Research Focus Government Ministry Agency Reduce contamination of - PDF document

Nebraska Jim Schepers U.S. Department of Agriculture Brazil Agricultural Research Service Argentina Greece ULRMC ULRMC USDA-ARS Government Government Ministry Agency Ministry Institute Institute University University University NGO NGO NGO Oblast State Oblast City City Agribusiness Consultants farmers Farmers Farmers ULRMC USDA-ARS Research Focus Government Ministry Agency Reduce contamination of water by nitrate Institute University University NGO NGO Safe Drinking Water Standard in USA Oblast State City 10 mg NO 3 -N /L Agribusiness 45 mg NO 3 /L Consultants Farmers Farmers mostly Grant Support mostly Permanent Funding 50 mg NO 3 /L (Europe) 1

Research Focus ? How well can we estimate the supply of mobile nutrients Reduce contamination of water by nitrate Sources N Pool • Fertilizer • Manure • Organic matter decomposition Causes of nitrate contamination of water Causes of nitrate contamination of water Sources Sources • Fertilizer • Fertilizer • Manure • Manure • Organic matter decomposition • Organic matter decomposition Excess water Excess water Too much N at the Too much N at the wrong times wrong times 30 - 40 ¢ /kg N Satellites Research Focus Aircraft Reduce contamination of water by nitrate Sources • Fertilizer Ground-based • Manure • Organic matter decomposition Approaches • Delineate soil management zones • Utilize remote sensing and GIS tools • Implement in-season N management 2

Spectral Options Calibration Tarps and Reflectance 70 Color Film 60 Reflectance (%) Reflectance 50 4% 40 8% Color IR Film 48% 30 20 64% 10 0 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Wavelength (nm) Digital Camera Data To Reflectance Digital Camera Data To Reflectance Highest Point in Nebraska 20 m Extra N fertilizer Hyperspect ral ASD Sensor Bare Soil “After Planting” Soil Survey Map Bare Soil Image 3

$20 2000 samples and $20,000 Soil Survey Map Grid Sampling Map Bare Soil Image Grid Sampling Map Intensive Soil Quality Assessment on a Field Scale Sprinkler irrigated field in Central Nebraska Soils Map Aerial Photograph Grid Sampling (12 x 24-m grid) Computer Generated Management Zones 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.5 2.9 3.3 Management Zones Organic Matter (%) Elevation Which GIS layers are needed to delineate Bare Soil Image Slope 4

Color CIR Yield Map 2000 Soil Survey Yield Map 2001 EM-38 Veris EM-38 (electro-magnetic induction) electrical conductivity Proxy for soil electrical conductivity Computer Generated Management Zones Incorporating. . . Bare Soil Aerial Photo Early Growing Season Infra-Red Photo Bare Soil Image Elevation Slope EM-38 Yield 97 Yield 98 Yield 99 Grain Yield Map from Yield Monitor on Combine 5

Soybean Color IR Hail damage Sprayer problems More uniform water distribution - Hopefully Cultivation in progress Uniformity Concerns: (May Turn Into Huge Yield Concerns) Irrigation Design Flaws Nozzle in canopy “ON” End-gun “OFF” End-gun “OFF” Irrigation Design Flaws AVIRIS Image Water stress Corner unit “ON” N Rates Bare soil PCA processing (3-m resolution) 6

Vineyards Color Color IR Goumenissa, northern Greece Oblique Aerial Photography Comparing Data with Different Spatial Resolution Photosynthesis Biomass Yield How to measure success ? ? ? “Picture Element” 1-ha Grid Sampling 100-m resolution 1 point/ha 7

0.2-ha Grid Sampling Yield Monitor 45-m resolution ~4-m resolution 5 points/ha 625 points/ha Concern / Analogy Aerial Photograph Measure it with a micrometer ( u m) ~0.3-m resolution Mark it with a piece of chalk (mm) ~100,000 points/ha Cut it with an ax (cm) Water, Fertilizer, Pesticides “If I apply it, good things will likely happen!” Photosynthesis Yield Monitor Biomass “Now that I have these maps, what do I do ?” Remote Sensing Yield “If you spend money on it, nothing is likely to happen until you do something else!” 8

Spectral Opportunities 70 60 Reflectance (%) 50 Photosynthesis 40 Living 30 Vegetation 20 “Biomass” 10 0 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Wavelength (nm) Sensitivity of Vegetation Indices 70 to Chlorophyll Levels Normal NIR – Red 60 NDVI = Adapted From Gitelson et al. (1996) NIR + Red 50 Reflectance (%) 0.9 Stressed 0.8 40 0.7 30 Vegetation Index 0.6 0.5 20 Bare Soil 0.4 0.3 10 0.2 Black background NDVI 0.1 0 GNDVI 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Wavelength (nm) Chlorophlyll (ug/cm2) Vegetation Indices vs Corn Yield 1 Correlation Coefficient (r) 0.9 0.8 Passive Sensors 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 NDVI 0.3 Natural Light TSAVI 0.2 GNDVI 0.1 0 6/12 6/26 7/10 7/24 8/7 8/21 9/4 Date 9

Development of narrow band field sensors: Upward Sensors Background panel Holland Scientific Ultraviolet Infrared nm 400 500 600 700 Passive Sensor 415 460 550 600 632 680 800 440 18 Sampling frequency: 4 read. s -1 Sampling rate Passive Multi-Spectral Sensor Rate of travel Rate of travel: 0.333 m s -1 16 4 reads s -1 0.333 m s -1 14 Reflectance at 800nm, % 12 Real-Time Application 12 reads m -1 10 2.0 m s -1 24 reads s -1 8 6 4 2 5.6 plants m -1 2.8 plants m -1 DGPS Off-Nadir View 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Distance traveled, m Nadir View Fertilizer 1 m Portable GreenSeeker Active Active Active Sensors substitute controlled radiation source for natural radiation 10

Portable GreenSeeker GreenSeeker Active Sensor Distance gauge Red and NIR 45 cm Width ~1 cm 60 cm Sensor 45-cm above target 60 cm GreenSeeker field of view Active Sensor – “ Foot-Print ” Green and NIR Active light source (~2000 Hz) 50 cm @ 1.0 m distance 11

Calibration Pioneer 3162 (June 22, 2000) 48 • What crop parameter is being estimated ? leaf N 47 y = 97.527x - 22.243 R 2 = 0.9859 chlorophyll 46 biomass 45 SPAD yield 44 LAI 43 42 • Interactions with weather ? 41 40 0.64 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.68 0.69 0.7 0.71 0.72 GNDVI Appropriate allocation of new inputs Real-Time Active Sensor / Sprayer WHEAT - Oklahoma Source: www.NTechindustries.com Capstan Ag Systems, Inc. Remote Sensing “If you spend money on it, you need to be prepared to do something with the information (i.e., make a decision . . . ) or else the activity will only have 12

U.S. Embassy Science Fellow Program Michele Dastin Ukrainian Land and Resource Management Center Eric Luhmann You Survived ! ! ! ! David Schaub Others . . . . . . . Family and Colleagues Marilyn Schepers USDA-Agricultural Research Service 13