TopoDrone-100 Captures Near Infrared Mapping Data

DroneMetrex has captured high-quality near-infrared (NIR) mapping data with its TopoDrone-100 UAV. DroneMetrex said in a news release that this is the first time such high quality NIR imagery has been captured by a UAV.

High-quality NIR data is a tool to detect chlorophyll. Because chlorophyll is emitted by all vegetation to various degrees, experts from land and forest departments, agronomists, vignerons and pastoralists will be able to discriminate between health and vigor of vegetation and between different types of vegetation. The data collected helps determine vegetation stress, disease, pest infection, irrigation faults and nutrient variations.

“We say ‘unique high-quality mapping’ because the data are both radiometrically and geometrically unparalleled from a drone,” said Thomas Tadrowski, managing director of DroneMetrex. “From the one-flight sortie, TopoDrone-100 users are able to perform vegetation analysis mapping as well as accurate 3D contours/DTM mapping. The pixel resolution is unsurpassed. The data geometry is unsurpassed. The radiometric mapping is unsurpassed.”

DroneMetrex offers its Extended Spectrum Mapping (ESM) camera modification as an option with the TopoDrone-100. After ESM modification, the camera is supplied with three external screw-on lens filters. Simultaneously using the NIR filter and a high-accuracy L1/L2/L5/GLONASS/COMPASS (BeiDou-2) PPK direct georeferencing solution, the TopoDrone-100 captures three-band imagery, with the near-infrared band recording unparalleled radiometric quality and chlorophyll discrimination.

The high radiometric quality is achieved because DroneMetrex specialists perform the necessary camera modifications themselves, and have designed the external filters specifically to match the requirements of accurate, discriminative vegetation mapping, DroneMetrex said.

Burnt vegetation.

Burnt vegetation NIR.