Irrigation enhances crop growth, but water is becoming a limited resource in the United States, making irrigation efficiency important. Plant water status has been related to crop spectral reflectance between 400-900 nm, allowing the use of remote sensing in the form of reflectance indices to monitor crop growth. Reflectance indices such as the ratio vegetation index (RVI) and the normalized vegetation index (NDVI) are commonly used to estimate crop growth and health, but several plant growth and health parameters have similar effects on crop reflectance. A tethered blimp with cameras sensitive to near-infrared radiation and visible radiation were used to estimate crop growth and health and as a basis for irrigation applications. It was learned that remote sensing can produce high quality crops with better water efficiency than methods that do not estimate crop growth. Therefore, remote sensing can be a valuable tool in analyzing crop health if it is used properly.