For reliable center pivot automation, pivots will need to incorporate data from multiple types of sensors, which will reduce the uncertainty associated with the decision of when and how much to irrigate (Chavez et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021). Ongoing research is focusing on soil water sensors, plant canopy sensors, unmanned aircraft systems, and satellite imagery.
Journal Articles
- Kashyap, S. P., Heeren, D. M., Maguire, M. S., Woldt, W. E., Irmak, S., Bhatti, S., Singh, J., Shi, Y., & Neale, C. M. U. 2023. Diurnal soybean water stress computed using statistical-based thermal indices with high-frequency unmanned aircraft flights. Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Ecosystems 1(1): 33-48. https://doi.org/10.13031/jnrae.15465
- Singh, J., Y. Ge, D. M. Heeren, E. A. Walter-Shea, C. M. U. Neale, S. Irmak, W. E. Woldt, G. Bai, S. Bhatti, and M. M. Maguire. 2021. Inter-relationships between water depletion and temperature differential in row crop canopies in a sub-humid climate. Agricultural Water Management 256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107061
- Singh, J., Ge, Y., Heeren, D. M., Walter-Shae, E., Neale, C. M. U., Irmak, S., & Maguire, M. S. 2022. Unmanned aerial system-based data ferrying over a sensor node station network in maize. Sensors 22: 1863. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051863
- Zhang, J., K. Guan, B. Peng, C. Jiang, W. Zhou, Y. Yang, M. Pan, T. E. Franz, D. M. Heeren, D. R. Rudnick, O. Abimbola, H. Kimm, K. Caylor, S. Good, M. Khanna, J. Gates, and Y. Cai. 2021. Challenges and opportunities in precision irrigation decision-support systems for center pivots. Environmental Research Letters 16: 053003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe436
- Chavez, J. L., A. F. Torres-Rua, W. E. Woldt, H. Zhang, C. Robertson, G. W. Marek, D. Wang, D. M. Heeren, S. Taghvaeian, and C. M. U. Neale 2020. A decade of unmanned aerial systems in irrigated agriculture in the Western U.S. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 36(4): 423-436. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.13941
- Singh, J., D. M. Heeren, D. R. Rudnick, W. E. Woldt, G. Bai, Y. Ge, and J. D. Luck. 2020. Soil structure and texture effects on the precision of soil water content measurements with a capacitance-based electromagnetic sensor. Transactions of the ASABE 63(1): 141-152. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13496