See the stress before the crop shows it.
Multispectral survey capturing the light bands an ordinary camera discards, to show plant health, moisture and stress across a block while there is still time to act on it.
Multispectral, multi-band
Vegetation index maps
Crops, turf, vegetation
The bands a camera throws away
An ordinary camera records red, green and blue, because that is what an eye uses. Vegetation gives away its condition somewhere an eye cannot follow, in the near infrared, where a healthy leaf reflects strongly and a stressed one does not. By the time the difference is visible as colour on the ground, the plant has been struggling for a while.
A multispectral sensor captures those bands separately, which allows indices such as NDVI to be calculated across a whole block. What comes back is a map of relative vigour: which areas are performing, which are not, and where a problem appears to be spreading from, early enough that the response can be targeted rather than blanket.
What you get
Calibrated multi-band imagery across the surveyed area
Vegetation index maps, including NDVI, delivered as georeferenced layers
Zone maps identifying areas of consistent underperformance
Comparison against a previous survey where a baseline exists
Imagery aligned to field boundaries so findings can be located on the ground
Capture conditions recorded, because light and time of day affect comparability
How it works
Establish what is being looked for
Stress, moisture, stand count and disease pressure are different questions. Which one you are asking changes the index used and the point in the season worth flying.
Plan for comparability
Multispectral is only useful as a comparison. Altitude, time of day and calibration are fixed so that this flight and the next one measure the same thing rather than merely resemble each other.
Capture with calibration
The block is flown with a calibration reference, so band values are corrected for the light conditions on the day instead of being taken at face value.
Process and hand over
Bands are processed into index layers, zones are drawn where the data actually supports them, and results are handed over in a form your agronomy advice can be built on.
Common questions
What does NDVI actually tell me?
Relative vigour, not a diagnosis. A low-index zone tells you where the plant is not performing. It does not tell you whether that is water, nutrition, compaction or disease. That is a ground-truthing question, and the map is what tells you where to walk.
Do I need an agronomist to use this?
For anything beyond noticing that a corner is struggling, yes. We produce the data and the maps; the agronomic decision should sit with whoever advises on the crop. We would rather hand you something your advisor can use than make a call outside our lane.
How is this different from thermal?
Different sensor, different question. Thermal reads temperature; multispectral reads reflectance in specific bands. Thermal will find a leaking irrigation line. Multispectral will show you the crop responding to it.
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