Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1432253
ALMOND ORCHARD 2025 GOAL role in better understanding distribution uniformity to identify problem spots and inconsistencies so swift corrective actions can be taken. A limitation of current drone technology, however, is applying it at a commercial scale. Most drones can only fly 200-250 acres per flight due to having an elevation ceiling of 400 feet (120 meters) by FAA, requiring tedious amounts of time and labor to cover larger acreages. For that reason, part of the T-REX project includes Alfonso Torres-Rua, assistant professor at Utah State University, and part of the AggieAir UAV Research Program 3 , who is operating a fixed-wing drone with a wingspan of 10 feet flying at an altitude of 450 meters above the ground (under special permission from FAA). This experimental drone is flying over four times higher than a normal drone and for about five times longer. This enables the team to cover a much larger area of 0.6 square miles in a period of 20 minutes while carrying up to 20 pounds of cameras. Torres-Rua is hoping to demonstrate the capabilities of this next-generation drone technology for almond water use and stress and evaluate if the costs could be lowered to the point where it is economical for almond growers who want to implement it in the future. He estimates that based on technology advancements, like this experimental drone, drone applications will be able to get the costs down to $1 per acre which he suspects is the "magic number" for widespread adoption. "Our goal is to estimate almond tree water use to the level of accuracy of within one millimeter per day," said Torres-Rua. "We were able to do that in grapes (through GRAPEX), so we are confident that we can do the same in almonds." Once that goal is achieved, the developed models along with this drone data can be used to regularly calculate water stress on an individual tree level with confidence. All of these complex measurements via drones and on the ground are timed with the overpass of the Landsat satellite. On this day in the Olam ranch, Landsat 8, the most recent satellite of the NASA Landsat Program, would pass overhead from space at exactly 11:39 a.m. By having all of these measurements occurring at the same time, the research team could directly compare their data and models to the satellite data and increase the confidence of their estimates of almond water use at the tree, acre, and orchard scales. A vision for the future As the models are refined and validated, ABC will work with both the public and the private sector to accelerate adoption of the latest results to offer growers the best technology available. "We're really excited about this T-REX project," said Zac Ellis. "I've seen a lot of research stay in its own silo and because there was no visibility it would never reach a real solution. This is different. I've never seen something this collaborative." Early in the project, the team of researchers and collaborators had a visioning session around what is possible in almond water use efficiency in the next 20 years. That vision includes the ability to sense water stress and optimize irrigation down to the individual tree level. That vision may still be years from becoming a reality, but this project is a big step forward. 3 AggieAir UAV Research Program https://uwrl.usu.edu/aggieair/ 4 Irrigation Improvement Continuum https://bit.ly/3kLN5Ct "I've seen a lot of research stay in its own silo and because there was no visibility it would never reach a real solution. This is different. I've never seen something this collaborative." — Zac Ellis For the latest information about irrigation management developed from 40 years of research, download the Irrigation Improvement Continuum. 4 This article is the first of a new series developed by the Research and Innovation team at the Almond Board of California. The series will look at developing technology that isn't always grower-ready but is in the research and development stages. Keep an eye out for more precision ag development stories in future How We Grow editions. A weather tower is equipped to get ET readings several feet above the orchard canopy. This is the second layer of information from the ground up. Almond Board of California 12