10 Drones and Precision Agricultural Mapping (Mumm)

Student Learning Objectives

The student will gain knowledge of the concepts and framework related to the current and future uses of space assets and autonomous systems in the agriculture industry.

A Look Back at the Traditional Agriculture Monitoring Systems

Since the early days of humankind’s need to grow and harvest food from the earth, the value of information on crop yields, water supplies, seed stores, weather, and other data is key to the success of output for the next growing season. Currently, satellite and remote sensing data is collected and analyzed as it is used worldwide by the “agricultural industry to make decisions, understand changes, and estimate future conditions. Like forecasting commodity price data, researchers and industry professionals use these spatial data to forecast changes to conditions under different management strategies, climate scenarios, and market pressures” (Farmtogether, 2022).

The first agricultural revolution occurred in approximately 10,000 B.C. as humans shifted from being hunter-gathers to subsistence farmers and herders. The second agricultural revolution started about 300 years ago, which ushered in new agrarian techniques, including selectively breeding livestock and crop rotation systems. The third agricultural revolution boosted crop yield and improved plant technologies throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s (Epplett, 2021).

The Industrial Revolution was the catalyst for farmers shifting from the small family farm yields to the industrial output of the modern farm. This shift was instrumental in allowing the sharing of all recorded data with farmers in other states and other countries. The days of small farming and handwritten journals are gone and replaced with data and trend analytics to increase farm production to meet the demands as the population shifts from rural farms to urban and city life. As a result, the world’s population flourishes as “food is more accessible around the world, especially in wealthier, more developed places, due largely to effects of the Industrial Revolution and changes that have occurred in society” (Colby Community, 2018).

The importance of the agriculture industry is a hallmark of our current civilization as food security, nutrition, and availability are keys to a productive society. The “concern with ensuring social stability was evident with the creation of the League of Nations Health Organization, which was launched to combat epidemics in Eastern Europe, but eventually came to sponsor a nutrition program” (Colby Community, 2018).

The agricultural industry is undergoing rapid transformations as interconnected network sensor systems, automated equipment, data feeds, and in-depth scientific studies are taking food production into a technical revolution. However, this revolution is not without challenges as “technological innovation has resulted in substantive improvements in the availability, timeliness and overall quality of agricultural data, many technical and institutional challenges remain” (Carletto, 2021).

The agriculture industry is a linchpin to humankind on our planet and in outer space. The use of satellite data in the “agriculture sector is not new; organizations have been utilizing images from space to study land-use ever since the first satellite of NASA’s Landsat program started beaming back pictures in 1972”. (Measures, 2021)

The “difference between then and now is that the data we’re generating can be integrated into all the additional innovations taking place on the farm” (Measures, 2021) with the combined use of space-based platforms, machine learning, and several forms of autonomous systems now offer humankind the most efficient and effective ways to make agricultural decisions since farming began.

Outer Space to the Subsoil

Satellites are commonplace today as the world consumes GPS data on thousands of different devices daily, and Starlink launches thousands of communication satellites every year. The “advantage with satellite images is it is near real-time data and can cover a large area in a short time…they also eliminate the need for costly manual data collection and the potential for human error”.   (Measures, 2021) Historically, crop yields were only as good as the individual family farmers’ journal notated experiences and the Farmer’s Almanac. Now with new technology, farmers are merging intuition and expertise with data from satellites to analyze and make decisions at the field level.

Satellite imagery is widely adopted in precision agriculture because of its cost-effectiveness and accuracy. Helping agronomists everywhere save time, resources, and money. Satellite data collects detailed information to predict crop yields, including NDVI. Earth observation (E.O.) data can measure details, such as soil moisture, to help farmers support crop health. (Increase Crop Yield With Precision Agriculture Technology, 2022)

As depicted in Figure 10-1, overhead imagery reduces the need for higher-cost ground sensors or hands-on physical testing. One advantage of using drone-collected data is that it can be easily integrated to provide multiple layers of information in just a few minutes.

