Remote-sensing and mapping of weeds in crops

Airborne remote-sensing has been identified worldwide as a promising technique for identifying and mapping weeds in crops, and potentially offers a solution to the current logjam in precision weed management: namely, the ability to generate timely and accurate weed maps. One of the main advantages of remote-sensing is that synoptic weed data can be acquired virtually instantaneously (within the field of view of the sensor), and a weed map generated within hours of data acquisition. However, because little information is available concerning the scale at which weeds should be managed within fields, the sensing and mapping technology has tended to dictate the resolution at which weeds must be mapped. This paper summarizes the work completed to date to investigate the use of airborne remote-sensing for weed mapping in crops, and discusses application of the technology in precision weed management practices. (C) 2001 Silsoe Research Institute.