Research Article

Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery

Volume: 32 Number: 4 October 12, 2026

Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery

Abstract

Agricultural diseases are a significant problem for growers as they cause substantial damage to fruits and leaves, leading to yield losses. Therefore, developing systems for early detection of plant diseases is a crucial issue. In this study, a new deep learning-based hybrid model is presented for the detection and segmentation of plant diseases, specifically apple scab disease in apple orchards and mildew disease in vineyards. Multispectral imagery data collected in agricultural areas of Tekirdag province in Turkey via drones between May 2023 and December 2024 were used in developing the early disease detection system. The datasets contain 3625 images of apple orchards and 5625 images of vineyards. DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral drone, equipped with five spectral bands (Blue, Green, Red, Red Edge, and Near Infrared), was utilized to capture both spectral richness and temporal progression. This study introduces a novel deep learning architecture developed specifically for time series-based disease detection and segmentation using multispectral drone imagery. Changes in plants over time provide important information about the occurrence of plant diseases. For this reason, time series were used in this study to extract features from the changes in plants over time. The proposed model architecture was specifically designed to leverage time series information, enabling robust tracking of crop health changes over time. The model trained with the dataset collected for apple diseases achieved an average Intersection Over Unit (IoU) value of 82.05%, while the model trained with the dataset collected for vineyard diseases reached an IoU value of 79.67%. The findings highlight the effectiveness of integrating drone-acquired multispectral time-series data with advanced deep learning models for scalable, accurate, and timely plant disease detection in precision agriculture.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

the study is supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey under the 1509-TUBITAK International Industrial R&D Projects Support Program, Project Number: 9210046

Project Number

the study is supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey under the 1509-TUBITAK International Industrial R&D Projects Support Program, Project Number: 9210046

References

  1. Ashwini C & Sellam V (2024). An Optimal Model for Identification and Classification of Corn Leaf Disease Using Hybrid 3D-CNN and LSTM. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 92:106089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bspc.2024.106089
  2. Avotins A, Kviesis K, Bicans J, Alsina I, & Dubova L (2020). Experimental analysis of IoT based camera SI-NDVI values for tomato plant health monitoring application. Agronomy Research, 18(S2): 1138-1146. https://doi.org/10.15159/AR.20.087
  3. Bebber D P, Castillo Á D & Gurr S J (2020). Modelling coffee leaf rust risk in Colombia with climate reanalysis data. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375(1810): 20190578. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0578
  4. Bleasdale A J (2024). The early detection of apple scab using multispectral imagery under natural illumination conditions (Doctoral thesis). Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
  5. Bleasdale A J & Whyatt J D (2025). Classifying early apple scab infections in multispectral imagery using convolutional neural networks. Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture, 15: 39–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aiia.2024.10.001
  6. Cao X, Zheng S, Zhang J, Chen W & Du G (2025). A hybrid CNN-Bi-LSTM model with feature fusion for accurate epilepsy seizure detection. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 25: 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-024-02845-0
  7. Chen X, Zhou G, Chen A, Yi J, Zhang W & Hu Y (2020). Identification of tomato leaf diseases based on combination of ABCK-BWTR and B-ARNet. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 178, 105730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2020.105730
  8. De Silva M & Brown D (2022). Plant disease detection using multispectral imaging. In International Advanced Computing Conference (pp. 290-308). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35641-4_24

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Modelling and Simulation, Planning and Decision Making, Environmental Assessment and Monitoring, Agricultural Biotechnology Diagnostics

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

October 12, 2026

Submission Date

February 26, 2026

Acceptance Date

May 13, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 32 Number: 4

APA
Asiroglu, B., Türkoğlu, A. K., Bir, F. S., & Senan, S. (2026). Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery. Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 32(4), 1030-1050. https://doi.org/10.15832/ankutbd.1898342
AMA
1.Asiroglu B, Türkoğlu AK, Bir FS, Senan S. Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery. J Agr Sci-Tarim Bili. 2026;32(4):1030-1050. doi:10.15832/ankutbd.1898342
Chicago
Asiroglu, Batuhan, Aydın Kağan Türkoğlu, Fatih Sinan Bir, and Sibel Senan. 2026. “Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery”. Journal of Agricultural Sciences 32 (4): 1030-50. https://doi.org/10.15832/ankutbd.1898342.
EndNote
Asiroglu B, Türkoğlu AK, Bir FS, Senan S (October 1, 2026) Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery. Journal of Agricultural Sciences 32 4 1030–1050.
IEEE
[1]B. Asiroglu, A. K. Türkoğlu, F. S. Bir, and S. Senan, “Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery”, J Agr Sci-Tarim Bili, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 1030–1050, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.15832/ankutbd.1898342.
ISNAD
Asiroglu, Batuhan - Türkoğlu, Aydın Kağan - Bir, Fatih Sinan - Senan, Sibel. “Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery”. Journal of Agricultural Sciences 32/4 (October 1, 2026): 1030-1050. https://doi.org/10.15832/ankutbd.1898342.
JAMA
1.Asiroglu B, Türkoğlu AK, Bir FS, Senan S. Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery. J Agr Sci-Tarim Bili. 2026;32:1030–1050.
MLA
Asiroglu, Batuhan, et al. “Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery”. Journal of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 32, no. 4, Oct. 2026, pp. 1030-5, doi:10.15832/ankutbd.1898342.
Vancouver
1.Batuhan Asiroglu, Aydın Kağan Türkoğlu, Fatih Sinan Bir, Sibel Senan. Early Detection of Apple Scab in Orchards and Mildew in Vineyards Using A Novel Deep Learning Model and Multispectral Imagery. J Agr Sci-Tarim Bili. 2026 Oct. 1;32(4):1030-5. doi:10.15832/ankutbd.1898342

Journal of Agricultural Sciences is published as open access journal. All articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).