Figure 10-1 Autonomous crop data collection 

Source:  (CEMA, 2021) 

The Earth Observation Satellites (EOS) have been in orbit since the early 1970s. These satellites allow for multiple data layers to create soil maps, analyze acreage that has been tilled or planted, estimate yields, identify pests, and determine the nutrient content of fields. Farmers can now integrate all of this information with water tables, weather, and other data in a farm management software package to create precision agriculture far beyond the typical family farming in the past 100 years.

Figure 10-2  Example of integrated data layers accessible from a farm management system 

Source: (Jarman, 2018)

Figure 10-3 Example of the types of agrarian data layers stored and accessible from a farm management system 

Source:(Jarman, 2018)

Figures 10-2 and 10-3 above are examples of “online farm management platform that exploits computer vision and crop modeling to integrate EOS, weather, and field data to automatically assess each field across the whole farm for grass biomass and grazing readiness” (Jarman, 2018). Not only can the system be used of for crops, but the data can also be used for livestock management. Using the data collected as shown in Figure 10-4, the “fields in green are shown to the farmer as being suitable for grazing, while those in red require further growth” (Jarman, 2018).

Figure 10-4 Farmers can use the drone-collected data to determine where livestock can best graze

Source: (Jarman, 2018)

The Gridded Soil Survey Geographic Database (gSSURGO) is generally the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS). See Figures 10-5 and 10-6. These databases are a compilation of “remote sensing soil data product(s) that now includes soil organic carbon estimates which can be applied to a farm or ranch to see most carbon-rich locations as shown in the map above where darker blue locations have high carbon stock estimates” (Farmtogether, 2022).

Figure 10-5 Rendering of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, collecting global soil moisture data. Image credit: NASA 

Source: (Jarman, 2018)

Figure 10-6 Sample rendering of the USDA NRCS gSSURGO satellite gathering soil data 

Source: (Farmtogether, 2022)

Integrated Autonomous Systems

The integrated nature of agriculture data lends itself well to the evolution of Internet of Things (IoT). An emerging topic in the IoT arena is in the “agriculture field and IoT-based precision agriculture. IoT applications can range from water spraying from drones, soil recommendation for different crops, weather prediction and recommendation for water supply, etc.” (Roy, 2022) This emerging field is described as the Internet of Precision Agricultural Things (IopaT).

Figure 10-7 A diagram of a wireless sensor node. Image source: Inmarsat (2017). 

Source: (Jarman, 2018)

IoT devices linked to software and hardware tools allow for the rapid integration and digital data flow that informs agricultural machinery using the latest in-situ monitoring information and farming inputs – seedlings, irrigation water, fertilizers, and pesticides. See Figure 10-7. This information can inform autonomous equipment and be targeted with a square mile, providing accuracy to account for natural variability in growing conditions/crop production across a field.

Autonomous Ground Vehicles

Integrating space, drone, and IoT data allows for a plan to move forward with tilling, seeding, watering, weeding, and harvesting. Ideally, at this point, the farmer should introduce the next set of autonomous systems, which are autonomous ground vehicles.

An easily recognizable name in the farming equipment industry is the John Deere brand of Deere & Company, based in Moline, Illinois. John Deere revealed a fully autonomous tractor at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2022 that would be available for sale later in the year. John Deere states, “The autonomous tractor serves a specific purpose: feeding the world. The global population is expected to grow from about 8 billion to nearly 10 billion people by 2050, increasing the global food demand by 50%” (John Deere, 2022).

John Deere’s push for autonomous farm equipment comes at a critical time; “farmers must feed this growing population with less available land and skilled labor, and work through the variables inherent in farming like changing weather conditions and climate, variations in soil quality and the presence of weeds and pests” (John Deere, 2022).

