Remote sensing is here defined as a technology to use reflectance or transmission data to assess the “quality” of animals (insects) or plants.

We can use airborne cameras to to collect remote sensing data from growing crops to detect stress responses to insect or disease infestations or the crop plant responses to abiotic defiencies (like lack of nutrients). However, we can also mount a camera above individual insects under laboratory conditions and use reflectance data to identify speceis or make non-destructive assessments of their responses to stressors (like insecticides).