Applications of Spatial

Technologies (RS, GIS, GPS, RTK-

GPS, Yield Monitors)
Introduction to
Precision Ag
 Precision Agriculture
What is it?

Precision Agriculture involves the application of data

acquisition/control systems and information systems to land
management and recognizes that soil, crop, and pest-related
processes are variable in space and time within fields.

The use of Precision Agriculture is tied to new technologies such

as global positioning systems, geographical information systems,
and remote sensing, and new statistical methods but it is not
strictly about TECHNOLOGY!
 PA technology and knowledge

PA Technology refers to the hardware

and software that allows for the
collection of information, and control
of crop management tools.

PA Knowledge refers to the integration

of information into a set of
management tools that allow for the
optimum use of PA technology.
 Why precision agriculture?
 Growers are facing increased input costs
nitrogen, fuel
 Labor is becoming harder to find
Allows farms to reduce labor needs
 Environmentally friendly
Putting inputs precisely where they are
needed
 Generate farm specific data to increase
profits
 It’s About Crop Yield
VARIABILITY!
 Measuring
 Analyzing
 Managing
 Sources of Crop
Yield Variability
 Soil  Disease
 Texture  Pests
 Salinity  Water Management
 Fertility  Weather
 Compaction
 Crop Genetics
 Organic Matter
 It’s About Management

“Farming by the Square Foot”

Traditional Mgt. Precision Mgt.
 Building Blocks of
Precision Agriculture
“Technologies.”
Yield Direct & Precision Variable Rate
Monitors Remote Navigation Technology
Sensing

Global Positioning Systems

Geographic Information Systems

Precision Farming Cycle
Data Collection

Analysis
Farming

Management
Decisions
First, what’s a map?

Land ownership
Soils
Land use
Political boundaries
Pest populations
 Data Models: Raster vs. Vector

Vector GIS is composed of points, lines, and polygons (areas). Raster

GIS is composed of rasters, or cells.

Points

Lines

Areas
 Discrete vs. Continuous Surfaces

Continuous surfaces are somewhat

predictable. There are an infinite number of
locations that have unique values - (e.g.,
ELEVATION)

The raster model is most suited to

continuous data.

Discrete surfaces are not predictable.

There are a finite number of locations that
have data - (e.g., TAX RATES BY
COUNTY)

The vector model is most suited to

discrete data.
 What’s a GIS?

A computer system capable of storing and using data

describing places on the earth’s surface.
-or-

A set of interrelated functions that achieve the

Entry,
Storage,
Processing,
Retrieval, and
Generation
of spatial data
 What questions can a GIS answer?

Location: “What is at ...?”

Trends: “What has happened since...?”
Patterns: “What spatial patterns exist?”
Modeling: “What if...?”
 Sources of information

 Soil survey
 Soil samples
 Aerial images
 Yield monitor data
 Soil survey

Detailed soil series locations

 Soil samples

Soil sample data was interpolated using geostatistics

(kriging or inverse distance weighting). This was done for
pH, P, K, OM and NO3.
 Why is GIS Important?

 Most data has a spatial component.

 GIS provides a method to:
 Analyze the spatial component,
 Display the data spatially,
 And retrieve data spatially
 GIS is a MANAGEMENT TOOL
 Store traditionally collected data such as soil
samples
 Foundation for Agricultural Precision Systems
 Farm GIS Layers
Layers for:
 Fields (Crop, Plant Date)
 Soil Map (Soil Type, Soil Class, S.I.)
 Fertility (N,P,K,….)
 Yield Maps
 Aerial Photos
 Remote Sensing Data
 “As Applied Maps”
 Irrigation Distribution (pipe type, size)
 Roads (Name, size) and Buildings
 Data Management Issues

 GIS data is valuable!

 GIS is an “Information System” and it requires:
 Organization
 Regular Backup
 Management of Hardware and Software
GPS

Global Positioning Systems

Geographic Information Systems

 What is GPS?

 Global Positioning System

 A satellite based positioning system
 Three Segments
 Space Segment - 24 satellites
 Control Segment (Military)
 User Segment (GPS Receiver)
GPS Constellation
 User Segment

 Units receive transmission from Satellites

 Cost between $100 and $25000 (depends on accuracy)
 Must be line of sight with satellites
 How does it work?

 Position of satellites is known.

