Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Sensing footprint
Sensing footprint
FIGURE 5.4
CropSec
TM
on-the-go crop canopy sensor by Topcon.
was addressed by numerous researchers who have developed on-the-go soil imped-
ance measurement devices such as instrumented tines, shanks, and Coulter disks.
Variable rate technology (VRT) is the application of varying amounts of crop
inputs per unit area of a field based on soil and plant needs. It is a popular preci-
sion agriculture technology that improves application efficiency while decreasing
costs. VRT can be map-based or sensor-based depending on the type of crop and
field operation (Figure 5.5). For map-based VRT application historical information
is used, whereas for sensor-based application, real-time plant information is used for
varying the application rate (e.g., fertilizer, chemical, or seed).
(a)
8 GPA
12 GPA
16 GPA
(b)
8 − 9 GPA
9 − 10 GPA
10 − 11 GPA
11 − 12 GPA
FIGURE 5.5
(a) Prescription map for VRT using management zones. (b) Prescription map
for sensor-based VRT. (www.AlabamaPrecisionAgOnline.com.)
