PA—Precision Agriculture: Dynamic Weighing for Accurate Fertilizer Application and Monitoring

✍ Scribed by J. van Bergeijk; D. Goense; L.G. van Willigenburg; L. Speelman

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 350 KB
• Volume: 80
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8634
• DOI: 10.1006/jaer.2001.0714

✦ Synopsis

The mass #ow of fertilizer spreaders must be calibrated for the di!erent types of fertilizers used. To obtain accurate fertilizer application manual calibration of actual mass #ow must be repeated frequently. Automatic calibration is possible by measurement of the actual mass #ow, based on dynamic weighing of the spreader. This paper describes the design and test of a dynamic weighing system. Under "eld conditions, this system was able to provide force due to spreader weight readings that have a standard deviation of 20 N, over a measurement range of 6}20 kN, at a maximum time delay of 1 s.

Time-stamped data logging of the spreader weight and the theoretical application rate combined with position information allows determination of the realized spatial application of fertilizer. A comparison can be made between realized and prescribed application rates. This information is necessary for evaluation of fertilizer management in a precision agriculture farming system and to accurately target fertilizer application to crop and soil status.