Rmagro, A Reference Model For Data Exchange In Precision Agriculture

Abstract

From the start of information technology onwards there is a need to exchange data between different software components and as soon as they are developed by different parties there is a need for standard methods. One of the successful standards is ISO11783 for data exchange between implements and towards Farm Management Information Systems. However, with the introduction of new sensor systems and IoT, independently developed advisory systems and requirements for tracking and tracing, there is a need for standards covering a wider scope as above mentioned one. We started in the Netherlands in 2010 with as basis the first reference model for crop production, IMOT (1986). The data part of the reference model drmAgro, is set up as a Platform Independent Model (PIM) following UML. This PIM is transformed to specific models, like an XML model, a Java interface model and a DDL model for databases. Transformations to other languages are possible and a transformation to an OWL model is under development. The objective is to keep the specification of agricultural objects independent of the technology used for implementation. Care is taken that content of other models like ISO11783-10, AgroXML, Edaplos, Inspire and most recently ADAPT, is mappable to drmAgro. The result is a public available platform independent reference model which is and will be in continuous development. It is set up with a generic package and branch specific packages like crop production, greenhouse production and animal husbandry. Crop production covers a wide range of use cases like planning and reporting of fieldwork, providing advice, soil sampling and analyses, application of crop growth models, scheduling of farm operations, auditing, etc. This reference model is the basis for standardised SOAP/XML messages exchanged between farm management systems and advisors, processors and the government in the Netherlands. It is also the basis for REST/XML data exchange through the FIspace platform developed as an EU project. As mentioned above, there are different models intended as basis for standardised data exchange and many more proprietary interfaces defined. With globalisation of services in agriculture the need for one common basis will grow, while technology will continue to change. This requires a basis with clear semantics which is technology, platform, and independent. rmAgro has proven to be a solid basis for implementation of standardised data exchange through SOAP webservices in the Netherlands, and REST based message exchange in the FIspace project.