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The multispectral map projected onto the field, stress zones in orange
120m
height
5.3cm/px
resolution
75%
overlap
200ha
per flight

Sample telemetry · DJI Mavic 3M

Multispectral monitoring

The field read in five bands

With the DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral we survey up to two hundred hectares in one flight: vigour indices, stress zones, plant counts and prescription maps for the treatment.

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The point

Data counts when it changes a decision

The drone projecting its scan cone over the crop rows at blue hour
Four bands and an RGB camera in the same pass, positioned to the centimetre

The green, red, red edge and near infrared bands see chlorophyll before the eye does. A water or nitrogen shortfall appears in the index two weeks before it appears on the leaf.

The survey is not the point, though. The point is deciding where to fertilise, where to irrigate, where to do nothing. So every flight closes with a reading alongside your agronomist, or ours.

RTK positioning gives every pixel a centimetre position: the same cell of the field compares flight to flight, and the prescription map goes straight into the working drone.

The same frame

What the eye cannot separate, the index can

Drag the handle. On the left the field as photographed, on the right the same field read as a vigour index: patches that look like a slightly different green become zones to check on the ground.

Pivot irrigated field from above, with patches of lighter green
The same field as a false colour vigour map, patches in orange
Photograph Vigour index

Illustrative simulation: the index is derived from the colours of the photograph, not from a multispectral survey. A real survey uses the red and near infrared bands, which a photograph does not have.

The five bands

Why stress shows in the infrared first

A healthy leaf absorbs red and reflects almost half of the near infrared. When the plant suffers, red rises and infrared falls weeks before the leaf changes colour. The four Mavic 3M bands sit exactly where the difference is largest.

Healthy plantStressed plant

0%20%40%60% 4005006007008009001000wavelength, in nanometresreflectance Green560 nmRed650 nmRed edge730 nmNear infrared860 nm Healthy plantStressed plant

NDVI = (NIR − Red) / (NIR + Red)

Values at the four bands
CurveGreen · 560 nmRed · 650 nmRed edge · 730 nmNear infrared · 860 nm
Healthy plant12%5%36%50%
Stressed plant16%13%27%35%

Typical curves, not measurements of a field: they are here to read the diagram. The bands are those declared by the manufacturer.

What we do

The surveys

  • 01
    Striped fields from above, colour changing from plot to plot

    Crop status

    NDVI, NDRE and GNDVI indices over the whole plot, with variability within the field and between fields.

    every flight
  • 02
    Irrigated field from above with lighter patches in the green

    Stress zones

    Water and nutrient deficits, waterlogging, attacks under way: zones are outlined on the map and checked on the ground.

    with ground truthing
  • 03
    Newly emerged plants in regular rows, seen from above

    Counts and gaps

    Emerged plants, gaps and sowing density on arable crops, vegetables and young orchards.

    post emergence
  • 04

    Prescription maps

    Variable rate for fertilising, seeding or treatment, exported in the formats your terminals and our T100 read.

    ISOXML, shapefile
  • 05
    The multispectral map projected on the field, stressed zones in orange

    Change over time

    The same field at fixed intervals through the season: what responded and what did not, with numbers.

    seasonal plan

How it runs

From flight to decision

  1. The DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral hovering over the vine rows
    01

    Flight

    Automatic route over the plot, height and overlap set for the crop. One hour for two hundred hectares.

  2. A false colour vigour map of a field
    02

    Processing

    Orthomosaic, indices and variability map within two working days, in formats anyone can open.

  3. A farmer holding a tablet among the plants
    03

    Reading

    Half an hour at the table with the agronomist: what the map says, what to do, what to watch at the next flight.

Prices

Price guide

SurveyAreaFrom
Single multispectral surveyup to 20 ha€220
Single multispectral surveyover 20 ha€9 / ha
Seasonal plan, four flightsup to 20 ha€720
Prescription mapper survey€80
Plant count and gapsper survey€60

Indicative prices, VAT excluded. The reading with the agronomist is included in the first survey.

Questions

Before you write

How many flights does a season need?

It depends on the crop. On maize and wheat four flights at the key stages are enough to guide decisions; on vines and orchards a monthly rhythm from April to September pays off.

Do the maps work on my spreader?

Yes, in the ISOXML and shapefile formats that the main manufacturers' terminals read. They also go into our T100, if we do the application.

Does it need good weather?

It needs stable light: full sun or uniformly overcast. The onboard sunlight sensor compensates for variation, but with patchy cloud the data do not compare well and we postpone.

The other services

What else we can do

The first survey comes with the reading

Tell us crop and area. We tell you when and how much.

Request a surveyThe method