AGR-199. Agricultural Production Technology in Semi-Arid Regions

Francisco Agüera Vega, a Doctor in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Cordoba (1995), lectures at the University of Almeria Engineering Department and heads the Agricultural Production Technology in Semi-Arid Regions Research Group (1998).
His research has focussed on the use of multi-spectrum images taken from airborne platforms and their use in making and using 3D models of the terrain, studying land occupation and use and monitoring crops throughout their life cycles, developed mainly while working at the Imperial College London Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering in 2007.

Since 1998, he has centred on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) fitted with different types of sensors, depending on the purpose of each flight. This research has been funded by a range of research projects headed by Dr Agüera and which, among other things, have led to the publication of several doctoral theses and many articles in international journals. To ensure that the knowledge generated in this research is passed onto society, in 2013, Dr Agüera co-founded the technology spin-off Drones-Ingeniería, S.L. In 2013, he won third prize in the ceiA3 Agri-Food International Excellence Campus agri-food ideas and projects competition, as well as first prize in the 13th edition of Iniciativas Emprendedoras (Entrepreneurial Initiatives), awarded by the University of Almeria Social Council.