The acquisition of remote and close-range sensor data (e.g. thermal, hyperspectral), either via satellites, aeroplanes or - more recently - unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been already proven valuable for managed and natural landscapes. The application of UAVs in combination with optical sensors for crop and forestry status monitoring is a rapidly developing field that offers immense opportunities for plant health management at a scale and level of detail never before possible. The Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria is hosting world-leading programs focusing on vexing problems regarding the global burden of plant diseases and pests in commercial systems, as well as their spill-over into native vegetation. The University also has extensive capacity Engineering and Information Sciences relevant to remote sensing of plant health, in particular in departments such as Civil, Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering and Computer Science. The University of Pretoria wishes to capitalise on these capacities by developing capacity in the field of remote sensing of plant health. Such an endeavour will also link to developments in the chemical ecology, plant phenotyping and data science capacity in FABI.
Remote Sensing of Plant Health