This disclosure describes a system and a method for determining statistics of plant populations based on overhead optical measurements. The system may include one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions to receive output signals provided by one or more remote sensing devices mounted to an overhead platform. The output signals may convey information related to one or more images of a land area where crops are grown. The one or more hardware processors may be configured by machine-readable instructions to distinguish vegetation from background clutter; segregate image regions corresponding to the vegetation from image regions corresponding to the background clutter; and determine a plant count per unit area.