Sensors and Their Application in Precision Agriculture

Abstract

The paper depicts sensors in precision agriculture. It encompasses the most significant and frequently used sensors in agriculture. Furthermore, the paper explains the main sensor types according to their design, the recorded range of electromagnetic spectrum, as well as the way of detection, recording, measuring, and representation of the detected energy. The development of remote research has provided deeper understanding of remote sensors and their advantages. The sensors installed on soil testing equipment, fertilizing and crop protection machinery, as well as crop picking machinery have been analyzed relative to precision farming. The paper depicts widely known sensors OptRx, ISARIA and VRT technology. The results of the paper assess the data collected by sensors and processed in order to produce maps for agrotechnical operations. The application of maps decreases the employment of human resources, heightens the capacity of data collection, increases the precision of agricultural activities, and finally results in decreasing the cost of final products. The technological progress over the past decade has enabled the development of technology with variable application standards (VRT) that, according to current needs, enables input optimization.