1 Sensor technologies for Precision Agriculture Dr. Athanasios Gertsis PERROTIS COLLEGE ( American Farm School (AFS), Thessaloniki, GREECE CAH Vilentum, Dronten, The Netherlands July 2, 2014

2 Contents Part 1. My view of Precision Agriculture and sensors Part 2. The contribution of PERROTIS COLLEGE to Precision Agriculture

3 What we needed to do Precision Agriculture? Ca. 10 years ago…. – The 3 required components of PA: Sensors, GPS & GIS – Needed to establish Management Zones – MZ (…if significant variability in soil or crop properties exists…) – Lastly, use Variable Rate Technology for precise application of production inputs, based on predetermined MZs

4 What we need to do Precision Agriculture in the near future? Rapid developments in cutting-edge technologies…. The required component: Validated Sensors! Validated crop-soil simulation models! Long term ( to evaluate temporal as well as spatial variability) validated financial results at “farmer’s pocket” and “soil-crop- atmosphere” level!

5 What we need to do Precision agriculture…next? Latest developments…… – UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) Drones or 4 or 6 or 8 Chopters, – equipped with multispectral & broadband cameras – Ground located sensors (for “ground truthing”) – “On-the-go” systems, i.e. for N precision fertilizations, herbicide on the spot, etc. – EZ-guide systems (GPS based sensors) – Robotics… harvesting automations! – Note: “Validated” means not just “calibrated”!

6 Sample of “On-the-go” sensors commercially available for Nitrogen precision application Sample of “On-the-go” sensors commercially available for Nitrogen precision application

7 “On-the-go” systems currently available for N precision application “On-the-go” systems currently available for N precision application

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12 Sample of “On-the-go” sensors commercially available for Herbicide precision application Sample of “On-the-go” sensors commercially available for Herbicide precision application

13 WeedSeeker®is an automatic spot spray system that not only cuts weed-control costs by up to 90% and lowers labour costs, but also reduces the environmental impact of herbicide

14 An NDVI weed map can also be created with the sensors and additional components

15 UAV’s with sensor technologies (special cameras)

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29 History highlights & achievements in PRECISION AGRICULTURE at Perrotis College 1 st PA Workshop in Greece (2001) 1 st use of VERIS 3100 system for EC mapping (2002) 1 st wheat yield mapping in Greece (2004) 1 st application of PA in olives (2012) 1 st International Conference relating PA and the new CAP in EU (2013) BSc (Hons) degree in PA specialization –globally unique program – from1998 (as a 2-year program) and from 2010 as a BSc(Hons) program Conferences –seminars-workshops –farmer training Awarded by the President of Hellenic Republic and the Ministry of Rural Development & Foods, for the innovations & contribution to the Greek agrofood sector, through the PA program … Photo section follows….

30 29 June June 2001: The first workshop on Precision Agriculture in Greece (at Perrotis College-American Farm School, Thessaloniki) By the NESPAL team of the University of Georgia-USA (Dr. C. Kvien and Dr. G. Vellidis) Dr. Gertsis -13 years younger!

31 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS available at

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33 Establishment of Management Zones Use of the software: MZA (Management Zone Analyst software) MZA (Management Zone Analyst software) Surfer 8 (Mapping software) Surfer 8 (Mapping software) Manifold (GIS software)- Quantum GIS Manifold (GIS software)- Quantum GIS Use of sensors: Trimble GreenSeeker™ for NDVI Trimble GreenSeeker™ for NDVI Prochek ™ for Vol. soil water, ECa and Temp. Prochek ™ for Vol. soil water, ECa and Temp. HH2 and WET for Vol. soil water, ECa and Temp. HH2 and WET for Vol. soil water, ECa and Temp. MINOLTA SPAD 502 for relative leaf chlorophyll MINOLTA SPAD 502 for relative leaf chlorophyll

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39 Fields in AFS – May 2002

40 ( …this is not a disk harrow!!!) Disk arrays for measuring ECa at two depths (30 και 90 cm) Global Position System -GPS VERIS 3100 Soil ECa system

41 Clay loam soil ( 0.8 ha) May 2002 AFS

42 ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑΚΟΣ ΠΟΛΟΣ ΚΑΙΝΟΤΟΜΙΑΣ ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗΣ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑΣ Soil ECa maps created with VERIS 3000 system (area 12 ha at the AFS).

43 Cotton yield monitors and Console Trimble Differential GPS Spatial Management System (GIS)

44 A simple set of sensors-dataloggers and Geostatistical sftware used to establish Management Zones for PA: 1.HH2 datalogger and WET sensor (for spot readings at soil surface) 2.Decagon soil moisture sensor and datalogger (for continuoyw readings) 3.Dell palm PC equipped with a GPS 4. A Geostatistical software for mappring and statistical analysis of data collected

45 Set of 4 Field balances (5000 kg capacity each) for yield monitor validation

46 The wheat field (24 ha) and grain harvester equipped with yield monitor (June 2004)

47 Award to Dr. Athanasios Gertsis by HE The President of Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias October 16 th, 2013

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49 Thank you! Good luck for the FIFA 2014 World cup to The Dutch Team! Good luck for the FIFA 2014 World cup to The Dutch Team!