SYSTEM INTEGRATION & AUTOMATION


University of Nebraska researchers Derek Heeren, PhD, and Sandeep Bhatti with collaborators and partners at the USDA ARS in Bushland, Texas.


Gathering data


Heeren partnered with the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service in Bushland, Texas, who already had expertise in mounting IRTs on center pivot systems. The research had four objectives, starting with evaluating the accuracy of pivot-mounted multispectral and infrared thermometer sensors compared to data from stationary sensors and sensors deployed using uncrewed aircraft. It compared crop health in terms of vegetative indices and crop water stress for maize and soybean in relation with varying levels of soil water content and developed thresholds using thermal indices for triggering irrigation for the subhumid climate of the eastern Great Plains. The research also evaluated total applied irrigation and crop yield by comparing the performance of an existing patented system involving center pivot automation and pivot-mounted sensors against traditional irrigation scheduling methods.


Field experiments, led by PhD student Sandeep Bhatti, were conducted on


irrigationtoday.org


Bhatti’s pivot automation research started with evaluating the accuracy of multispectral and infrared thermometer sensors mounted on pivot laterals (left) compared to sensors on stationary posts (right), as well as a thermal camera mounted on an unmanned aircraft system.


Winter 2022 | Irrigation TODAY 15


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