According to the website of the Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, the use of multispectral cameras placed on unmanned vehicles (platforms) (UAVs), unlike RGB cameras, makes it possible to see objects in the visible and near-infrared spectrum. As a result of image processing, users receive special frames that display the state of vegetation and soil, which are not visible to the unaided eye. Although the use of multispectral cameras is not limited to forestry and agriculture, it is agricultural holding groups, farmers, forestry specialists and ecologists who can most widely use this tool in their work.
Using regular multispectral aerial photography based on the DJI PM unmanned aerial vehicle (platform) (SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd), the studies of the spectral characteristics of the vegetation cover and its spatiotemporal dynamics are carried out at type 2 intensive level test sites in the ecosystems of key bioclimatic provinces of the Yenisey River Basin (Krasnoyarsk Krai).
The survey results allow the specialists to receive high-quality aerial photographs and important information about the state of vegetation and soil at a specific point in time. During the flight, the UAV operator can switch between a preliminary analysis of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and broadcasting a signal in the RGB range in real time, which makes it possible to quickly diagnose structural and functional changes in the underlying surface. A solar light sensor is built into the UAV body to obtain the most accurate data at any time of the day, which is especially important for obtaining adequate information on the NDVI parameter. Together with aerial photography, in order to rank the obtained spectral ranges of vegetation at the research site and interpret individual vegetation synusiae, in situ spectral analysis of plant samples is carried out using a mobile leaf spectrometer model CI-710S (CID Bio-Science).
In the future, data on the spectral characteristics of vegetation and soil in key ecosystems of the Yenisei river basin (lichen pine forest, pine riam (raised bog), northern taiga larch, flat-palsa bogs) will be associated with the Earth remote sensing, long-term data series of climate parameters (atmosphere-soil), emission and exchange flows of climatically active gases (greenhouse gas), in order to better understand the mechanisms of greenhouse gas exchange in the ‘vegetation – soil – atmosphere’ system and assessment of their dynamics under conditions of changes in climate and environmental parameters.
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