Precision Farming with ENVI

Customer Challenge

Vintners in California needed an imaging solution to improve irrigation and nutrition management, make crop adjustments, and monitor disease and pest populations.

Solution Achieved

Susan Mahler and Paul Skinner of Terra Spase, located in Napa, California are using airborne remote sensing data, in combination with soil sample analyses, to help vintners improve irrigation and nutrition management, make crop adjustments, and monitor disease and pest populations. At harvest time, the imagery enables vintners to plan harvesting strategies for reaping fruit at a similar and proper level of maturity.

"We tried everything when we were looking for a software solution. What we really like about ENVI is that it is a complete package," Mahler says. "It also has a good interface, handles our archived, ".tiff" data and is competitively priced."

Using ENVI^®, Terra Spase analyzes four-band data (in the blue, green, red and infrared spectrums, collected from 15,000 feet, with two-meter resolution*) gathered during the growing period and near harvest-time. The pre-harvest data is processed to evaluate the canopy density of each part of a vineyard and is represented in a blue-green-red-yellow scheme. Areas of the vineyard that show up blue have a weak canopy or none at all; sections that are represented in yellow have a very dense or vigorous canopy.

Experienced vintners know that grapes, which are very sensitive to their environment, are influenced by sunlight levels. By using ENVI to process and visualize the data, you can determine where the canopy is too thin or too thick and grapes are being under- or overexposed to the sun. Vintners also can see where they may need to alter irrigation levels, modify fertilizer applications or prune vines to optimize their production and quality.

Vintners using this precision-farming technique also may be able to detect anomalies in the canopy caused by crop-threatening insect infestations, for example spider mites and leaf hoppers, or the presence of a spreading fungal disease, such as Botrytis.

"The vineyard owners that use the imagery we produce are able to see so much more than they used to," says Skinner, founder of Terra Spase. "People are very excited about its possibilities." Skinner's experience with vineyards includes many years of traditional analysis methods, including personally visiting vineyards to assess their growing potential first hand. In concert with soil sample analyses, for characteristics such as pH, nutrient content and texture, Skinner's use of ENVI imaging creates a unique opportunity for his clients to learn more about their vineyard, and optimize their crop production and quality.

Enlisted the NV5 Custom Solutions Group

Terra Spase wanted an automatic system to access data files archived from past remote sensing flights. They needed their solution quickly and couldn't afford the time and money it would take to create this batch process. As a solution, they decided to use NV5 (formly ITT Visual Information Solutions) Custom Solutions group, a team of application development engineers who specialize in software development.

"The Custom Solutions group was exceptionally responsive, even though we aren't a Fortune 500 company," says Mahler. "They quickly turned the project around at a very reasonable cost."

Terra Spase's requirements were determined with the help of the NV5 Custom Solutions group's development engineers. According to Amanda Malone, Manager of the Custom Solutions group, "Using IDL and ENVI routines, we created a custom application to read in hundreds of data files and process them automatically." The Custom Solutions group's developed batch routine process includes NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and isodata classification as .tiff output. "The resulting isodata classification images allow us to isolate individual vineyards for study," Mahler says.

"The Custom Solutions group went beyond the initial specifications," Mahler adds. "They included a custom GUI that makes it simple to modify color tables, define thresholds and other isodata parameters."

Benefits

• With the help of ENVI and the NV Custom Solutions group, Terra Spase has been able to improve its services and expand its business.

• By combining their depth of experience with new remote sensing technology and precision farming methods, Terra Spase is enabling some Napa Valley vintners to farm their land more efficiently, increase profits, head off disease and deliver a better product.