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Title: OBJECT-ORIENTED FIELD INFORMATION MANAGEMENT (FIM) PROGRAM DEVELOPED FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE

Author
item SUNG, JE HOON - NAT INST OF AG ENG KOREA
item JUNG, IN GYU - NAT INST OF AG ENG KOREA
item LEE, CHOUNG KEUN - NAT INST OF AG ENG KOREA
item LEE, YONG BEOM - NAT INST OF AG ENG KOREA
item CHOI, KUN MYON - NAT INST OF AG ENG KOREA
item SUH, SANG RYONG - NAT INST OF AG ENG KOREA
item Sudduth, Kenneth - Ken

Submitted to: American Society of Agricultural Engineers Meetings Papers
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2004
Publication Date: 3/7/2004
Citation: Sung, J.H., Jung, I.G., Lee, C. K., Lee, Y.B., Choi, K.M., Suh, S.R., Sudduth, K.A. 2004. Object oriented field information management (FIM) program developed for precision agriculture. American Society of Agricultural Engineers Mid-Central Conference. Paper No. MC04-204.

Interpretive Summary: The basis of precision agriculture is the measurement, analysis, and interpretation of variations in soil and plant variables within fields. Efficient ways to measure spatial variability are needed, and many research groups are investigating ways to automate the measurement process. As new sensors are developed, there is need for a flexible mobile data acquisition system that can collect data from a variety of sensors, add manually collected validation data and location tags from GPS, and provide easy data visualization for the user. In general, such a data acquisition system would consist of portable computer hardware along with custom software, such as the field information management (FIM) software described in this paper. The FIM software allows collection of data from many different kinds of sensors, displays data for easy in-field verification, and stores raw and processed data for later use. The FIM software was designed to be readily expandable to accept new data sources and to interface with other precision agriculture software and hardware. The current version of the software is targeted to Korean researchers, consultants, and farmers, with interfaces written in Korean. Concepts and approaches used in the FIM software may be adaptable to similar software developed for use in the US.

Technical Abstract: This study was conducted to develop field information management (FIM) software which automates site-specific field data acquisition, processing, mapping and management for precision agriculture. The software was developed with menu interfaces written in Korean, and targeted to Korean researchers, consultants, and producers. The software architecture supported acquisition and processing of both digital and analog data streams. The architecture was object-oriented, and each component was developed as a separate class. Use of this program for precision agriculture research will improve the efficiency of manual ground-truth data collection. In addition, this program can be used to collect high-density sensor data, reducing the need for data interpolation in unsampled areas. The software design allows easy expansion and provides for future compatibility with equipment for variable-rate application (VRA). The FIM computer program provides the user with an easy-to-follow process for field information management in precision agriculture.