ABSTRACT

As the drone and related technologies continue to evolve, there are many more applications now to exploit the potential of this technology in applied roles. Precision Viticulture (PV) is based on the existence of spatial and temporal variability within vineyards and is made possible by using four important geospatial technologies: (i) Global Positioning Systems (GPS); (ii) remote sensing, digital image processing (DIP), and softcopy photogrammetry; (iii) Geographical Information Systems (GIS); and (iv) digital mapping. In the example reported here, two off-the-shelf Ready-to-Fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (RTF UAVs), carrying two types of low-cost commercial miniaturised cameras, were used to acquire imagery of a small vineyard in Italy, at a number of different spectral wavelengths, to demonstrate their potential role in the provision of easy-to-acquire information of use to the vineyard manager. In particular, this study focused on analysing intra-vineyard variability to provide information about differential management practices. The primary intention of was to increase awareness about how such low-cost technologies can be of benefit to the vineyard manager and potentially lead to a change in some viticultural practices that may in the longer term reduce costs and/or improve the quality of the wine and increase profits.