Figure 10-8 John Deere autonomous tractor

Source: (John Deere, 2022)

The autonomous tractor (see Figure 10-8) can be networked and controlled via the John Deere Operations Center Mobile application, which

“provides access to live video, images, data, and metrics and allows a farmer to adjust speed, depth, and more. If any job quality anomalies or machine health issues occur, farmers will be notified remotely and can optimize the machine’s performance”. (John Deere, 2022) Deere & Company recognizes that IoT must also be secure. The Company has taken an active role in posturing its systems for cybersecurity, stating:

“We have made cybersecurity a critical component of our new machines. We have added protective features to our hardware and software and updated how new vehicles are engineered… every step of the development process and continuously evolving cybersecurity processes and solutions to minimize vulnerability to cyber-attack”. (John Deere, 2022)

Tractors are not the only farm equipment that is being automated; several other machines are being introduced, as indicated in Table 10-1.

Different platforms used in autonomous agricultural vehicle

Table 10-1 Autonomous agricultural vehicles and capabilities (Roshanianfard, 2020).

Figure 10-9 Transporter system types, (a) wheel-type, (b) half-crawler, (c) crawler-type (YANMAR, 2022), and robotic leg (YANMAR, 2022) 

Source: (Roshanianfard, 2020)

The farmer can integrate these autonomous systems into an augmented reality that allows the farmer to “see” the data to gain a greater understanding, as depicted in Figure 10-10.

Figure 10-10 An example of augmented-reality farming solutions displayed on a regular handheld device 

Source: (Jarman, 2018)

Automated Weeders and Crop Eradication for Food Crops

Crop eradication can take several forms and reasonings. Primarily, weeds rob crops of valuable nutrients and water, reducing crop yield. The weeds can be eliminated by sprayer drones that are “already being deployed for agricultural applications, and their load limitations are offset by their ability to make precise spot applications… Other technologies in development include precision flamers, lasers, abraders, or cultivators who can replace or augment herbicides” (Finkelnburg, 2021). See Figure 10-11 as an example.

Figure 10-11 The Future of Weed Control-Drone Precision Spraying 

Source: (Finkelnburg, 2021)

Weed control allows for precision application of herbicides, while crop dusters and other manual efforts are “… believed to be one of the least efficient agricultural activities. Precision A.I. estimates that more than 80% of herbicides end up wasted on bare ground, while another 15% of the harmful chemicals fall on the crops” (Singh, 2021). The Company is developing drones that use a combination of A.I. and computer vision to spray only the problem areas and avoid unimpacted crops. Precision A.I. believes that by targeting specific areas that need herbicides can reduce costs by as much as $52 U.S. dollars per acre. (Singh, 2021).

The weed control gardening assistance of autonomous systems spans from large industrial farms to small backyard gardens. Tertill is the inventor of Roomba, the long-standing and very successful automated home vacuum cleaner. Tertill can assist small farmers in helping “grow delicious organic vegetables – without all the weeding. Enjoy taking care of your plants – let Tertill take care of the weeds…Proven as effective as hand weeding by the Cornell School of Agriculture” (Tertill, 2022). See the Tertill in Figure 10-12.

Figure 10-12 Image of the Tertill automated weeder in a backyard garden 

Source: (Tertill, 2022)

Crop Eradication for Illegal Crops

Illicit drug crops also need to be eradicated, yet the requirements can take on very different aspects in the data collection and the employment of autonomous systems.

In dealing with illegal crops such as illicit drugs, remote sensing using satellites and drones are effective in surveying and gathering data for law enforcement use. Reports indicate that in June 2022, the U.S. State Department initiated a drone spraying program to “use multi-functional drones to remotely identify, then kill coca crops in Colombia – which are often protected by guards, perimeters of explosives, or even wild animals – with reduced risks to humans involved” (Crumley, 2022).

