Classification of airborne multispectral imagery to quantify common vole impacts on an agricultural field

[EN] BACKGROUND: The common vole (Microtus arvalis) is a very destructive agricultural pest. Particularly in Europe, its monitoring is essential not only for adequate management and outbreak forecasting, but also for accurately determining the vole's impact on affected fields. In this study, se...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Plaza Martín, Javier, Sánchez Martín, Nilda, García Ariza, Carmen, Pérez Sánchez, Rodrigo, Charfolé de Juan, José Francisco, Caminero Saldaña, Constantino
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repository:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/163119
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/163119
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Alfalfa
Classification
Microtus arvalis Pallas
Multispectral
NDVI
UAS
Drones
Topillo campesino
Clasificación
2506.16 Teledetección (Geología)
3103.06 Cultivos de Campo
3308.08 Tecnología del Control de Roedores
Description
Summary:[EN] BACKGROUND: The common vole (Microtus arvalis) is a very destructive agricultural pest. Particularly in Europe, its monitoring is essential not only for adequate management and outbreak forecasting, but also for accurately determining the vole's impact on affected fields. In this study, several alternatives for estimating the damage to alfalfa fields by voles through unmanned vehicle systems (UASs) and multispectral cameras are presented. Currently, both the farmers and agencies involved in the integrated pest management (IPM) programs of voles do not have sufficiently precise methods for accurate assessments of the real impact to crops. RESULTS: Overall, the four multispectral classification methods presented showed similar performances. However, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)-based segmentation exhibited the most accurate and reliable appraisal of the affected areas. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the simplest method, which was based on an automatic classification, provided results similar to those obtained by more complex methods. In addition, a significant direct relationship was found between the number of active burrows and damage to the alfalfa canopy. CONCLUSION: Unmanned vehicle systems, combined with multispectral imagery classification, are an effective and easily transferable methodology for the assessment and monitoring of common vole damage to agricultural plots. This combination of methods facilitates decision-making processes for IPM control strategies against this pest.