Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (Journal)

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 31 August 2010

A., Poursaberi , C., Bahr , A., Pluk , A., Van Nuffel , D., Berckmans

In this paper results on utilizing image analysis techniques towards early lameness detection in dairy cattle are presented. Data from two different dairy farms in Belgium were gathered. Preprocessing on raw data is required because of non-predictable behaviours of cows such as stopping for a while in front of the camera or non-uniform walking behaviour during experiments. Prelocalization of cow in each frame has been done based on two steps separation: (1) A coarse estimation of moving objects was obtained through background subtraction, (2) second statistical analysis of intensities in gray-scale image along with binarization was utilized to detect moving...

 Research highlights: ▶ There is a high correlation between lameness score and back posture in Dairy cattle. ▶ Cow tends to move her weight from lame hoof(s) to sound ones when she has contact with ground. ▶ New representation of back arch shows high reliability for lameness classification.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 30 August 2010

Daniel K., Fisher , Hirut, Kebede

A prototype system was developed and constructed for automating the measurement and recording of canopy-, soil-, and air temperature, and soil moisture status in cropped fields. The system consists of a microcontroller-based circuit with solid-state components for handling clock/calendar, sensor power, and data storage and retrieval functions. Sensors, including an analog soil moisture sensor, analog and digital temperature sensors, and a digital infrared thermometer, are widely available and inexpensive. The circuit board and sensor assemblies require approximately 4h to construct and test, and material costs totaled approximately US$84. Systems were built and tested during the 2009 growing season in a...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 23 August 2010

C.F., Machado , S.T., Morris , J., Hodgson , M.A., Arroqui , P.A., Mangudo

This paper details the rationale and procedures included in a web-based simulator containing production of beef cattle and cash crops. All biophysical and economical definitions including management in terms of rules constitute user-defined scenarios, which can be saved, retrieved, modified and deleted. Herbage growth may be either provided by the user or estimated from daily climate information. Scenarios are simulated and their outcomes are sent to the user's e-mail as a spreadsheet file, including data and pre-designed graphs to facilitate the interpretation of results. An example simulation study of a grazing-based finishing beef steers with a cycle of 12 months...

 Research highlights: ▶ This paper details the rationale and procedures included in a web-based simulator containing production of beef cattle and cash crops. ▶ Scenarios are simulated and their outcomes are sent to the user's e-mail as a spreadsheet file, including data and pre-designed graphs to facilitate the interpretation of results. ▶ The potential use of the web simulator as a flexible tool for investigation, training and decision making are discussed.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 August 2010

M.B., Hossain , D.W., Lamb , P.V., Lockwood , P., Frazier

Electromagnetic induction sensors, such as EM38, are used widely for monitoring and mapping soil attributes via the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the soil. The sensor response is the depth-integrated combination of the depth-response function of the EM38 and ‘local’ electrical conductivity (ECaz) at depth. In deep, Vertosol soils, assuming the instrument depth-response function is not perturbed by the soil and where volumetric moisture content at depth (θv(z)) dominates ECaz, EM38 should be capable of predicting average moisture content without recourse to mathematically complicated, and unstable profile inversion processes. Firstly a multi-height EM38 experiment was conducted over deep Vertosol soils...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 August 2010

John A., Kershaw Jr. , Evelyn W., Richards , James B., McCarter , Sven, Oborn

Spatial structure of forest stands is one of the main drivers of forest growth and yield, and is an important indicator of wildlife habitat, aesthetics, and other non-timber forest uses. Because spatial structure is costly to measure, a number of approaches for simulating spatial structures have been proposed. In this paper, we propose a simple approach that is capable of generating multispecies stand structures. Based on the method of copulas (Genest and MacKay, 1986, Am. Stat. 40:280–283), we utilize a normal copula to simulate spatially correlated stand structures. Species composition, diameter, height, and crown ratio distributions of each species, and...

 Research highlights: ▶ A spatially correlated stand structure system is developed based on the method of copulas and is implemented in the R statistic package. ▶ Standard Normal copulas are utilized to transform random normal variables into correlated variables. ▶ Example datasets and methods to estimate the required marginal distributions and correlation coefficients are presented. ▶ The system is capable of simulating a variety of forest stand structures from relatively simple single species structures to complex multispecies structures.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 August 2010

Diwan P., Ariana , Renfu, Lu

Hyperspectral imaging under transmittance mode has shown potential for detecting internal defect, however, the technique still cannot meet the online speed requirement because of the need to acquire and analyze a large amount of image data. This study was carried out to select important wavebands for further development of an online inspection system to detect internal defect in pickling cucumbers and whole pickles. Hyperspectral transmittance/reflectance images were acquired from normal and defective cucumbers and whole pickles using a prototype hyperspectral reflectance (400–740nm)/transmittance (740–1000nm) imaging system. Up to four-waveband subsets were determined by a branch and bound algorithm combined with the...

