Watching the grasses grow: using UAVs and satellites to monitor rangeland species composition

Abstract

Rangeland monitoring methods traditionally involve intensive and time consuming fieldwork. New sensing technologies (e.g. drones, satellite imagery) have the ability to rapidly collect large data sets at relatively low cost. These data are operationally used for greenness and cover analysis but due to the complexity of grass phenological response, the classification of individual species remains a challenge.
This paper reports on new research using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a multi-spectral camera to monitor the temporal reflectance changes of four grass species (Bothriochloa pertusa, Bothriochloa ewartiana, Heteropogon contortus and Aristida sp.) common in rangelands of north Queensland.