Aim of the paper is to explore the application possibilities of remote sensing data for determination of spatial changes in orchards from 1995 to 2019.
In Latvia, many fruit-growing companies have been established around the turn of the century and today have established a solid production base. Although many farms achieve good yields, the average level of productivity in orchards is insufficient. Often the yields are different in the same garden in different places. Remote sensing technology provides tree crown size data. Evaluating garden data would identify sectors with lower increments. When you see specific sectors on the map, they will be surveyed by gardeners looking for factors that have influenced tree growth (soil nutrient content, moisture content, abundant fruit yield, etc.). As a result, average productivity may increase by at least 10%, but in the longer term (5-6 years) by 20-30%
Using Latvian Geospatial Information Agency’s available orthophoto and digital surface model (DSM) data, were examined three land units - orchards, where the spatial changes could be observed. The spatial changes can be observed over a longer period of time, therefore there were compared several orthophoto maps, each taken in different period of time. This study is an initial analysis of the data to determine the spatial changes. Future research will further investigate orchards with aerial laser scanning to determine accurate tree crown volumes and develop digital surface models.