BY BENJAMIN ALLEN
Fall
2015
grainswest.com
19
2. Upgrades: Changing a camera or sensor
package on a UAV can be done anytime
in a farm workshop. The sensor packag-
es are typically housed in cases that are
easily swapped out in minutes.
3. Clouds: The simple advantage of being
able to fly below clouds means that an
image can be captured with much more
predictability. While bad weather can
still prevent a UAV from flying, the
chances of getting a high-quality image
are much higher.
4. Schedule: UAVs fly at your command,
with no waiting, and any area that may
need further investigation can easily be
flown over again.
All of these strengths boil down to one
word: control.
As we use imagery more and more to
drive in-season production decisions, we
are creating a new dependency. And crops
don’t wait. Clouds or no clouds, we need
to be able to understand what is happen-
ing in real time to react appropriately and
maximize yields.
On top of these questions, there is one
final issue that deserves mention: data
control.
Satellite data flows through the govern-
ment agency or corporation that owns the
satellite. It is then processed by computers
and made available for use. While this can
sometimes happen in a matter of hours, it
still represents a delay in the process.
UAVs, on the other hand, capture and
download processed data much faster—in
many cases almost instantly. This allows
for faster decision-making and an en-
hanced ability to correct problems.
UAVs allow for control. Control of
timing. Control of sensor technology.
Control of data. This control is the
primary justification for UAV use. Quite
simply, if time is of the essence, then
you don’t want to wait on a satellite. But
like all things, achieving a higher level of
control will cost you more money. That
confuses some people because the UAV
hardware is so much cheaper than satel-
lite hardware. But the satellite images are
resold many times over to multiple cus-
tomers, which lowers the imagery cost
on a per-acre basis to below the cost of
UAV images. So owning a UAV, or paying
someone to fly one over your farm, is still
more expensive than ordering satellite
imagery of your fields.
Read our next issue to see what it takes
to make imagery pay off, and we’ll look at
the question of why you would pay some-
one to take pictures of your fields!
Benjamin Allen serves as the Chief Reve-
nue Officer for Agri-Trend® and Agri-Data®
where he focuses on helping customers use
technology to produce safe food profitably.
UAV
SATELLITE
WHEN DO YOU
WANT TO GET
AN IMAGE OF
YOUR FIELD?
HOW
PREDICTABLE
DO YOU
EXPECT IMAGE
DELIVERY
TO BE?
DO YOU
WANT THE
MOST RECENT
SENSOR
TECHNOLOGY?
WITHIN A FEW
HOURS
IF I ORDER IT, I
WANT IT— NO
EXCUSES
YES, THAT’S
THE WHOLE
POINT
WITHIN A FEW
DAYS
I UNDERSTAND
CLOUDS
MAY MAKE IT
IMPOSSIBLE TO
DELIVER
NO, I CAN WAIT
A FEW YEARS
FOR UPGRADES
TO HAPPEN
IF YOUR AIRCRAFT:
1) Weighs 2 kg or less and you can
meet the safety conditions in the
Transport Canada exemption for
UAVs that weigh 2 kg or less, you
don’t need permission to fly.
2) Weighs between 2.1 kg and 25
kg and you can meet the safety
conditions in the Transport Canada
exemption for UAVs that weigh
between 2.1 kg and 25 kg, you
don’t need permission to fly.
Go to: tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/
standards/standards-4179.html for
more information.
CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS
