Using Airborne Digital Imagery for Detecting Oak Wilt Disease

Abstract

Color-infrared (CIR) digital imagery was evaluated as a remote sensing tool for detecting oak wilt disease in live oak (Quercus fusiformis). Aerial CIR digital imagery and CIR photography were obtained concurrently of a live oak forested area in south-central Texas affected by oak wilt. Dead, diseased, and healthy live oak trees could generally be delineated as well in the digital imagery as in the CIR photography. Light reflectance measurements obtained in the field showed that dead, diseased, and healthy trees had different visible and near-infrared reflectance values.