UAV-assisted heavy metal tracking in oil palm plantations: present applications and future prospects

Indonesia and Malaysia produce the most palm oil in the world. The world’s palm oil industry doubled in 1960–1990 and then increased steadily until 2020. However, the industry faces problems and challenges as a cause of environmental damage. Fertilizers and pesticides used in oil palm plantations and their processing waste are suspected of contaminating the environment with heavy metals. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become more widely used for environmental monitoring, particularly as a technology for tracking heavy metals on agricultural land in recent years. Previous studies claim several advantages of using this technology, such as fast operation and low cost. This study presents the state-of-the-art available UAV platforms for heavy metal tracking in the agricultural industry. Recent applications focus primarily on hyperspectral sensing and photogrammetric technique. In addition, the prospects for UAV technology to track heavy metal pollution in the palm oil industry are also analysed.