Orchard management with small unmanned aerial vehicles: a survey of sensing and analysis approaches

Advances in sensor miniaturization are increasing the global popularity of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing applications in many domains of agriculture. Fruit orchards (the source of the fruit industry chain) require site-specific or even individual-tree-specific management throughout the growing season-from flowering, fruitlet development, ripening, and harvest-to tree dormancy. The recent increase in research on deploying UAV in orchard management has yielded new insights but challenges relating to determining the optimal approach (e.g., image-processing methods) are hampering widespread adoption, largely because there is no standard workflow for the application of UAVs in orchard management. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review focused on UAV-based orchard management: the survey includes achievements to date and shortcomings to be addressed. Sensing system architecture focusing on UAVs and sensors is summarized. Then up-to-date applications supported by UAVs in orchard management are described, focusing on the diversity of data-processing techniques, including monitoring efficiency and accuracy. With the goal of identifying the gaps and examining the opportunities for UAV-based orchard management, this study also discusses the performance of emerging technologies and compare similar research providing technical and comprehensive support for the further exploitation of UAVs and a revolution in orchard management.

Automated summary

Advances in sensor miniaturization have increased the popularity of UAV-based remote sensing applications in agriculture, particularly in fruit orchards. There are challenges in determining optimal approaches like image-processing methods for UAV applications in orchard management. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review on UAV-based orchard management, discussing achievements, shortcomings, and opportunities for further exploitation.