Multispectral NDVI • NDRE • NIR

See Stress Before It Shows: Multispectral Drone Imaging

Examples of vegetation indices, false-color composites, and real-world use cases for crops, waterways, and assets.

False-color composite of fields captured with a multispectral drone

🌱 Agriculture & Vegetation

Early stress detection, variable-rate management, and canopy vigor mapping using NDVI / NDRE.

NDVI map highlighting crop vigor variability — NDVI vigor map – variability across paddock

Red-edge vs RGB comparison revealing early stress — Red-edge vs RGB – early stress visible in RE only

Close view of canopy differences captured in NIR — NIR canopy structure differences

🌊 Water & Environment

Track algal blooms, turbidity, and habitat health using chlorophyll-sensitive bands and indices.

Algal bloom extent mapped along shoreline — Algal bloom extent along shoreline

Turbidity gradient in a river detected with multispectral imagery — Turbidity gradient detected in river

Wetland habitat mapping using false color — Wetland habitat mapping (false-color)

🏗️ Infrastructure & Land Use

Differentiate vegetation, soil, and built surfaces; monitor rehabilitation and erosion.

Land cover classification showing vegetation, soil, and built surfaces — Land cover classification – vegetation, soil, built

Erosion risk areas identified from multispectral data — Erosion risk areas identified

Mine site rehabilitation progress monitoring — Mine site rehabilitation progress

How It Works

A multispectral payload captures synchronized bands (e.g., Blue, Green, Red, Red-Edge, NIR). Processing software computes indices like NDVI (NIR−Red)/(NIR+Red) and NDRE (NIR−RE)/(NIR+RE) to reveal plant health and water signatures.

Plan flight for uniform lighting; fly above 60–120 m AGL for consistent GSD.
Use a reflectance/white panel and downwelling irradiance sensor for calibration.
Orthomosaic and index maps are generated in post-processing GIS software.