Aerial Identification of Individual Cotton Plants

Volunteer and regrowth cotton plants as well as non-reported cotton fields can harbor boll weevils, and hinder the achievement and maintenance of boll weevil eradication.  Improved areawide survey methods are needed to detect cotton plants before these plants become hostable for boll weevils.  Analysis of airborne multispectral images can identify cotton fields, but improved detection sensitivity is needed to identify scattered cotton plants that can similarly provide habitat for boll weevils.  We acquired airborne images using a five-channel multispectral camera, and applied the linear spectral unmixing technique to identify the likely percentage contribution of cotton plants, other crops, and weeds, or soil, to the spectral reflectivity of each image pixel.  Results of this study indicate that multi-channel multispectral cameras can acquire images of sufficient quality to detect individual cotton plants at an early growth stage, which will aid boll weevil eradication programs in efficiently identifying and locating volunteer plants.