ION Technical Content
Applications of DGPS in Agriculture
| Abstract: | Agriculture is undergoing a revolution with increased producer acceptance of an improved management concept called Precision Farming. Simply stated, precision farming promotes greater yields and reduced input costs by ensuring that the right things are done at the right time at right place and in right amount in the field. Precision farming is a knowledge-based technology. It involves measurement of crop yields such that a colored map can be generated to show yield variability as a function of field location. These maps can be coupled with soil fertility test results and other information to generate prescriptions which can automatically control the rate at which inputs are applied to a field on a site specific basis. The goal of precision farming is to increase income while reducing environmental impact. Differentially corrected GPS is the backbone of these geo-referenced field operations. In agriculture today, differential correction is provided primarily through AM signals from local beacons and wide-area C-Band or L-Band signals from a geosyncronous satellite. Position accuracies in the range of 1-2 meters (2 sigma) are commonplace in agriculture today and are acceptable for most current operations such as yield mapping, soil sampling, and variable rate application of field inputs. There will be a need, however, for much greater accuracy, in the 5-10 cm range (2 sigma), in the future as GPS is used to automatically steer agricultural vehicles along predefined paths. One of the primary needs of agriculture for the future are new receiver systems that can provide this higher level of accuracy yet are affordable and easy to use. Precision Farming is the future of production agriculture. DGPS will be at the heart of all precision farming applications, and will prove critical to its success. |
| Published in: |
Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 14 - 16, 1997 Loews Santa Monica Hotel Santa Monica, CA |
| Pages: | 43 - 48 |
| Cite this article: | Smith, Wayne F., "Applications of DGPS in Agriculture," Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Santa Monica, CA, January 1997, pp. 43-48. |
| Full Paper: |
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