Sentera, a supplier of drone data solutions for the agriculture industry, has released its Multispectral Double 4K Sensor, offering five precise spectral bands: blue, green, red, red edge and near infrared (NIR).
According to Sentera, the sensor enables users to collect visual band imagery and vegetation indices based upon the addition of NIR or red edge, including normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference vegetation red edge (NDRE).
Using patent-pending technology, the Multispectral Double 4K Sensor helps agronomists, crop consultants and growers identify issues with their crops earlier and with greater precision, the company says.
Sentera paired the Multispectral Double 4K sensor with a plug-and-play gimbal for the DJI Inspire 1 platform to actively stabilize the sensor during flight – regardless of drone speed, pitch, or yaw – and produce distortion-free crop health data.
“Within seconds, users can attach our Multispectral Double 4K to a DJI Inspire 1 and other select DJI drones and be scouting fields immediately, capturing high-value NDVI and NDRE crop health data. No additional tools or cables are required,” explains Kris Poulson, vice president of agriculture for Sentera.
The gimbaled Multispectral Double 4K sensor quickly clicks into the drone’s camera socket without adjustments. While the drone is in flight, the sensor automatically captures crop health data in a single pass and according to the user’s desired flight parameters. Whenever desired, a user may swap out the gimbaled Multispectral Double 4K sensor to another DJI gimbal, notes Sentera.
Besides the Inspire 1, the sensor also integrates with DJI’s Matrice 100, 200 and 600 drone platforms. The product will start shipping in May, says Sentera.
“Our intent was to create a solution for the agriculture industry that was both simple to use and radiometrically accurate,” remarks Ryan Nelson, chief mechanical engineer for the company.
