Combining Machine Learning Algorithms with Earth Observations for Crop Monitoring and Management

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Agriculture delves into the transformative potential of combining machine learning algorithms with Earth observations for enhanced crop monitoring and management. These activities provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate plant growth and development, starting with optimal conditions and ending with abnormal, difficult conditions that trigger numerous nonstandard defense responses. In the face of ongoing climate change and its impact on global food security, the integration of advanced technologies such as digital imaging, satellite data, UAV imagery, and machine learning has become indispensable.

Recent advancements in machine learning algorithms, coupled with extensive historical archives and the continuous acquisition of earth observation data, provide unparalleled opportunities to monitor crop growth, health, and yield at various scales. By integrating machine learning with spatial datasets, precise assessments of crop conditions can be achieved, facilitating the development of innovative strategies to boost productivity and sustainability in agriculture.   

We invite contributions that explore the following themes:

Geospatial Analysis for Precision Irrigation: Utilizing GeoAI to optimize irrigation strategies by integrating geospatial data, weather patterns, and machine learning to enhance water efficiency and crop yield.

Spatial Data Fusion for Agricultural Insights: Methodologies for integrating diverse datasets (e.g., geospatial, weather, soil, and crop information) using advanced data fusion techniques for informed decision-making.

Smart Crop Monitoring: Investigating how remotely sensed data, coupled with ML, can revolutionize crop health, growth, and yield prediction.

Pest and Disease Detection: Applying GeoAI technologies such as computer vision and machine learning to detect and diagnose crop diseases and pest infestations for early intervention and sustainable pest management.

Data-Driven Climate Risk Assessment: Developing predictive models to assess climate risks in precision agriculture, helping farmers mitigate climate-related challenges.

This Special Issue aims to present high-level research that not only showcases case studies but also highlights the potential, limitations, and criticalities of integrating these technologies in agriculture. We particularly encourage submissions that demonstrate the economic and environmental impacts of these applications, contributing to the ongoing development of sustainable agricultural practices.

Prof. Dr. Gniewko Niedbała
Dr. Magdalena Piekutowska
Dr. Sebastian Kujawa
Dr. Tomasz Wojciechowski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• precision agriculture
• remote sensing
• artificial intelligence
• crop monitoring
• UAV imagery
• geospatial data
• smart farming
• data fusion
• machine learning
• satellite data
• pest detection
• climate risk assessment