IoT‐Enabled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: An Emerging Trend in Precision Farming

Over the last decade, smart farming (SF) and climate smart agriculture (CSA) have benefited greatly from the integration of cutting-edge technologies into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) platforms. In the coming years, smart farming will be practised all over the world. These smart farming technologies provide the ability to simultaneously reduce operational expenses while increasing agricultural productivityProductivity and the effectiveness of inputs. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have an immense potential for SF and CSA. Drones are the most used UAV platform in agriculture for low-altitude remote sensing. This chapter presents a useful guide on technical characterizations of popular UAV types and on-board sensors that are best appropriate for various agricultural applications utilized in SF and CSA. An effort has been made in this chapter to examine the categories of sensors appropriate for SF and CSA, as well as prospective needs and difficulties in using UAVs in smart agriculture. The UAV technology can be used for spraying the pesticides, crop monitoring, weed mapping, water stress detection, irrigation scheduling, and precision input application in agriculture. However, the affordability and simplicity of operating UAVs for smart farming may be significant factors in encouraging farmers to employ them. UAVs are typically operated using radio waves by remote controllers.