Site-specific management units in a commercial maize plot delineated using very high resolution remote sensing and soil properties mapping

Abstract

The joint use of satellite imagery and digital soil maps derived from soil sampling is investigated in the present paper with the goal of proposing site-specific management units (SSMU) within a commercial field plot. Very high resolution Quickbird imagery has been used to derive leaf area index (LAI) maps in maize canopies in two different years. Soil properties maps were obtained from the interpolation of ion concentrations (Na, Mg, Ca, K and P) and texture determined in soil samples and also from automatic readings of electromagnetic induction (EMI) readings taken with a mobile sensor.

Links between the image-derived LAI and soil properties were established, making it possible to differentiate units within fields subject to abiotic stress associated with soil sodicity, a small water-holding capacity or flooding constraints. In accordance with the previous findings, the delineation of SSMUs is proposed, describing those field areas susceptible of variable-rate management for agricultural inputs such as water or fertilizing, or soil limitation correctors such as gypsum application in the case of sodicity problems. This demonstrates the suitability of spatial information technologies such as remote sensing and digital soil mapping in the context of precision agriculture.