ARS | Publication request: Yield Editor 2.0: software for automated removal of yield map errors

Submitted to: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: June 25, 2012
Publication Date: July 29, 2012
Citation: Sudduth, K.A., Drummond, S.T., Myers, D.B. 2012. Yield Editor 2.0: software for automated removal of yield map errors. In: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International Meeting Technical Papers. July 29 – August 1, 2012, Dallas, Texas. Paper No. 121338243.

Interpretive Summary: Yield maps are a key component of precision agriculture, used both in developing and evaluating precision management strategies. Unfortunately, yield monitors produce complex datasets that often contain a large number of errors. These errors should be removed, as they may cause serious problems when yield data are used for research and analysis tasks. Even when yield maps are merely used in an interpretive fashion, or to visualize patterns in the data, the conclusions drawn by the user may be adversely affected by these error sources. To help yield map users remove errors from their maps, we previously developed “Yield Editor” interactive software. This paper describes version 2.0 of Yield Editor, which automates the process of correcting errors in yield maps, a process that was done interactively by users in the previous version of the software. Comparison tests showed that Yield Editor 2.0 provides greatly improved efficiency and equivalent accuracy compared to the interactive methods available in the original Yield Editor. This research is a step toward a standardized procedure to clean yield data, a result that would improve data quality for both researchers and producers involved in precision agriculture. Improved yield map data will allow more accurate development and assessment of precision management strategies for improved farm profitability and environmental protection.

Technical Abstract: Yield maps provide important information for developing and evaluating precision management strategies. The high-quality yield maps needed for decision-making require screening raw yield monitor datasets for errors and removing them before maps are made. To facilitate this process, we developed the Yield Editor interactive software which has been widely used by producers, consultants and researchers. Some of the most difficult and time consuming issues involved in cleaning yield maps include determination of combine delay times, and the removal of “overlapped” data, especially near end rows. Our new Yield Editor 2.0 automates these and other tasks, significantly increasing the reliability and reducing the difficulty of creating accurate yield maps. This paper describes this new software, with emphasis on the Automated Yield Cleaning Expert (AYCE) module. Application of Yield Editor 2.0 is illustrated through comparison of automated AYCE cleaning to the interactive approach available in Yield Editor 1.x. On a test set of fifty grain yield maps, AYCE cleaning was not significantly different than interactive cleaning by an expert user when examining field mean yield, yield standard deviation, and number of yield observations remaining after cleaning. Yield Editor 2.0 provides greatly improved efficiency and equivalent accuracy compared to the interactive methods available in Yield Editor 1.x.