Geographical Information systems in Precision Agriculture
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This document provides an overview of precision agriculture and the role of geographical information systems (GIS) in agriculture. It discusses how GIS allows storage, display, manipulation and analysis of geospatial data. A practical study is described where soil samples were taken from a field using GPS, analyzed for pH and EC, and entered into a GIS database to create maps showing spatial variation in these soil properties. The maps reveal differences in elevation, pH, and EC that can help inform crop selection and management practices tailored to different areas of the field.
Geographical Information systems in Precision Agriculture
- 1. Practical Report on, Geographical Information Systems Precision Agriculture 32nd Batch 1
- 2. Page of contents Introduction What is Precision Agriculture? 3 What is Geographical Information System? 3 What GPS can do? 4 The Role of GIS in Agriculture 4 Practical Material and equipment 5 Methodology 5 Data 5 Soil sampling and mapping 6 Data analysis 7 References 9 Introduction 2
- 3. 1. What is Precision Agriculture? Precision Agriculture is the application of technologies and principals to manage spatial and temporal variability associated with all aspects of agricultural production for the purpose of improving crop performance and environmental quality. 2. What is Geographical Information System? A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared.GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. GIS Map 1 GPS receiver 1 3
- 4. 3. What GIS can do? Storage of data Display data Manipulation of data Statistical application Handling of missing data Comparison of maps 4. The Role of GIS in Agriculture Spatial analysis, the study of geographic features, and the relationships that exist between them can be applied to many areas of the agriculture industry. By better understanding how features within the landscape interact, decision makers can optimize operational efficiency and improve economic returns. Regardless of scale-whether at the farm field level analyzing crop yield information or across an entire country-GIS is becoming fully integrated and widely accepted for assisting government agencies to manage programs that support farmers and protect the environment. These are the agriculture GIS application in the field Combining agronomic and economic data sets Field data interpolation Decision support for farm management Farm asset allocation Field input reporting Regulatory compliance 4
- 5. Practical Material and equipments GPS receiver - to get positional coordinates Lord soil Sampler- to get soil samples Sampling bags- to collect soil samples pH meter –to measure the soil pH EC meter –to measure the soil EC GIS software/ computer/ user interface- to develop map Methodology As a group all the students of precision agriculture went to a selected bare field of faculty. Then we were separated to small groups. Soil samples with depth of 10 inches and 20 inches below from soil surface were taken. Meantime we collected the longitudinal and latitudinal data of the positions which soil samples were taken. Then we went to the engineering department’s laboratory and measure the pH and EC of the soil samples. These data were entered to database and also they feed to the GIS software, ARC VIEW. Finally soil sample map was developed. Data Arc view ID NO N E pH10 EC10 PH20 EC20 1 0095897 0177419 5.88 22.7 5.50 17.4 2 0095903 0177429 6.02 18.0 6.04 12.8 3 0095899 0177432 7.50 20.7 6.40 19.7 4 0095904 0177426 6.18 16.3 6.28 12.7 5 0095912 0177420 6.55 26.9 7.65 18.4 6 0095927 0177445 7.74 28.0 7.75 24.0 7 0095925 0177433 8.13 30.0 7.83 29.0 8 0095910 0177446 8.90 23.6 8.60 18.6 9 0095929 0177461 8.13 31.3 7.93 38.3 10 0095950 0177444 8.13 39.7 7.73 28.8 5
- 6. Soil sample mapping Elevation 1 EC-10 EC-20 6
- 7. Data analyzing Arial Photograph of faculty Red circular area shows the field which practical was done. Soil pH @ depth of 10cm Soil pH @ depth of 20cm 7
- 8. DATA analysis Importance of elevation This map shows the elevation of the site selected. If this is a large field we can select the crops according to the elevation. But this selected area is very small and elevation only varies between 27m-44m. Therefore we can select one common crop which is suitable for low lands for the whole field. The importance of the elevation map of this small field is we can apply the management practices according to the elevation. Specially we can apply soil conservation measures in the areas where the contour lines are present in more closely. Importance of soil pH A pH reading is a measurement that expresses the degree of acidity or alkalinity, very much like heat and cold are expressed in degrees Centigrade or Fahrenheit. The pH scale has 14 units and is centered on 7, which is neutral. Levels below 7 are considered in the acid or sour range and readings above 7 are alkaline or sweet. Soil nutrients are at their optimum availability in the range between 6 and 7. Most plants grow best in this range, although some type of plant growth can take place anywhere between 3.5 and 10. The pH level greatly affects the fertility of soil and quality of plant growth. Under alkaline conditions, the solubility of minerals decrease to the point that nutrient deficiencies occur. Plant growth is therefore limited by deficiencies in iron, manganese, zinc, copper and boron. Phosphorus is also less available in alkaline soils and high levels of calcium may inhibit the uptake of potassium and magnesium. Under acidic conditions, many soil minerals dissolve and increase the concentration of metal ions to toxic levels. The primary toxic metal is aluminum, but high levels of manganese and iron can also inhibit plant growth under these conditions. The nutrients phosphorus and molybdenum are less available in acidic soils and calcium and/or magnesium may also be deficient. In this field South area is more acidic and North area is more saline. Therefore we can consider the most suitable crops for the field according to this ph map. Acid tolerance crops are more suitable for south area and salinity tolerance crops are more suitable for north area. Also if there is any crop available, we can manage soil ph according to that crop’s requirements by changing soil ph. (by adding acids or bases.) 8
- 9. Importance of soil EC Soil electrical conductivity (EC) is a measurement that correlates with soil properties that affect crop productivity, including soil texture, cation exchange capacity (CEC), drainage conditions, organic matter level, salinity, and subsoil characteristics. By agricultural standards, soils with an EC greater than 4 dS/m are considered saline. We can clearly observe the variance of soil EC in this field with the maps developed. References Korte B. George, THE GIS BOOK, 5th Edition, 2001-by Onward press-Canada ISBN- 13: 978-0-7668-2820-9 -10:0-7688-2820-4 http://www.gis.com/content/what-gis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system Special Thanks for Mr. Amila Buddhika ( demonstrator of Agric Engineering dept) for his kindness Guidance and cooperation throughout this practical as well as developing maps with GIS. 9