Agronomy and Horticulture Department

 

Date of this Version

2011

Citation

Published in Precision Agric (2011) 12:82–102. DOI: 10.1007/s11119-010-9158-5

Abstract

Active canopy sensors are currently being studied as a tool to assess crop N status and direct in-season N applications. The objective of this study was to use a variety of strategies to evaluate the capability of an active sensor and a wide-band aerial image to estimate surface soil organic matter (OM). Grid soil samples, active sensor reflectance and bare soil aerial images were obtained from six fields in central Nebraska before the 2007 and 2008 growing seasons. Six different strategies to predict OM were developed and tested by dividing samples randomly into calibration and validation datasets. Strategies included uniform, interpolation, universal, field-specific, intercept-adjusted and multiplelayer prediction models. By adjusting regression intercept values for each field, OM was predicted using a single sensor or image data layer. Across all fields, the uniform and universal prediction models resulted in less accurate predictions of OM than any of the other methods tested. The most accurate predictions of OM were obtained using interpolation, field-specific and intercept-adjusted strategies. Increased accuracy in mapping soil OM using an active sensor or aerial image may be achieved by acquiring the data when there is minimal surface residue or where it has been excluded from the sensor’s field-ofview. Alternatively, accuracy could be increased by accounting for soil moisture content with supplementary sensors at the time of data collection, by focusing on the relationship between soil reflectance and soil OM content in the 0–1 cm soil depth or through the use of a subsurface active optical sensor.

Share

COinS