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Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Precision agriculture

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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Engineering

Aicropcam: Deploying Classification, Segmentation, Detection, And Counting Deep-Learning Models For Crop Monitoring On The Edge, Nipuna Chamara, Geng (Frank) Bai, Yufeng Ge Dec 2023

Aicropcam: Deploying Classification, Segmentation, Detection, And Counting Deep-Learning Models For Crop Monitoring On The Edge, Nipuna Chamara, Geng (Frank) Bai, Yufeng Ge

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Precision Agriculture (PA) promises to meet the future demands for food, feed, fiber, and fuel while keeping their production sustainable and environmentally friendly. PA relies heavily on sensing technologies to inform site-specific decision supports for planting, irrigation, fertilization, spraying, and harvesting. Traditional point-based sensors enjoy small data sizes but are limited in their capacity to measure plant and canopy parameters. On the other hand, imaging sensors can be powerful in measuring a wide range of these parameters, especially when coupled with Artificial Intelligence. The challenge, however, is the lack of computing, electric power, and connectivity infrastructure in agricultural fields, preventing …


A Methodology To Optimize Site-Specific Field Capacity And Irrigation Thresholds, Hemendra Kumar, Puneet Srivastava, Jasmeet Lamba, Bruno Lena, Efstathios Diamantopoulos, Brenda Ortiz, Bijoychandra Takhellambam, Guilherme Morata, Luca Bondesan Jan 2023

A Methodology To Optimize Site-Specific Field Capacity And Irrigation Thresholds, Hemendra Kumar, Puneet Srivastava, Jasmeet Lamba, Bruno Lena, Efstathios Diamantopoulos, Brenda Ortiz, Bijoychandra Takhellambam, Guilherme Morata, Luca Bondesan

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The determination of field capacity (FC), irrigation thresholds, and irrigation amounts is characterized by site-specific soil hydraulic properties (SHPs). This study, conducted in two zones (zone 1 and zone 2) delineated based on soil, topography, and historical crop yield in Alabama (USA), focused on determining zone-specific FC using negligible drainage flux (qfc) criterion. The HYDRUS-1D model was used to optimize zone-specific SHPs using measured soil matric potential (h). The zone-specific FCs were determined using optimized and raw SHPs at 0.01 cm/day as qfc. The results showed that the optimized FC at qfc …


Ag-Iot For Crop And Environment Monitoring: Past, Present, And Future, Nipuna Chamara, Md Didarul Islam, Geng Bai, Yeyin Shi, Yufeng Ge Sep 2022

Ag-Iot For Crop And Environment Monitoring: Past, Present, And Future, Nipuna Chamara, Md Didarul Islam, Geng Bai, Yeyin Shi, Yufeng Ge

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

CONTEXT: Automated monitoring of the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum at a high spatiotemporal resolution is a key to transform the labor-intensive, experience-based decision making to an automatic, data-driven approach in agricultural production. Growers could make better management decisions by leveraging the real-time field data while researchers could utilize these data to answer key scientific questions. Traditionally, data collection in agricultural fields, which largely relies on human labor, can only generate limited numbers of data points with low resolution and accuracy. During the last two decades, crop monitoring has drastically evolved with the advancement of modern sensing technologies. Most importantly, the introduction …


Gis-Based Volunteer Cotton Habitat Prediction And Plant-Level Detection With Uav Remote Sensing, Tianyi Wang, Xiaohan Mei, J. Alex Thomasson, Chenghai Yang, Xiongzhe Han, Pappu Kumar Yadav, Yeyin Shi Dec 2021

Gis-Based Volunteer Cotton Habitat Prediction And Plant-Level Detection With Uav Remote Sensing, Tianyi Wang, Xiaohan Mei, J. Alex Thomasson, Chenghai Yang, Xiongzhe Han, Pappu Kumar Yadav, Yeyin Shi

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Volunteer cotton plants germinate and grow at unwanted locations like transport routes and can serve as hosts for a harmful cotton pests called cotton boll weevils. The main objective of this study was to develop a geographic information system (GIS) framework to efficiently locate volunteer cotton plants in the cotton production regions in southern Texas, thus reducing time and economic cost for their removal. A GIS network analysis tool was applied to estimate the most likely routes for cotton transportation, and a GIS model was created to identify and visualize potential areas of volunteer cotton growth. The GIS model indicated …


