Field Evaluation of the Percentage of Overlap for Crop Protection Inputs with a Foam Marker System using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS

M. Reza Ehsani, Matthew Sullivan and Tom Zimmerman

Abstract:	In order to maintain a quality application of chemical in the field with no gaps in coverage, the operator overlaps the inputs applied to the field. There have been several estimations of the degree of overlap (from 0 to 10%) from custom applicators, but non have been able to quantify the actual overlap of inputs with foam marker application system using a global positioning system (GPS). The goal of this study was to quantify the application accuracy on custom application equipment using a foam marker system under field condition. The pass to pass and overall accuracy of the custom application equipment were calculated by the difference of the area covered of the spray width and distance driven and by the calculated distance of the boom width and the distance driven. This difference of area is defined as the actual in-field position of the vehicle from the desired position while driving in a straight line. For the three fields driven, driver one had an average pass-to-pass overlap of 4.9% with an average standard deviation of 5.4. Driver two had an average pass to pass overlap of 2.6% with an average standard deviation of 3.5%. Monitoring custom applicator overlap and providing solutions such as GPS guidance aids to reduce the overlap and skips are the next processes in improving the crop protection application process.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2004) June 7 - 9, 2004 Dayton Marriott Hotel Dayton, OH
Pages:	366 - 371
Cite this article:	Ehsani, M. Reza, Sullivan, Matthew, Zimmerman, Tom, "Field Evaluation of the Percentage of Overlap for Crop Protection Inputs with a Foam Marker System using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS," Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2004), Dayton, OH, June 2004, pp. 366-371.
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