In recent years Precision AG has been a buzzword often used to describe the power of drone acquired NDVI maps and how they can help farmers and plantations to analyze crops and plants over large areas. NDVI maps show you the amount of photosynthesis in plants and offer a general indication of their health. But unless you’ve controlled for all possibilities, you can’t know if what the maps are telling you is good or bad. Drones & NDVI are one piece of the puzzle — you still need to get out there on the ground, touch the plants and assess the situation on a case by case basis.
In order to effectively diagnose what the issue is (as opposed to just where it is) and to use NDVI maps for management decisions, you need to understand the crop condition as seen from the ground. This is called Ground Truthing and forms an integral part of using drone maps in agricultural management. Collecting hundreds of ground records requires a system able to record the relevant data, combine it with images and video and record the exact location ideally on the latest drone map using your mobile phone or a tablet.
MapGage does just that: A simple yet powerful ground truthing solution to collect data, combine it with drone maps, and other relevant data such as history of the field, growth stage, fertilization, pesticides, and the plant growth environment. MapGage also offer a tool to dispatch farm workers to specific location, assign tasks and get instant feedback on tasks submitted. All data is synchronized across all mobile devices and a web based dashboard. MapGage can process drone maps but also integrates with all existing map formats and data sets. MapGage is Future Farming now!
