Monitoring flowering phenology of apple trees using remote sensing techniques

Abstract

The apple orchards with large land extensions represent a challenge in monitoring crops. Remote sensing techniques can analyze and obtain information on the general state of crops using multispectral data and vegetation indexes. This study aimed to analyze the flowering phenological of three apple orchards using images from Sentinel-2 satellite and a Phantom 4 pro/pro+ drone in three apple-producing regions. The images were processed using ArcGIS software and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The results were statistically analyzed through discriminant to classify and identify significant differences between the flowering phenological stages. NDVI maps were obtained for the study areas, and the NDVI values ranged from 0.09 to 0.26 and from 0.22 to 0.35 for drone and satellite images, respectively. It was possible to differentiate between two groups of phenological stages in the apple orchards (pre-bloom and post-bloom). The information generated can be a complementary tool for monitoring the apple tree crop.

Keywords

• apple tree
• crop monitoring
• drone
• flowering phenology
• satellite