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 ten days before it actually shows up physically,” he adds. 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: http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/09/features/drone-buzz-sri-lankan-farms/