"THE PROPOSED PROJECT IDENTIFIES PHOTONIC-BASED TOOLS AS KEY ELEMENTS TO IMPROVE CROP MONITORING IN ORDER TO DETECT AREAS WITHIN PLANTATIONS THAT, FOR VARIOUS REASONS, ARE NOT AT THEIR OPTIMUM LEVEL OF PRODUCTION OR QUALITY. IT ALSO SEEKS TO ADJUST THE INCORPORATION OF AGRICULTURAL INPUTS IN THOSE AREAS ON A SITE-SPECIFIC BASIS THUS REDUCING FARM COSTS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. IN THIS SENSE, ONE OF THE KEY MILESTONES IN TREE CROPS IS THE OPTIMIZATION OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS (PPP) TREATMENTS. THE ASSESSMENT OF DRIFT RISK AND THE CONTAMINATION FROM PPP APPLICATION IS ESSENTIAL TO PROPOSE MEASURES TO MITIGATE THE DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND TO REDUCE THE RISK OF CONTAMINATION IN SENSITIVE AREAS. IN THIS LINE, ADJUSTING THE DOSE RATE OF PESTICIDES TO THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VEGETATION IS ESSENTIAL TO REDUCE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH PESTICIDE APPLICATION. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADVANCE IN THE RESOLUTION OF THESE PROBLEMS BY APPLYING NOVEL TECHNIQUES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PESTS AND DISEASES OF TREE CROPS AND BY OPTIMIZING PESTICIDE TREATMENTS BASED ON THE APPLICATION OF NEW PHOTONIC-BASED SENSORS (MULTIECHO LIDAR, DEPTH CAMERAS, MULTISPECTRAL CAMERAS) TO CHARACTERIZE VEGETATION, BOARDING THEM ONTO AIR AND GROUND MOBILE PLATFORMS AND ANALYSING THE RESULTS THROUGH ADVANCED GEOSTATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED IN PRECISION AGRICULTURE. THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE SUB-PROJECT ARE: -EVALUATION OF CROP CHARACTERISTICS AND INTRA-FIELD VARIABILITY FOR ADVANCED MANAGEMENT OF PPP TREATMENTS IN ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS BY USING PHOTONIC-BASED AND ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSORS FROM GROUND AND AIR MOBILE PLATFORMS. -DETERMINE AND VALIDATE AGRONOMIC PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN ADVANCED AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS -INTRA-FIELD VARIABILITY MAPPING AND DEFINITION OF RISK AREAS TO OPTIMIZE THE USE OF PESTICIDES USING ADVANCED GEOSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS -DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPPORTUNITY INDEX FOR VARIABLE-RATE APPLICATION OF PESTICIDES IN ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS, USEFUL IN DECISION MAKING ABOUT PPP TREATMENTS -USING PHOTONIC-BASED SENSORS FOR EVALUATING AND QUANTIFYING THE DRIFT -IMPROVING THE DOSAFRUT SYSTEM FOR RECOMMENDATION OF DOSE/VOLUME RATES IN FRUIT TREES -DETERMINE THE AIR FLOW RATE NEEDS IN SPRAY APPLICATIONS ACCORDING TO THE VEGETATION CHARACTERISTICS THE MAIN EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE SUB-PROJECT ARE: -OPTIMAL CONFIGURATION OF PHOTONIC-BASED SENSORS TO CHARACTERIZE ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS -DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE TO ANALYZE THE SENSOR DATA AND ALGORITHMS TO CLASSIFY THE VEGETATIVE ORGANS (WOOD, LEAVES AND FRUITS) -PROPOSAL OF RADIOMETRIC VEGETATION INDICES. ANALYSIS OF THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH TREE LEAF ARCHITECTURE AND PHYSIOLOGY -DEVELOPMENT OF PLATFORMS (A SELF-PROPELLED TERRESTRIAL ONE AND AN UNMANNED AERIAL ONE) FOR DATA COLLECTION -DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOCOL FOR OBTAINING MAPS OF THE ESTIMATED AGRONOMIC PARAMETERS USING PHOTONIC-BASED SENSORS -OVER OR UNDERDOSING RISK MAPS -PROPOSAL OF A METHOD FOR OBTAINING AN INDEX TO EVALUATE THE OPPORTUNITY OF VARIABLE-RATE APPLICATION OF PESTICIDES IN ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS -SERVICING A RANGE-RESOLVED LIDAR SYSTEM FOR MEASURING THE DRIFT AND AN ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGY FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF DRIFT BASED ON PHOTONIC-BASED SENSORS -IMPROVEMENT OF THE CALCULATION ENGINE AND THE USABILITY OF DOSAFRUT DOSE RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM -SPRAYER PROTOTYPE ABLE TO MODIFY THE AIR FLOW RATE ON-THE-GO ACCORDING TO THE VEGETATION"