Annals of Agric. Sci., Moshtohor ISSN 1110-0419
Vol. 48(4) (2010), 129-135 http://annagricmoshj.com
Mapping and modeling soil characteristics to evaluate precision farming.
Esmat H. Noufal1, Alaa H. El-Nahry2, Haythum M.H. Salem1, and Wessam R. Zahra1.
1Faculty of agriculture, Benha Univ.
2National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Cairo, Egypt.
Abstract
The study was carried out on the southern sector of Kalubia Governorate, Egypt, with an area of 89512.86
Feddans (93988.50 acres). The general objective of this study was to obtain accurate and timely information
about the spatial variability and status of the soil characteristics using geographic information system (GIS) and
remote sensing techniques. Collection of soil data were conducted by systematic sampling and a global
positioning system (GPS) was used to precisely determine site locations of the samples. All samples were
analyzed to determine selected soil properties of CEC, EC, organic matter, CaCO3, ESP and gypsum. Soil
mapping variability was later analyzed using the geostatistics software. Kriging analysis was used to determine
the value of each point in the area of study. A semi variogram was developed to describe the spatial relationship
between the locations where the value of a soil property was estimated and characterized. Semi variogram
analysis using geostatistics produced kriged map for CEC (6.09 – 57.14). Calcium carbonate, organic matter and
gypsum contents were 2.35 - 45.38 g/kg, 1.80 - 12.07 g/kg, and 6.51-34.68 g/kg respectively. The EC value
ranged between 0.83 and 44.51 dS/m. The ESP value ranged between 2.84 and 79.30. The study implies that
site-specific or precision agriculture provides a useful management tool in the forecasting of crop yield and
future market intelligence. Further research with respect to integrating the use of remotely sensed data with GPS
and GIS to improve accuracy of systematic variability mapping in the studied area should be carried out. |
