Vicarious radiometric calibration of a multispectral sensor from an aerial trike applied to precision agriculture

•Vicarious radiometric calibration of a multispectral sensor.•High spatial resolution vegetation indices from a low-cost manned aerial platform.•Management of extensive crop areas using low-cost geomatic techniques.•Low-cost remote sensing for precision agriculture.•Vicarious calibration to acquire quantitative physical parameters.

This article proposes a vicarious calibration as a radiometric calibration method using an onboard multispectral sensor and a low-cost manned aerial platform, PPG (powered paraglider) trike. The statistical analysis of the errors shows the precision reached with this methodology. The greatest advantage offered by this type of manned platforms is its flexibility of flight, autonomy and payload capacity, allowing multiple sensors to be integrated without constraints to weight and volume. The results were validated at two different heights in order to verify the solution obtained with the method, demonstrating the insignificance of relative atmospheric influence between the aerial platform and ground using this platform according to the radiative transfer model on a clear and sunny day. At the same time, the study aims to develop a new trend for remote sensing that will assists in decision making for the sustainable management of extensive crop areas using low-cost geomatic techniques. As a result of the radiometric calibration process, georeferenced images with different vegetation indices over vineyards are obtained.