Physical measures of soil variability in precision agriculture

Abstract

Soil is generally considered to have a major effect on crop yield and may be subjected to spatial and temporal variability. This paper introduces different methods involved in soil characterization in the field of precision agriculture. Quantitative methods based on soil sampling give information about physical and chemical composition of soils. On the other hand, qualitative methods of soil characterization give complementary information by using electrical resistivity measurements, reflectivity or mechanical measurements. These last methods allow to reduce soil sampling density.