Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Fox, Amelia A.A.

Committee Member

Dhillon, Jagmandeep S.

Committee Member

Varco, Jac J.

Committee Member

Lemus, Rocky W.

Committee Member

Pieralisi, Brian K.

Date of Degree

8-9-2022

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Agronomy

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

Abstract

Nitrogen run-off from agriculture have been linked to human health problems on a global level. Large-scale conventional producers struggle to redefine themselves as sustainable because reducing nitrogen (N) inputs without justification or validation may lead to severe profit losses. Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) sensing may allow for decreased N runoff. Failure to address this problem will exacerbate already excessive N runoff into the Mississippi River and beyond. The purpose of this study was to reduce fertilizer N input using sUAS technology to assess crop canopy needs. In 2020 and 2021, variable rate nitrogen (VRN) side-dress N application maps were calculated on early corn and cotton crops sensed with MicaSense® technology. The SCCCI and FENDVI VIs most often were highly related by SEq to early corn and cotton canopy N status. VariRite™ technology was successfully implemented in producer’s fields using VI calibrated imagery captured from sUAS.

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