be able to predict Water Resources Mapping: Remote sensing is instrumental in
the quantity of crop in a given farmland over a given period. the mapping of water resources that can be used for agriculture
over a given farmland. Through remote sensing, farmers can
Assessment of Crop Damage and Crop Progress: In the tell where water resources are available for use over a given
event of crop damage or crop progress, remote sensing land and whether the resources are adequate.
technology can be used to penetrate the farmland and
determine exactly how much of a given crop has been FURTHER READING:
damaged and the progress of the remaining crop in the farm.
https://grindgis.com/remote-sensing/
Crop Identification: Remote sensing has played an important Atzberger, C. (2013). Advances in remote sensing of
role in crop identification especially in cases where the crop agriculture: Context description, existing operational monitoring
under observation shows some mysterious characteristics. The systems and major information needs. Remote sensing, 5(2),
crop data collected will be taken to labs where various aspects 949-981.
of crop including the crop culture are studied.
Wójtowicz, M., Wójtowicz, A., & Piekarczyk, J. (2016).
Crop Acreage Estimation: Remote sensing has also played a Application of remote sensing methods in agriculture.
very important role in the estimation of the farmland on which a Communications in Biometry and Crop Science, 11, 31-50.
crop has been planted. This is usually a cumbersome ***

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