Differences between laboratory and sensor analyses for soil attributes

Abstract

Sensors used in precision agriculture can perform readings of georeferenced points aiming to determine the electrical conductivity, pH and organic matter. These devices have a high operational capacity, but with little information on the quality of their collected data. This study aimed to establish correlations and differences among electrical conductivity, pH and organic matter data collected by sensor and obtained by laboratory analyses. The results were analyzed by statistical correlations, geostatistical analyses and map generation by the kriging interpolation method of electrical conductivity, pH and organic matter, using dedicated softwares. The sensor showed that the data collected for electrical conductivity, pH and organic matter are reliable and robust, due to the high spatial dependence and correct sampling distance confirmed by the range values.

Keywords

• precision agriculture sensors
• soil electrical conductivity
• soil attributes