 The speed of the radio signal from each satellite is known
 Very accurate timing allows the calculation of the distance from
each satellite.
 Using triangulation, the position of the receiver is calculated.
 Differential GPS (DGPS)

 Used to correct for GPS errors

 Uses a ground station at a known location
 Ground station measures error of GPS signal by comparing the
known location with the GPS location
 In real-time, the error transmitted to DGPS unit and position is
corrected.
 Yield Monitoring

Yield
Monitors

Global Positioning Systems

Geographic Information Systems

 Yield Monitoring

 Measuring yield on the fly

 Crops
 Grains
 Cotton
 Potatoes, sugar beets
 Peanuts
 Tomatoes
 Yield monitor data
Yield data from a combine
harvester equipped with a
DGPS unit and yield monitor.
Harvest legend
# 0 - 50 bu/acre
# 50.1 - 100 bu/acre
# 100.1 - 150 bu/acre
# 150.1 - 200 bu/acre
# >200 bu/acre
 Yield Maps

Field 18 Cotton Yield (Bales/Ac)

Yield = 2.25 Bales/Acre

0 - 0.97
0.97 - 1.93
1.93 - 2.89
2.89 - 3.85
3.85 - 4.81
No Data
 Direct & Remote Sensing

Yield Direct &

Monitors Remote
Sensing

Global Positioning Systems

Geographic Information Systems

 Remote Sensing

 Typically sensing from aircraft or satellite

 Sensing of visible and invisible electromagnetic spectra
 Commonly: Blue, Green, Red, Near IR
 Typically 1m to 15m resolution
 Used to:
 detect plant stress
 base mapping
 grape harvest
 map soil texture
 Aerial images

Aerial images taken by Emerge. 2 images per season: one

of bare soil (June), the other of vegetative cover (August).
Images have 3 bands: green, red and near-infrared.
 Unmanned Aircraft

• Inventory of Nursery Tree Crops

• Crop Stress
• Livestock Observation
• Monitoring Rangeland Condition

• Issues:
• Issues of Operating in Airspace
• Time
• Image Processing Complexities
• Difficulty of Operation
 measures the time delay between
transmission of a pulse and detection of the
reflected signal

• Light Detection And Ranging

• Optical Remote Sensing using Lasers
• Measuring Distance to Ground from Airplane
 Agriculture Applications

• Tile and Surface Drainage

• Topographic Layer for Precision Agriculture
• Road Construction
• Community Development
 Direct Sensing

 Sensor is in direct contact

 Soil Conductivity
 Veris
 Electromagnetic sensors (Geonics EM-38)
 Soil moisture
Soil Conductivity
Grid Sampling

Example:
Nitrate Nitrogen
 Max: 115
 Min: 9
 Mean: 47
 SD: 30
 Precision Guidance

Yield Direct & Precision

Monitors Remote Guidance
Sensing

Global Positioning Systems

Geographic Information Systems

 Precision Guidance

 Tractor guidance at the centimeter level using GPS

 Benefits that may be achieved
 Increased speed of operation
 Operates at night and in fog
 Reduced cost of tractor ownership
 Increased field efficiency (0 overlap)
 Technologies

 RT Knematic GPS (2 cm)

 Manufacturers
 Beeline
 IntegriNautics
(AutoFarm)
 Trimble
 Variable Rate
Technology

Yield Direct & Precision Variable Rate

Monitors Remote Navigation Technology
Sensing

Global Positioning Systems

Geographic Information Systems

 What is VRT/VRA?

 Also called Variable Rate Application (VRA)

 Site specific application of materials
 Used for:
 Fertilizer and Soil Amendments
 Seeding
 Herbicide and Pesticides
 Material can be liquid or dry
 VRA Methods

 Application Maps (GIS)

 Requires GPS location
 Method of creating map (software)
 Ex. Use soil sampling data to create a variable rate application map.
 Sensor
 rate is varied by sensor on the applicator.
 • On-the-go Transfer of Data
• Remote Diagnostics , Error Codes
• Combine Threshing Efficiency
Telematics • Machine Location
 Why Precision Agriculture?
1804 1 billion
1850 1.2 billion
• Maximize Profits 1900 1.6 billion
1927 2 billion
• Less Overlap 1950 2.55 billion
1955 2.8 billion
• Reduce Inputs 1960 3 billion
1965 3.3 billion
• Increase Yields 1970 3.7 billion
1975 4 billion
• Reduce Stress 1980 4.5 billion
1985 4.85 billion
• Protect Environment 1987 5 billion
1990 5.3 billion
• Feed 7 Billion People 1995 5.7 billion
1999 6 billion
Current World Population: 2000 6.1 billion

7,044,864,008
2005 6.45 billion
2010 6.8 billion
2011 7 billion
 Economic Issues

 PA technologies can be expensive to implement

 Return on investment will vary highly by individual situation
 Not all technologies are suited for a given crop
 Some benefits are easy to identify, others are not.