Monitoring Fertilizer Effects in Hardy Kiwi Using UAV-Based Multispectral Chlorophyll Estimation

This study addresses the need for efficient and non-destructive monitoring of the nutrient status of hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta), a plantation crop native to East Asia. Traditional nutrient monitoring methods are labor-intensive and often destructive, limiting their practicality in precision agriculture. To overcome these challenges, we deployed a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a multispectral camera to capture monthly images of 10 hardy kiwi orchards in South Korea from June to October 2019. We extracted spectral bands (i.e., red, red-edge, green, and near-infrared) to generate normalized difference vegetation index and canopy chlorophyll content index maps, which were correlated with in situ chlorophyll measurements using a chlorophyll meter. Strong positive correlations were observed between vegetation indexes and actual chlorophyll content, with canopy chlorophyll content index achieving the highest predictive accuracy (average correlation coefficient > 0.84). Regression models based on multispectral data enabled reliable estimation of leaf chlorophyll across months and regions, with an average RMSE of 3.1. Our results confirmed that UAV-based multispectral imaging is an effective, scalable approach for real-time monitoring of nutrient status, supporting timely, site-specific fertilizer management. This method has the potential to enhance fertilizer efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and improve the quality of hardy kiwi cultivations.