ARS | Publication request: SENSORS FOR SITE-SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 31, 1995
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Site-specific management requires the collection of large quantities of data to describe within-field variability and to assess the effects of management strategies on that variability. Electronic sensing technology will allow the collection of soil, site, pest, and crop data on a finer spatial resolution and more efficiently than is possible with current manual and/or laboratory methods. A number of sensors applicable to site- specific management are commercially available or in development. These include soil property sensors (organic matter, soil moisture, electrical conductivity, soil nitrate), site property sensors (slope, aspect), pest sensors (weed location and identification), and crop-related sensors (chlorophyll level, crop harvest flow rate, crop moisture, plant population). In addition, sensors which monitor machine functions such as chemical flow rate, ground speed, and implement draft force provide important data for site-specific management.