Aerial imaging can provide real-time information to growers regarding water usage and crop health. Within agriculture, these tools provide a valuable service for identifying problematic areas within fields, thereby increasing efficiencies for both small and large scale producers. Currently, most aerial imaging is conducted by flights with mid-elevation aircraft or satellites. These flights and corresponding images are usually conducted by a service company and provided on a weekly or monthly basis. Autonomous or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may provide a format in which more regular flight data can be obtained. Most discussions within agricultural settings have been focused around large fixed wing drones. However, smaller, less sophisticated and less autonomous UAVs could provide a useful platform for California farmers. These smaller UAVs would be less expensive to construct, may require less regulatory permitting, and provide a mobile platform that can be quickly deployed within a field setting. In these settings, small UAVs would have the ability to quickly monitor crops for water stress, nutrient management, and pest and disease epidemics. A major barrier for small UAVs is camera/imager selection and processing. Currently, most work within crop stress management has focused on the use of thermal cameras that operate in the far-infrared spectrum (Maes and Steppe, 2012). These cameras are expensive, which inhibits the adoption of UAV technology. More commonly used spectral wavelengths, such as visible and near-infrared wavelengths can be used for other vegetation indices need to be researched to determine if they provide comparable results as thermal imaging. These imagers and indices are attractive to the end-user due to the lower cost to implement. With these challenges in mind, a research project sponsored by the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resource Competitive Grants Program was awarded to determine the feasibility of using small UAVs for perennial crop water