Plant health mapping comparison
Flown by Adam Shanks, Agriculture & Natural Resources Educator, Purdue Extension - Clinton County
Three plant health maps were compared alongside RGB to determine if additional sensors would result in a complete map for better decision-making. While the NDVI appears to showcase the most detail, we still need to conduct more research and ground-truthing. We will continue exploring different plant health indices to see how each tool fits into management strategies.
RGB: A true color image using red, green and blue wavelengths. It is an affordable option and the most accessible sensor for producers. RGB images are similar to what can be seen by the human eye, making data easy to interpret. 
VARI: Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) is designed to work with RGB sensors to identify crop stress and generate variable rate prescriptions. 
NDVI: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) uses a combination of visual red light and near-infrared (NIR) light and is a trusted indicator of plant health. It correlates with chlorophyll, and plants reflect more green light when they are healthy. 
NDRE: Normalized Difference Red Edge (NDRE) is similar to NDVI but uses a combination of NIR light and a frequency band called Red Edge. It can be a valuable index when monitoring health of mature plants because the red edge band can measure further down into the canopy. Corn, Soybean and Wheat Examples
Three plant health maps were compared alongside RGB to determine if additional sensors...
Three plant health maps were compared alongside RGB to determine if additional sensors would...
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