Objective Currently the science of the remote sensing community does not meet the stringent requirements of sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, where quasi-real-time decision making of irrigation management, fertilizer application and disease detection is needed. The two highlighted obstacles that the remote sensing community needs to overcome are: a) the high cost and operational limitations of airborne remote sensing for short turnaround time needed for agricultural applications, and b) the lack of detailed vegetation canopy structural information that can be used to bridge the gap between spectroscopic methods with 3D radiative transfer models. Recent remote sensing advancements have addressed these challenges using two recently-available, high-potential technological developments: a) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) coupled with microsensors, and b) Ground-based Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems. The introduction of cost-effective UAV-based systems allows us to characterize individual trees within forested and agricultural ecosystems thereby highlighting novel scientific issues at new spatial scales. Such issues can potentially be addressed with terrestrial LiDAR systems that allow the characterization of spatial organization of tree crown elements from a ground-level perspective. As such, this project aims to couple the use of UAV-based imagery with ground-level LiDAR data to characterize important biophysical processes at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, suitable for precision, and sustainable forestry/agricultural monitoring. The project will investigate the impact of vegetation architectural parameters, retrieved using a ground-based LiDAR scanner, on the quantitative estimation of physiological indicators of stress (i.e. evapotranspiration, and leaf chlorophyll content) using UAV-based spectral imagery and 3D radiative transfer modeling. Fields of science agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturesustainable agricultureengineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensingengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robotsdrones Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF - Marie Curie Action: "International Incoming Fellowships" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF) Coordinator AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS EU contribution € 154 417,00 Address CALLE SERRANO 117 28006 Madrid Spain See on map Region Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Carlos Manuel Abad Ruiz (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data