UAV Remote Sensing for Delineation of Cotton Root Rot

Cotton root rot (CRR) is a soil-borne fungal disease that presents a major problem to many Texas cotton producers. When a plant becomes infected with CRR, plant death is usually the first symptom to be observed, so there is no way to cure infected plants. However, the likelihood of infection can be greatly reduced through the application of flutriafol fungicide at planting. To save on the cost of fungicide application, it is possible to predict the location of infected areas in fields and apply on a variable-rate (VR) basis. Previous research indicates that the fungus resides deep in the soil and tends to stay in the same area of a field indefinitely. Studies have also shown that remote sensing can be used to delineate areas of CRR infection, and that VR application of flutriafol at planting is feasible. This study concerns using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to collect remote-sensing data at very high resolution. Such data may enable classification of plants and delineation of the infection on a plant-by-plant basis. Algorithms are being developed to produce a plant-level prescription map, which may enable VR fungicide application on a seed-by-seed basis.