 Research highlights: ▶ The optimum four-waveband sets for fresh pickling cucumber were 745, 805, 965, and 985nm at 20nm spectral resolution and they resulted in 94.7% classification accuracy. ▶ The optimum four-waveband sets for fresh whole pickles were 745, 765, 885, and 965nm at 40nm spectral resolution and they resulted in 82.9% classification accuracy. ▶ Spectral resolution between 20 and 40nm would be appropriate for defect detection of pickling cucumbers.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 August 2010

T., Rumpf , A.-K., Mahlein , U., Steiner , E.-C., Oerke , H.-W., Dehne , ...

Automatic methods for an early detection of plant diseases are vital for precision crop protection. The main contribution of this paper is a procedure for the early detection and differentiation of sugar beet diseases based on Support Vector Machines and spectral vegetation indices. The aim was (I) to discriminate diseased from non-diseased sugar beet leaves, (II) to differentiate between the diseases Cercospora leaf spot, leaf rust and powdery mildew, and (III) to identify diseases even before specific symptoms became visible. Hyperspectral data were recorded from healthy leaves and leaves inoculated with the pathogens Cercospora beticola, Uromyces betae or Erysiphe betae...

 Research highlights: ▶ Automatic identification of plant diseases with Support Vector Machines. ▶ Combination of spectral vegetation indices. ▶ Multi-classification of different plant diseases. ▶ Early prediction of plant diseases before appearance of visible symptoms.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 7 August 2010

Yubin, Lan , Steven J., Thomson , Yanbo, Huang , W. Clint, Hoffmann , Huihui, Zhang

The first variable-rate aerial application system was developed about a decade ago in the USA and since then, aerial application has benefitted from these technologies. Many areas of the United States rely on readily available agricultural airplanes or helicopters for pest management, and variable-rate aerial application provides a solution for applying field inputs such as cotton growth regulators, defoliants, and insecticides. In the context of aerial application, variable-rate control can simply mean terminating spray over field areas that do not require inputs, terminating spray near pre-defined buffer areas determined by Global Positioning, or applying multiple rates to meet the variable...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 27 July 2010

Marc, Faget , Markus, Liedgens , Peter, Stamp , Patrick, Flütsch , Juan Manuel, Herrera

The limited flexibility available in the configuration of commercial minirhizotron imaging systems makes it difficult to adapt these systems to new applications. It is also too expensive to introduce modifications, which are often very temporary to these systems at the end of the development process.In order to identify the roots of a single species in mixed plant stands, we developed a new minirhizotron imaging system that makes it possible to observe roots expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). This system is based on affordable and easily obtainable components such as webcams. Here, we report a protocol to identify suitable webcams for...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 24 July 2010

D.D., Bochtis , C.G., Sørensen , S.G., Vougioukas

Agricultural field operations, such as seeding, harvesting, spraying, and fertilizing, are typically carried out by multi-machinery systems comprising one or more self-propelled or tractor-pulled units, and one or more service – mainly transport – units. The operation of a service unit must be carefully planned because its execution efficiency can significantly affect the productivity of the whole system.In this paper, an algorithmic approach for the generation of optimal in-field paths to be followed by service units, was developed and demonstrated. Both stationary and on-the-go unloading operations are supported. The approach was based on an abstraction of a field as a...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 23 July 2010

Andreas, Meyer-Aurich , Terry W., Griffin , Ruprecht, Herbst , Antje, Giebel , Nawaz, Muhammad

Knowledge of site-specific response may help farmers to tailor their management decisions with the help of precision farming technologies. However, farmers often have only a vague idea of the economic potential for site-specific management of their fields, which is important for investment decisions on precision farming technologies. This study presents an on-farm experimental approach to identify the economic potential of site-specific fertilization strategies at low costs. A strip trial with winter wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.) was established with precision farming technologies. Twelve different nitrogen fertilizer rates split in two applications were applied to 30 plots over a total strip length...

 Research highlights: ▶ Precision agriculture technologies can be used for on-farm experiments. ▶ Specific errors due to experimental design can be addressed with statistical models. ▶ Knowledge of spatial patterns of site-characteristics improve response models.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Volume 73, Issue 2, August 2010, Page CO2

[No author name available]

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 20 July 2010

A.J., Romera , P., Beukes , C., Clark , D., Clark , H., Levy , ...

