A team of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has been testing the Swiss-manufactured eBee, or Electronic Bee in the skies above the Anuradhapura district, this month (September). “Usually, the clear sky window doesn’t coincide with a satellite pass,” says Salman Siddiqui, head of the organisation’s geographic information systems.
“With a near infrared sensor on board, the eBee can help us or farmers identify stress in a crop 10 days before it actually shows up physically,” says Siddiqui. Multiple images taken by a drone can be stitched together to produce a digital surface or elevation model in virtual 3D. These can, for example, help identify areas vulnerable to flooding.
Source: www.scidev.net/south-asia/technology/news/the-drone-buzz-over-sri-lankan-farms.html