Zephyr: A High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle ...

Infoterra have a project called FarmStar that use normal, infrared and radar imaging tohelp farmers. They look at the height, biomass, nitrogen and chlorophyll levels in thesoil that the farmer uses. Using this information they determine both how much andwhat type of fertiliser the farmer should use to have the biggest yield. If the farmeruses too much fertiliser or the wrong type then the crops can die, which not only isvery costly but in poorer countries it might be vital to their survival. On the otherhand not enough fertiliser could mean the crops don’t grow. Using FarmStar not onlyreduces the amount of fertiliser the farmer will use to the optimal level and thus savehim money, but it will also help him have a larger output of crop and thus make moremoney. In one example, FarmStar helped increase output by ½ a tonne per hectare ona farm in France [20].63