Evaluation of UAV-based monitoring technique for detecting monolayer performance across farm water storage structures.

Murray-Darling basin is one of the Australia’s most significant agricultural regions, supporting major irrigation-based farming practice particularly for cotton crops. Farmers across the basin rely on water storage structure to secure water for irrigation. However, varying weather condition and rising temperature have intensified water losses issues. Evaporation is one of the major factor serving the water loss under hot, dry and windy environmental condition commonly experienced across basin, leads to reducing irrigation water availability and increasing operation cost through pumping water from basin.

To reduce evaporation loses, chemicals monolayers are used as cost-effective mitigation technology. Monolayers – a thin film, composed of long chain fatty alcohols that spread naturally across the water surface that reduces vapour transfer into the atmosphere. This technology is currently used to reduce the evaporation rate. However, due to the environmental factor such as wind speed, rainfall and UV radiation, their performance is highly variable, reducing the effectiveness of monolayers coverage.

Currently, monolayers application relies on static dosing method which limiting the real-time monitoring and appropriate amount of spot dosing, highlights the need of advanced monitoring system capable of assessing monolayer performance under varying environmental condition. In response, this research proposes the development of a UAV-based monitoring technique to evaluate monolayers performance across farm water storage structure. This study will investigate the possibility of integrating UAV- mounted sensors to detect the monolayers coverage, identify the depletion spots and developing a responsive re-application approach.

About this project

Farmers across the Murray–Darling Basin heavily rely on farm dams to supply irrigation water for cotton production and other agricultural activities. However, significant water losses through evaporation under hot, dry and windy conditions reduce irrigation water availability and increase operational pressure. Although monolayers can reduce evaporation losses, their performance under field conditions is inconsistent, creating the need for monolayers monitoring and management approaches for farm water storages.

This research investigates the application of UAV-based remote sensing technologies for monitoring monolayers on farm water storages. Different sensors, including thermal infrared, multispectral, RGB and near-infrared cameras, will be evaluated to determine their ability to identify variations in water surface with monolayer presence and depletion. Study involves mapping farm dams, developing spatial monitoring grids for identifying monolayer depletion spots, developing an automated UAV piloting approaches capable of operating across farm dams under varying environmental conditions. Particularly, assessing UAV responses during harsh conditions, such as high wind speeds and elevated temperatures, which commonly exceed the normal operational conditions where monolayer breakage occurs. This study will further evaluate how environmental conditions influence sensing performance and UAV operational efficiency, identifying suitable flight parameters for effective aerial monitoring and targeted monolayer management. Methodology involves reviewing previous studies, analysing historical evaporation and weather datasets from selected farm water storages. Understanding Australian agricultural practices on farm water storage systems and seasonal importance of stored water for irrigation activities. Secondly, testing sensors at ground level to establish baseline and evaluate their sensitivity to monolayer presence under controlled conditions, conducting UAV field trials under varying environmental conditions and different seasons to assess sensing performance and suitable flight parameters (altitude, image overlap, flight timing, and camera orientation). Collected sensor outputs will be processed using image analysis and spatial mapping techniques to detect monolayer distribution and depletion regions across farm dams.

Outcomes

The research outcomes are expected towards the development of an efficient monolayer monitoring technique for farm water storages. Supporting easier identification of monolayer depletion zones through UAV-based sensing approaches and automated weather-responsive system capable of adapting to varying environmental conditions that influence monolayer performance and breakage enabling targeted application of the required monolayer dosage only at depletion spots. Overall, the research aims to improve water conservation, optimise monolayer usage and improve irrigation water management for agricultural practice.