GIS for precision farming – senzor monitoring at "Moara Domneasca" Farm, UASVM of Bucharest

Abstract

Precision farming is an intelligent way of approaching agricultural activities, which involves the use of advanced machines and technologies to streamline the agricultural process and ensure the control of agricultural production. Practicing precision farming represents, for Romanian farms, the best step towards progress, based on the technologies in the field, from automatic GPS systems to soil sensors, helping farmers to obtain the best results in a more efficient way, efficient and simpler, without wasting energy and resources. Part of modern technology is represented by sensors that can monitor different parameters related to soil and atmosphere. The obtained values must be monitored and processed in some agricultural applications, as well as of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that allow the spatialization of the data and the creation of specific thematic maps, which come to the support of the farmers for optimal decisions. For the monitoring of the agricultural land, images taken with a drone (eBee Classic UAV) were used, which were the basis for making the maps needed to place the Teralytic sensors for monitoring the following soil parameters: Humidity, Salinity, Soil temperature, pH, Nitrates, Potassium, Phosphorus, at three different depths (15 cm, 45 cm and 91 cm). The research has shown the importance of using GIS techniques in spatializing the data obtained from these sensors and developing specific thematic digital maps that support farmers to make decisions regarding the programming of various agricultural works depending on the type of crop.