Rapeseed Stand Count Estimation At Leaf Development Stages With Uav Imagery And Convolutional Neural Networks, Biquan Zhao, Chenghai Yang, Yeyin Shi, Qingxi Liao, Guangsheng Zhou, Chufeng Wang, Tianjin Xie, Zhao Jiang, Dongyan Zhang, Wanneng Yang, Chenglong Huang, Jing Xie, Jian Zhang Jan 2020

Rapeseed Stand Count Estimation At Leaf Development Stages With Uav Imagery And Convolutional Neural Networks, Biquan Zhao, Chenghai Yang, Yeyin Shi, Qingxi Liao, Guangsheng Zhou, Chufeng Wang, Tianjin Xie, Zhao Jiang, Dongyan Zhang, Wanneng Yang, Chenglong Huang, Jing Xie, Jian Zhang

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Rapeseed is an important oil crop in China. Timely estimation of rapeseed stand count at early growth stages provides useful information for precision fertilization, irrigation, and yield prediction. Based on the nature of rapeseed, the number of tillering leaves is strongly related to its growth stages. However, no field study has been reported on estimating rapeseed stand count by the number of leaves recognized with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. The objectives of this study were to provide a case for rapeseed stand counting with reference to the existing knowledge of the number of leaves …


Moving Integrated Weed Management From Low Level To A Truly Integrated And Highly Specific Weed Management System Using Advanced Technologies, S. L. Young, S. K. Pitla, F. K. Van Evert, J. K. Schueller, F. J. Pierce Jan 2017

Moving Integrated Weed Management From Low Level To A Truly Integrated And Highly Specific Weed Management System Using Advanced Technologies, S. L. Young, S. K. Pitla, F. K. Van Evert, J. K. Schueller, F. J. Pierce

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Integrated weed management (IWM) is one of the most commonly referred to approaches for sustainable and effective weed control in agriculture, yet it is not widely practiced, likely because current IWM systems fail to meet performance expectations of growers. The effectiveness and value of IWM systems should increase with increasing application specificity and true integration made possible with contemporary advances in technology, information systems and decision support. IWM systems can be classified based on their degree of application specificity and level of integration of tactics. In the application specificity pathway, a tactic is applied at a range of scales, from …


Control System Development And Response Analysis Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle For Agricultural Pesticide Applications, Joe D. Luck, S. A. Shearer, M. P. Sama, Santosh Pitla Jan 2015

Control System Development And Response Analysis Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle For Agricultural Pesticide Applications, Joe D. Luck, S. A. Shearer, M. P. Sama, Santosh Pitla

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The goal of this research project was to further the development of an electromechanically controlled variable-orifice nozzle by creating an electronic control system and then evaluating that system based on step and ramp inputs. The control system was developed in a programming environment that combined an electronic data acquisition system and actuator with pressure and flow sensors. A proportional, variable-gain (based on system pressure) control system was developed to adjust nozzle flow rates to meet target application rates. The constraints were to achieve settling time of less than 1.0 s, overshoot of less than 10% of maximum flow (or minimum …


Flow, Spray Pattern, And Droplet Spectra Characteristics Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle, Joe D. Luck, Santosh Pitla, M. P. Sama, S. A. Shearer Jan 2015

Flow, Spray Pattern, And Droplet Spectra Characteristics Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle, Joe D. Luck, Santosh Pitla, M. P. Sama, S. A. Shearer

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the flow rate, spray pattern, and droplet spectra characteristics of an actively controlled variable-orifice nozzle at constant carrier pressures. A commercially available variable- orifice nozzle (VariTarget) was modified to allow for direct electromechanical control of the metering stem. The modified system was tested at five carrier pressures ranging from 138 to 414 kPa and five metering stem (and thus orifice) positions. The metering stem position range was chosen because it provided a linear response in flow rate at each carrier pressure. Flow rate testing indicated a turndown ratio of 2.4:1 …


