ictures of the fields of Kaua’i Coffee Company taken by Pathfinder-Plus from over three miles above could help local farmers pick the perfect cup of joe. Images brought down by the solar-powered, unmanned flying wing in 1998 helped reveal plugged
ictures of the fields of Kaua’i Coffee Company taken by Pathfinder-Plus from over three miles above could help local farmers pick the perfect cup of joe.
Images brought down by the solar-powered, unmanned flying wing in 1998 helped reveal plugged irrigation lines, gaps in rows of coffee trees, areas of weed infestation and, using the colors of the coffee cherries on the trees, helped dictate harvesting priorities, said Frank Kiger, Kaua’i Coffee Company vice president and general manager.
And the three flights planned for September, around a month before the normal harvesting schedule on the 3,400-acre plantation that stretches from Koloa to Ele’ele, won’t cost the Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. subsidiary a penny.
The company will provide area on the ground for the technicians to operate, and some labor, but won’t pay a fee for the Pathfinder’s photographic images, said Kiger.
Kiger and others hope the images will reveal not only strengths and weaknesses in the irrigation, cultivation and harvesting processes of Kaua’i Coffee, but also go a long way toward illuminating agricultural uses for the craft originally designed to be a low-cost, low-maintenance, quickly deployable replacement for a telecommunications satellite.
“Our objective is to demonstrate how this solar-powered UAV (uninhabited aerial vehicle) can be used as a platform for the acquisition and immediate use of high-resolution imagery,” said principal investigator Dr. Stan Herwitz of Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
Having the “real time, real use” information can only help, Kiger added.
“It is important to note that coffee is only one of many commercial UAV applications that we foresee using our imaging payload,” Herwitz said.
Following the flights, the research team will share the results of the study with Kiger and other agricultural interests around the world on the Internet.
The coffee study is one of two demonstration missions funded by NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise over a multi-year period. The purpose is to demonstrate the utility of UAVs for earth science and commercial applications.
Not that Kaua’i Coffee needs that much help. Last year, it harvested 3.85 million pounds of coffee, and was profitable for a second consecutive year, Kiger said. Of the 3,400 total acres, around 2,800 acres were harvested in dry weather perfect for the harvest, said Kiger.
“We’re doing well,” he said. “We’re surviving the storm” associated with continued low world coffee prices. Kaua’i Coffee Company is the world’s largest coffee plantation.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
