UAV applications in Agriculture 4.0

ABSTRACT Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have potentially significant application in agriculture and, with the emergence of the digital farming era and Agriculture 4.0, this platform has become increasingly important. UAV imagery may improve or even replace routine data surveys, as well as optimize phytosanitary product application. High-spatial resolution imagery makes UAVs attractive for several applications where traditional satellite sensing is still unsuitable. With the significant recent development of data science techniques, UAVs have a prominent position in assisting farmers for more efficient decision-making and automating agricultural processes. Thus, this work addresses the main agricultural applications of UAVs into five major topics: topographic survey, physiological assessments, biophysical assessments, monitoring of biological targets, and spraying of phytosanitary products and application of bio inputs.