UAV applications in wheat crop: a bibliometric approach to the literature

ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to carry out a bibliometric search in the literature on the use of UAVs in the wheat crop. For this purpose, a search of all scientific articles published until 2021 was carried out in the Web of Science database. Subsequently, bibliometric literature analysis techniques were applied using the software VOSviewer, which allowed evaluating the co-authorships between countries and institutions and the co-occurrences of words between studies. The journals and authors that publish the most on this topic were verified. The results indicate a growing trend of publications on UAV applications in the last 7 years, with China, the United States, and the United Kingdom being the main researchers on this topic. However, China stands out with approximately 40% of the publications. This analysis reveals the main current issues and the most influential institutions around the world that have carried out relevant research in scientific publications, showing the journals that include more publications and the collaborative patterns related to the use of UAVs in the wheat crop. Multi-rotor platforms with embedded multispectral cameras are the most used for this purpose. About 27.8% of the publications are from the topic related to the monitoring of productivity/phenotyping. Therefore, this application is in evidence, but further studies on the use of drones in regions with high wheat production, such as South American countries, are needed.摘要 本研究的核心目标为针对小麦作物中无人机（Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV）的应用开展文献计量学检索。为此，本研究在Web of Science数据库中检索了截至2021年发表的全部科学文献。随后，本研究借助VOSviewer软件应用文献计量学分析技术，对国家与机构间的合著关系以及不同研究间的词汇共现情况进行评估，并统计了该主题发文量最高的期刊与作者。研究结果显示，近7年来无人机在该领域的应用相关文献呈逐年增长趋势，中国、美国与英国是该主题的主要研究贡献者，其中中国的发文量占比约40%，表现尤为突出。本次分析揭示了当前该领域的核心研究议题，以及全球范围内在该主题发表过相关学术成果的最具影响力机构，同时梳理了发文量较高的期刊以及小麦作物无人机应用相关的合作研究模式。搭载多光谱相机的多旋翼平台是该领域最常用的无人机载体，约27.8%的文献聚焦于生产力监测/表型分析相关主题。可见该应用方向已受到广泛关注，但仍需针对南美等小麦主产国开展无人机应用相关的后续研究。