A small uncrewed aircraft can carry a thermal camera over an almond orchard, turning canopy heat into an image detailed enough to feed water-use models. The instrument does not measure irrigation directly; it records thermal infrared signals that researchers use to estimate how much water the orchard is losing.
That distinction matters in a crop where a block-average estimate can hide local variation. The study focuses on thermal infrared imagery from small uncrewed aircraft, a way to collect observations at high spatial and temporal resolution.
From Heat to Water Use
The researchers integrate a physiological model with a TSEB model, using the two approaches to estimate actual evapotranspiration in almond orchards. The paper’s stated aim is to bring those models together with detailed thermal imagery, rather than treat a single image as a ready-made irrigation prescription.
The energy-balance approach is intended to map instantaneous actual evapotranspiration. For an orchard manager, that is potentially useful because a map could show where estimated water use differs across a block, though the supplied abstract gives no map resolution or accuracy figure.
A Map Is Not Yet a Set Schedule
The available abstract describes the measurement and modeling approach, but does not report validation results, water savings, or a recommended irrigation response. Those omissions leave the practical question where it belongs for now: how closely do the estimates match measurements and decisions already used in the orchard?
For comparison, Stanislaus County’s UC Agriculture and Natural Resources office publishes weekly evapotranspiration estimates for almonds and says they may guide the coming week’s irrigation schedule. Its county ET report is a working reference; the research describes a possible way to add finer-grained thermal observations.
The technology’s promise is resolution, not a shortcut around field judgment. Until the method’s performance is clear, thermal maps are best treated as another layer of information to test against block records and orchard conditions.