Reference no: EM132366930 , Length: word count : 1500
Assessment : Putting precision agriculture into practice
We will visit a paddock on a farmnear Meckering (Rob Beard's farm, paddock QP3, location -31.4523o, 117.11236 o). The main objective is for you to develop a ‘prescription map' for variable application of potassium fertiliser for the farmer on his paddock(QP3). You will also be using the on-line biomass mapping tool from Decipher(Decipher is poweredby Google Earth Engine and usessatellite images, geospatial data and global-scaleprocessing to produce NDVI maps, among other things).
For this report produce four maps/diagrams of Paddock QP3, including 1) the farmers "rough sketch/mud map" (provided on LMS) and maps showing 2) the agronomists recommended prescription map with the potassium management zones (for variable potassium application [see LMS for Shape file QP3 VR MOP_19], 3) NDVI for this paddock from Decipher (online precision agriculture tool) and 4) a separate map showing four management zones based on NDVI from Decipher. Each of the maps should show the site of the soil samples.
You should also produce a figure/graph (downloaded from Decipher) showing a comparison of this year's crop (2019) with that of the previous two years (2018 and 2017).
The report should be done on an individual basis. This should be a short, concise, report of between 1000-1500 words, excluding maps and associated captions.Include all the relevant maps and refer to all attached maps in the text (Fig 1, Fig 2 etc.).
It should include the following headings/format:
• Title (Be brief but descriptive)
• Introduction - The Introduction should acquaint the reader with the site visited and end with a clear statement of the objectives.
• Methods and recommendations -
a. Briefly explain how the farmer and his soils agronomist came up with a potassium ‘prescription map' for variable application of potassium fertiliser to his paddock called QP3. As part of this you should describe the information that was collected by the farmer/agronomist and the method that was used to come up with the ‘agronomists recommended prescription map' (i.e. no 2 above).
b. Then explain how you produced your own NDVI map and prescription map using Decipher.
c. How does your NDVI-based prescription map compare with that produced by the agronomist?You should also explain if you think that there is any important information missing and justify why you think so.
d. Finally, explain how this season's growth (NDVI/biomass) is progressing compared with the previous two seasons, both at a whole paddock scale and for at least two selected points (e.g. one in a high biomass area and the second point in a medium or low biomass area of paddock QP3).