Comparison Of 2-Way Versus Metered 3-Way Boom Shut-Off Valves For Automatic Section Control On Agricultural Sprayers, Ajay Sharda, Joe D. Luck, John P. Fulton, Timothy P. Mcdonald, Scott A. Shearer, Daniel K. Mullenix Jan 2012

Comparison Of 2-Way Versus Metered 3-Way Boom Shut-Off Valves For Automatic Section Control On Agricultural Sprayers, Ajay Sharda, Joe D. Luck, John P. Fulton, Timothy P. Mcdonald, Scott A. Shearer, Daniel K. Mullenix

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Modern spray rate controllers along with technologies such as automatic section control (ASC) provide benefits such as overlap reduction on agricultural sprayers. However, product (liquid) dynamics within the boom plumbing affect off-rate errors and application uniformity during rate changes and ASC actuation. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare nozzle flow stability and uniformity across the boom when using two different boom shut-off valves (2-way and metered 3-way) on an 18.3-m sprayer boom. Pressure transducers were mounted at 1) the boom manifold, 2) randomly at 12 nozzle bodies across the spray boom, and 3) upstream and downstream of the flow …


Evaluation Of A Rhodamine-Wt Dye/Glycerin Mixture As A Tracer For Testing Direct Injection Systems For Agricultural Sprayers, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer, Brian D. Luck, Fred A. Payne Jan 2012

Evaluation Of A Rhodamine-Wt Dye/Glycerin Mixture As A Tracer For Testing Direct Injection Systems For Agricultural Sprayers, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer, Brian D. Luck, Fred A. Payne

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The purpose of this study was to provide valuable insight regarding the use of Rhodamine WT (red) dye as a tracer for evaluating injected concentrations. More specifically, the effects of mixing the dye with glycerin to simulate the viscosity of a pesticide (e.g., glyphosate) or injecting the dye/glycerin mixture into deionized (DI) versus tap water on developing appropriate calibration equations were evaluated. Test results indicated that mixing the dye in a solution of glycerin and DI water significantly affected absorbance measurements compared to the dye mixed solely in DI water. The error in estimating absorbance was 7.4% between the two …


A Case Study Concerning The Effects Of Controller Response And Turning Movements On Application Rate Uniformity With A Self-Propelled Sprayer, Joe D. Luck, A. Sharda, Santosh Pitla, J. P. Fulton, S. A. Shearer Jan 2011

A Case Study Concerning The Effects Of Controller Response And Turning Movements On Application Rate Uniformity With A Self-Propelled Sprayer, Joe D. Luck, A. Sharda, Santosh Pitla, J. P. Fulton, S. A. Shearer

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce off-target application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation may lead to off-rate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes or velocity variation across the spray boom during turning movements. This project focused on characterizing application rate variation for three fields located in central Kentucky. GPS coordinates, boom control status, and nozzle pressure data (at 15 nozzle locations) were recorded as …


Analysis Of An Ion‐Selective Electrode Based Methodology For Integrated On‐The‐Go Mapping Of Soil Ph, Potassium, And Nitrate Contents, B. Sethuramasamyraja, V. I. Adamchuk, D. B. Marx, A. Dobermann, G. E. Meyer, D. D. Jones Jan 2007

Analysis Of An Ion‐Selective Electrode Based Methodology For Integrated On‐The‐Go Mapping Of Soil Ph, Potassium, And Nitrate Contents, B. Sethuramasamyraja, V. I. Adamchuk, D. B. Marx, A. Dobermann, G. E. Meyer, D. D. Jones

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Knowledge of the spatial variation of soil attributes is critical for precision agriculture. On‐the‐go soil sensors have been able to provide relatively high mapping density while assessing this variation. A new ion‐selective electrode (ISE) based approach was developed and tested for simultaneous mapping of soil pH, residual nitrate (NO3 -), and soluble potassium (K+) contents. In this article, results of laboratory experiments investigating the effects of key measurement factors on ISE performance are presented. In addition to four different soils, these factors included: soil/water ratio (SWR), quality of water used for electrode rinsing (QWR) and for …