Story by Ann Y. Robinson
From predicting crop losses due to defoliation of corn plants after a hailstorm to estimating soybean grain yield, the Remote Sensing and Imaging Lab at Iowa State University is strengthening researchers’ ability to use the latest innovations in precision agriculture.
Launched in 2024, the lab is led by Mark Licht (’00 agronomy, agricultural extension education, ’03 MS soil science, ’15 PhD crop production and physiology), associate professor of agronomy, and Fernando Marcos (’20 MS plant pathology, ’26 PhD crop production and physiology), a research scientist in agronomy.
From traditional to digital field research
Marcos’ work in private industry influenced his mindset of, “How can we enhance and automate traditional field research through the latest digital technologies?” At Iowa State, he is inspired to use these tools in partnerships to conduct research that is more efficient, effective and precise.
The RSIL offers a menu of services that includes deploying drones with advanced sensors to collect detailed information from fields. The unmanned aerial vehicles can gather extensive data from multiple locations at the same time – often in a matter of hours versus what used to take several days, Marcos says. When the data rolls in, the lab processes, stores and displays complex outcomes on a user-friendly website.
They’ve retrofitted a Suburban with charging stations for drone batteries and software that allows them to process data remotely in the field. The software was developed by Natan Seraglio (’25 MS crop production and physiology), a doctoral student who collects and processes data for the lab.
Examples of the RSIL’s projects include using LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and multi-spectral imagery to evaluate disease impacts on crop health and growth across eight Midwest states. They’re also creating three-dimensional models from LiDAR to improve crop loss estimations following weather events.
Supportive partnerships
The RSIL supports more than 10 Iowa State faculty groups through fee-for-service or grant partnerships. Most partners would not have adequate funding to purchase their own drones, remote sensing and visualization tools – or the in-house expertise or terabytes of data storage to make the best use of the tools’ capabilities.
Marcos is starting to train peers and students to use the lab’s technologies. The team anticipates this will become a bigger part of their portfolio.
“We’re building momentum as people see the value of what the RSIL can offer. It’s exciting to see colleagues publish papers that use high-quality data we’ve helped them gather, analyze and manage,” Licht says.