The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $727,944 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) project grant to Tennessee State University. The project aims to improve high-resolution crop evapotranspiration (ET) estimation using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) imagery. Specific objectives include: 1) establishing empirical equations for temperature estimation of fully irrigated canopies and dry, bare agricultural soil, 2) designing and constructing automated reference surfaces for UAS data acquisition, 3) evaluating the use of these reference surfaces for ET estimation, and 4) developing UAS-imagery machine learning models for ET estimation. The 4-year project will conduct field experiments in Tennessee and Texas to collect data to support these research goals. The project strengthens research, education, and extension capabilities through partnerships between minority-serving and other institutions.
Generated 3/4/25, 6:19 AM