Farmers use drones to determine how sweaty their avocado trees are

While you can measure how sweaty you are by the size of your pit spots, for avocado growers understanding how much water their trees are losing on a hot day can be a challenge. little more difficult to quantify.

Key points:Thermal imaging and drones calculate how much water trees lose through transpirationTechnology helps farmers know how much water to use to produce better, longer-lasting fruitTrial is one of 50 different projects being tested in the region

But a trial of drone technology in Bundaberg, Queensland hopes to change that by mapping how much water orchards shed (or transpire, as it is called in plants). The ultimate goal is to be able to apply less water and produce better fruit.

Just like with humans, the amount of tree transpiration affects their overall hydration and health, which also affects fruit size, yield, and quality.

Producer Clay Donovan participated in the trial a year ago.

"What got us involved was the interest in knowing if the irrigation we put in place is actually doing its job," he said.

"It's just to make sure that we let's not waste too much water when we can and try to get the best value for money."

By understanding which trees sweat the most, Mr. Donovan could change its way of irrigating. In turn, it produces better fruit.

"Tree health is probably the main [thing] and trying to get less variation in fruit size," said he said about the essay.

Avocado Macadamia grower Clay Donovan hopes the trial will help reduce irrigation of his crops. (ABC Rural: Kallee Buchanan)

Sky Sweat Measurement

The drone flying over Mr. Donovan's orchards used thermal imaging to take the temperature of the trees and compared that to ambient temperature, creating a map of "hot spots" where more irrigation might be needed.

Drone pilot Jamin Fleming says there is a growing demand for data from drones. (ABC Rural: Kallee Buchanan)

Pilot J amin Fleming partnered with South African agtech company Aerobotics, which developed the mapping technology for the trial.

"We can identify where the problems are in orchards with water issues, blockages…just using t it buzzes,” he said.

"From a certain height, it looks at each individual tree, taking data from that tree using...