Integrated Soil Mapping System for Directed Soil Sampling

Soil properties vary spatially, thus, reducing the application efficiency of inputs like fertilizers and irrigation, in case they are uniformly applied. Consequently, there is a need to develop systems that can acquire information from in-field measurements and convert it into advice for appropriate site-specific management. Toward that direction, the concept of an integrated soil information management system is described in this paper. In particular, the proposed information system receives data associated with soil properties, processes the available information by fusing the data form various layers of information acquired in the field and produces zone maps that determine the locations for targeted soil sampling. The measurements concern the pH, electrical conductivity and compaction of soil and are conducted either by sensors attached to an unmanned ground vehicle or manually by a user through exploiting the developed Android mobile application to guide them in the field to the sampling points.