Table 2 Practical and operational differences between the drones used in this study

Type of drone

Multirotor/multicopter

Fixed wing

Battery life (mins)

30

60

Practical flight time

22

45

Area (km²) covered per battery

 120 m asl and 80% overlap

0.49

0.64

Time (mins) required to cover 1 km²

 120 m asl and 80% overlap

38

66

Image resolution at 120 m asl (cm/pixel)

 RGB camera

3.3

3.7

 NIR sensor

11

11

Ease of use

 Mission planning

Via app on tablet/smartphone

Via software installed on laptop computer

 Take-off and landing

Vertical take-off and landing

Manual launch, and gradual descent in clear area