Figure 10-13 Overview of how drones could identify illegal crops from the U.S. Department of State 

Source: (Cox, 2022)

For many decades, the State Department operated a fleet (contractor and government-operated) manned aircraft intending to use “aircraft to spray a glyphosate-based herbicide mixture on coca and opium poppy fields, which are illegal in Colombia and are the vital ingredients of the cocaine and heroin trades… Pilots release the spray only after they have visually identified coca in the flight line” (Aerial Eradication of Illicit Crops: Frequently Asked Questions. (2003). Washington DC: US Department of State, 2003). However, these older methods of drug crop eradication do not offer the precision that autonomous systems can provide, coupled with a reduced cost and reduced risk to human lives as the “Department of State wants the drones because it says improvised explosive devices, ambushes, and hazardous wildlife are threats to personnel .”(Cox, 2022) See Figure 10-13.

As with other areas of the agriculture sector, sensors, databases, and autonomous systems show great promise in being more effective and efficient than their traditional human-operated counterparts.

Space Farming-Unlocking the Possibilities

Space-based platforms are changing how we grow food and live on earth, yet they are also evolving humankind’s ability to work, explore and live in space. The idea of growing food in space is one of the goals and a true necessity to make space travel viable; “almost half of the experiments being carried out on the International Space Station (ISS) revolve around biotechnology and plant growth in space” (Space Farming: How Does Farming Work in Space?, 2021) (“Space Farming: How Does Farming Work in Space?” 2021).

The ability to apply these zero-gravity experiments to current food production methods would change spaceflights as we know them today by “creating self-sufficient crews for the first manned flights to Mars, creating a garden on the ISS, or even just cultivating food in space to alleviate the adverse environmental impacts farming on Earth has on local ecosystems .”(Space Farming: How Does Farming Work in Space? 2021)

The Vegetable Production System, known as Veggie, is a space garden residing on the space station. Veggie’s purpose is to help NASA study plant growth in microgravity while adding fresh food to the astronauts’ diet and enhancing happiness and well-being on the orbiting laboratory…Veggie has successfully grown a variety of plants, including three types of lettuce, Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard, red Russian kale, and zinnia flowers (Growing Plants in Space, 2022).

Veggie is only one of many experiments that are focused on plant production. Another experiment is the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH); like Veggie, it is a growth chamber on the space station for plant research, see Figure 10-14. “It uses LED lights and a porous clay substrate with controlled release fertilizer to deliver water, nutrients, and oxygen to the plant roots” (“Growing Plants in Space,” 2022). APH is an automated system that uses “cameras and more than 180 sensors that are in constant interactive contact with a team on the ground at Kennedy (space center)” (Growing Plants in Space, 2022).

Figure 10-14 The first growth test of crops in the Advanced Plant Habitat aboard the International Space Station yielded great results. Credits: NASA 

Source: (Growing Plants in Space, 2022)

The United States is not the only country working to grow food in space. Russia launched plant experiments as part of the second Sputnik ship in the 1960s (Sinelschikova, 2020). The conquest of space and the human desire to explore the vastness of space is only limited by our ability to grow sustainable crops in space.

A vitamin space greenhouse refers to ‘Vitacikl-T’ – a titanium tube setup that allows a conveyor-belt system to grow vegetables aboard the International Space Station. The construction consists of a spinning drum with six root modules…The operations are performed in a cycle, one taking place every 44-66 days, and, for the time being, this type of setup has been able to produce bigger and better results than any other foreign-made space gardens. (Sinelschikova, 2020) See Vitacikl-T growing plants in Figure 10-15.

Figure 10-15 A picture of ‘Vitacikl-T’ Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) R.A. 

Source: (Sinelschikova, 2020)

Plants have been grown at the ISS since 1982. “Russian cosmonauts have been eating produce grown in space since 2003, and American astronauts began doing the same in 2015. Eating space-grown cultures has been allowed by law since the 1980s when scientists first determined their safety”  (NASA, 2022).

