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Abstract
Soil electrical conductivity (EC) maps obtained through proximal soil sensing (i.e., geophysical data) are usually considered to delineate homogeneous site-specific management zones (SSMZ), used in Precision Agriculture to improve crop production. The recent literature recommends the integration of geophysical soil monitoring data with crop information acquired through multispectral (VIS-NIR) imagery. In non-flat areas, where topography can influence the soil water conditions and consequently the crop water status and the crop yield, considering topography data together with soil and crop data may improve the SSMZ delineation. The objective of this study was the fusion of EC and VIS-NIR data to delineate SSMZs in a rain-fed vineyard located in Northern Italy (Franciacorta), and the assessment of the obtained SSMZ map through the comparison with data acquired by a thermal infrared (TIR) survey carried out during a hot and dry period of the 2017 agricultural season. Data integration is performed by applying multivariate statistical methods (i.e., Principal Component Analysis). The results show that the combined use of soil, topography and crop information improves the SSMZ delineation. Indeed, the correspondence between the SSMZ map and the CWSI map derived from TIR imagery was enhanced by including the NDVI information.
Highlights
In agriculture an effective and efficient management of inputs is fundamental to make the crop production sustainable, for both the environment and economics.Knowledge about the plant-soil system is fundamental to achieve this goal
The main objective of this work is the implementation of data fusion procedures to delineate a site-specific management zones (SSMZ) map in a vineyard of 1.5 ha located in Franciacorta (BS), since this information is crucial for the elaboration of irrigation prescription maps to be used for the design and/or the management of variable-rate irrigation systems
This was demonstrated in this study, focusing on the fusion of electrical conductivity (EC) maps obtained by an electro-magnetic induction (EMI) geophysical survey and VIS-NIR data collected through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)-mounted cameras, to optimally delineate SSMZs in a rain-fed vineyard of 15,000 m2 located in Northern Italy
Summary
In agriculture an effective and efficient management of inputs (i.e., water and nutrients) is fundamental to make the crop production sustainable, for both the environment and economics.Knowledge about the plant-soil system is fundamental to achieve this goal. The Precision Agriculture (PA) approach has required a detailed description of the variability at field scale of soil and plant properties, in order to apply water and nutrients with variable rates, according to the actual irrigation and nutrient requirements, which can be extremely different within a field because of the spatial variability of soil and plant properties [1]. Following this approach, the water and nutrient use efficiencies, and the quantity and the quality of crop yield may improve. Intensive and relatively time-saving measurements of soil electrical conductivity (EC) through geophysical proximal soil sensors are among the most frequently used approaches in PA to delineate SSMZs [3,4,5,6,7]
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