A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle. It flies without a human pilot and often is used to record aerial footage — for the purpose of this research: farms and fields.

The drone will be used to monitor 75 selected fields in Michigan and several other states, and the research will begin at the start of next year’s growing season as this growing season is coming to a close, Basso said.

“What’s special about this drone technology is that we can determine spatial variability,” he said. “Crops in one large field are not all exposed to the same conditions. It’s like a community — some people react differently to things than others. We can decide how much fertilizer is needed by one area, for example.”

By only targeting the areas that need special care, researchers hope farm production will increase and farmers will save money.

The drone also can have a positive environmental impact because it will help control the amount of fertilizer farmers use, Basso said.

“If they’re only fertilizing the areas that need it, that means there is less fertilizer left to be lost in the groundwater,” Basso explained.

Overuse of fertilizers can contaminate surface water, groundwater and the atmosphere because they add nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Phosphorus from storm runoff can the pollute nearby waters, and nitrous oxide from nitrogen can be emitted into the atmosphere.