MicaSense Altum: (Re)defining agricultural drone mapping
In crop health mapping, the best results often come from analyzing multiple types of imagery — like thermal, multispectral, and high resolution. Until recently, these data sets had to be collected and analyzed separately, requiring multiple sensors and complex processing — something that was inaccessible for many users. In the last year, we have developed a solution that makes the inaccessible, accessible — a single sensor that captures multiple data layers, is easy to integrate and operate, and provides data that crop professionals can trust.
Meet Altum: A 3-in-1 solution for agricultural drone mapping
Altum not only offers the multispectral technology you’ve come to count on from MicaSense, but pushes further, offering six calibrated and synchronized data layers that open the door to advanced analytics. Integrating a radiometric thermal sensor and five multispectral narrow bands (same configuration as RedEdge-M), Altum captures calibrated and synchronized multispectral and thermal data. With synchronized data aligning thermal and multispectral data layers is simple and can be done without ground control points. In addition, Altum’s lenses are the highest resolution multispectral solution available for drone mapping, allowing for detailed RGB outputs and advanced crop classifications.
Imagine viewing aligned high-resolution RGB, multispectral, and thermal imagery in one dataset. You could toggle between layers and indices without switching applications, screens, or files. You could even create new layers with a combination of thermal and crop health data. With aligned outputs from Altum, the possibilities are endless.
Unparalleled sensing in a compact package
In addition to offering three different types of data, advancements have been made in storage and radiometric accuracy. Altum offers high capacity USB storage, making switching storage devices mid-flight a thing of the past. In addition, every Altum comes with DLS 2, our next generation light sensor, featuring light calibration technology for enhanced radiometric accuracy and an incorporated GPS, simplifying aircraft integrations.
The ideal sensor for enterprise and academic researchers, Altum provides the daily usability and reliability users have come to expect from MicaSense. Whereas before they had to fly multiple flights with multiple sensors, researchers, growers, and service providers can now capture data for plant health, water stress mapping, phenotyping and more in one flight, with one sensor.
