Opportunities for examining on-farm soil variability

Donald R. Nielsen, Ole Wendroth, M. B. Parlange

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearchpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

By observing and taking advantage of the spatial and temporal variability of natural resources rather than ignoring them, the chapter provides a glimpse into the future when the observational methods in agriculture and landscape ecology are more diagnostic and are an integral part of a fully developed field technology. A few examples is given to illustrate when, where and how to better sample the behavior of an entire agricultural field or an ensemble of such fields. Solute leaching, intercrop spacing, persistence of spatial field patterns and diagnosing variations in crop production are discussed in relation to spectral and cospectral analyses. State-space approaches are used to examine soil surface observations, to explain within field variations of crop nitrogen fixation and to prioritize soil attributes for soil specific crop management. Suggestions for using split moving window techniques and fuzzy set analyses are presented for an ensemble of farms.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSite-Specific Management for Agricultural Systems
EditorsP.C. Robert, R.H. Rust, W.E. Larson
Place of PublicationMadison WI USA
PublisherWiley-Academy
Pages95-132
Number of pages38
ISBN (Electronic)9780891182603
ISBN (Print)9780891181279
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1995
Externally publishedYes
EventSite-Specific Management for Agricultural Systems 1994 - Thunderbird Hotel, Minneapolis, United States of America
Duration: 27 Mar 199430 Mar 1994
Conference number: 2nd

Conference

ConferenceSite-Specific Management for Agricultural Systems 1994
Country/TerritoryUnited States of America
CityMinneapolis
Period27/03/9430/03/94

Keywords

  • Cospectral analyses
  • Crop production
  • Intercrop spacing
  • Soil surface observations
  • Solute leaching
  • Spatial field pattern persistence
  • Spatial variability
  • Spectral analyses
  • State-space approaches
  • Temporal variability

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