Soil Water Map - Part Two
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside are developing a model that would give tree crop growers a soil water map of their orchards. In order to accurately show how much water is in each part of the field, Elia Scudiero and his research team are relying on traditional sensors and adding a layer of electrical conductivity. He says collecting this data over time will lead to a more accurate model.
Scudiero… “ Once you start pairing that mobile conductivity to that fixed permanent sensor that measures the soil moisture. The good part is that you can keep learning. Anytime the robot passes by one of these sensors, you can get a new data point and you can get another data point when you pass close to another sensor.”
Collecting electrical conductivity data requires driving over it with a sensor. To do this continuously, Scudiero is using a field robot.
Scudiero… “ We had the necessity for this robot to be kind of ready to be out in the field, of course, but also small enough so that you could go close to the canopies if not under the canopies, depending on like how the fields are set up to measure the conductivity with a mobile sensor as close as possible to the areas where the soil is being irrigated.”
Scudiero thinks this approach will help give growers a better picture of their crop’s water needs, and ultimately better water efficiency.
