Methods and systems for analyzing a field

A method of analyzing a field, the method comprising:

• positioning an imaging system in an aircraft, the imaging system comprising a long-wave thermal imaging camera operable to collect thermal energy emitted by plants;
• acquiring with the long-wave thermal imaging camera an aerial thermal image of at least a portion of the field that contains plants while the aircraft is in flight over the field, wherein the aerial thermal image comprises pixels indicating different levels of thermal energy emitted by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field;
• identifying at least three of the pixels on the aerial thermal image, a first of the pixels indicating a lowest temperature in the aerial thermal image, a second of the pixels indicating a highest temperature in the aerial thermal image, and a third of the pixels indicating a temperature between the lowest and highest temperatures of the first and second pixels;
• processing the aerial thermal image to assess relative variations in temperatures among the plants within the portion of the field by assessing variations in the pixels of the aerial thermal image, determining a temperature difference between the lowest and highest temperatures of the plants, and comparing the temperature difference and the first, second, and third pixels to each of the pixels in the aerial thermal image to assign each of the pixels thereof with a yield prediction based on temperature to perform a yield prediction of the plants in the portion of the field.