The data gathered from the plant lifecycle in space can be applied to everyday farming with the databases and lessons learned just a click away. Space agriculture also has the “potential to impact farming practices here on Earth – namely with higher yields, more efficient production systems, and closed loop nutrient and water recycling systems that make the most of every drop of resource at our disposal .”(Space Farming: How Does Farming Work in Space? , 2021) The lessons in farming from traditional family farms, industrial farming, and space-based farming are paving the way for humankind to realize the dream of exploring Mars or taking a vacation on board a galactic space station.

Walmart has entered into an agreement with Canno Electric Vehicles to provide “4,500 Canoo Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles (LDVs), which will be driven by Walmart staff as they fulfill online orders, with an option to purchase up to 10,000.   (Lavars, 2022). There is speculation that Walmart will evaluate the LDVs for autonomous delivery to remain competitive. See a rendering of the LDV in Figure 10-16. Kroger formed a collaboration with Nuro autonomous vehicles in 2018. Two years later, Walmart also entered a relationship with Nuro. Walmart has continued to step into the autonomous delivery space by partnering with Cruise, a self-driving vehicle company that operates in several large cities, including San Francisco, California, and Phoenix, Arizona  (Cruise Self Driving Vehicles, 2022). See the rendering of Cruise vehicle in Figure 10-17.

Figure 10-16 A rendering of the Canoo Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle 

Source: (Lavars, 2022)

Figure 10-17 Walmart partners with Cruise vehicles for additional robotic delivery coverage  

Source: (Cruise Self Driving Vehicles, 2022)

Several grocery stores, along with Kroger, already have autonomous delivery. Kroger said, “The role of autonomous vehicles in our seamless ecosystem continues to increase, contributing to meeting our customers in the context of their day without compromising on the quality or value while contributing to our long-term growth and sustainability goals .”(Redman, 2022)

Figure 10-18 An example of the Nuro vehicle Kroger uses 

Source: (Redman, 2022)

Kroger plans to expand the Nuro autonomous delivery service’s availability in Houston with the inception of the third-generation vehicles. (Redman, 2022) See an example of the Nuro in Figure 10-18.

Conclusions

The days of the family farm dairy being one of the only data sources for farming is long over. Even the days of limited information sharing from one town to another have ceased. The reality of obtaining, analyzing, and using multiple layers of agrarian data from around the world at the push of a button is now the agricultural arena reality. The lessons learned, generational experience, crop planting tips, tricks, weather, watering analysis, and numerous other data points are now available to all in the industry, from beginner farmers to institutional operations. Spaced-based platforms and various autonomous systems used today are just the start. The fifth industrial revolution is posed for humankind and machines to metaphorically dance together with few limitations.

The ability to use space data, aggregated with IoT data to inform drones on precision weed and water control, is the new reality of the agricultural industry. The world now uses autonomous systems for precision agriculture and does dull, dirty, dangerous, repetitive jobs that assist in increasing production while easing the employment issues.

The modern-day farmer spends more time with data, chemicals, and computers than dirt and seeds. The need to grow food for an increasing population continues to challenge the industry. Using technology to increase livestock worldwide or assist in humanitarian relief in underserved countries gives purpose to this technology far beyond the labor savings and scientific quest for knowledge. Humankind’s desire to reach beyond our planet and colonize other planets and galaxies will continue to bring one undeniable truth to light: agriculture will be at the center of all humankind’s endeavors.

Questions

1. Do you think human evolution will see the day when all agriculture, from beginning to end, is done by autonomous systems?
2. List three disruptive technologies that have altered the family farm in the past 50 years.
3. When designing an agricultural footprint, how would you take advantage of airspace and freedom of movement with autonomous systems versus manned systems?
4. Can agriculture and a nation’s food supply be weaponized? If so, can you name three ways the use/misuse of autonomous systems can neutralize this weaponization?
5. Describe data layers and how they can be applied to the agricultural arena?

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