Knowing the amount of herbage mass available on the farm (ideally measured weekly) is an important step in achieving high pasture utilization on pastoral dairy farms in New Zealand, but the information must be used in a timely manner to make efficient management decisions. However, most New Zealand dairy farmers do not measure their pastures regularly. This project aimed to develop a simple alternative, in the form of a prototype software tool (Pasture Growth Simulation Using Smalltalk, PGSUS) to predict herbage mass at an individual paddock level, which reduces (not eliminates) the requirement for physical data collection and provides more...

 Research highlights: ▶ A climate-driven pasture model is used to predict herbage mass on dairy farms. ▶ Four model parameters are fitted to the observed data for each paddock (learning). ▶ Climate data from the Virtual Climate Station Network are used to drive the model. ▶ Preliminary testing on two commercial dairy farms of New Zealand was satisfactory. ▶ The model estimated herbage mass with an R2 of 80% and small bias.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 19 July 2010

Jun, Zhang , Wanhua, Zhao , Yiping, Tang , Bingheng, Lu

The anti-clogging performance of emitters with labyrinth channels is a key factor affecting their long-term service. Considering the limitation of evaluation on emitter's anti-clogging performance at present, a new method using passage rate of particles as the evaluation index was proposed based on stochastic trajectory model in a Lagrangian reference frame. Using orthogonal design, the passage rates of particles of 16 trapezoidal labyrinth channels with various geometries were calculated, where 4 dimensionless parameters were taken as the factors. The results obtained from analysis of range and variance showed that the influence degree on passage rate of particles ranks as follows:...

 Research highlights: ▶ Passage rate of particles is used to evaluate the anti-clogging performance. ▶ Turning angle is the most important factor affecting the passage rate of particles. ▶ Passage rate of particles can be predicted by a mathematical model.

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 13 July 2010

P., Douglas , K.B., Dassanayake , D.F., Chapman , I.R., Johnson , M., Khanna , ...

Border-check irrigation is the predominant method of applying water to dairy pastures in Australia. Dairy pastures consume 40% of total irrigation water in Australia and, with irrigation water security in Australia under threat from climate variability/change and rising demands from other users, socio-economic pressure for water savings in the dairying sector are increasing. Currently, there are no simulation tools that successfully link factors controlling irrigation efficiency at the within-bay scale to management factors that drive economic water productivity (principally pasture growth, pasture consumption and animal production).A simulation framework was developed to connect a biophysical research model of weather–soil–plant animal interaction...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 10 July 2010

T., Ostersen , C., Cornou , A.R., Kristensen

This paper suggests a method for automatic detection of sows returning to oestrus in the gestation department. The detection is based on monitoring of sows’ visits to a boar, where the duration and frequency of visits are modelled separately and subsequently combined. The hypothesis is that it is possible to reduce the response time and the number of false alarms compared to previously published attempts. The duration of visits to a boar is defined as seconds per hour the sow is near the boar – logarithmically transformed. The duration is modelled with a multiprocess dynamic linear model with first order...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 7 July 2010

R.K., Sharma , A.K., Gupta

This work deals with the problem of measuring moisture content in agricultural soil by means of an on-site, easy to use and real-time acoustic wave system. The method is based on the propagation of an acoustic continuous wave (CW) with frequencies below 900Hz through the soil. Speed of these acoustic waves enables estimation of water content and degree of saturation in the agricultural soil. It is argued that the change in the speed of sound in relation to the moisture content of the soil can be used for a continuous monitoring and control of irrigation of crops, thus leading to...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 5 July 2010

Manoj Kumar, Gupta , D.V.K., Samuel , N.P.S., Sirohi

A decision support system was developed for greenhouse seedling production by incorporating tomato seedling growth models to attain the desired dry weight of tomato seedlings at the time of transplant. Tomato seedlings were produced in a greenhouse to develop growth models, which were divided into emergence, and post emergence. These mathematical models were used to develop a decision making process in the form of a DSS. The DSS was developed in visual basic 6.0. The DSS has two modules long term planning and daily temperature management. The former module deals with the long term planning of seedling production and advice...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 2 July 2010

Jérôme G., Fortin , François, Anctil , Léon-Étienne, Parent , Martin A., Bolinder

The objective of this work was to optimize a neural network (NN) for modelling potato tuber growth and its in-field variations in eastern Canada. In addition to climatic inputs, the cumulative and maximal leaf area index (LAI) were incorporated to account for in-field scale variability. Soil and genetic parameters were assumed to be integrated in LAI as suggested by earlier work. Each input and combination of inputs was evaluated from the changes they induced in MAE (mean absolute error) and RMSE (root mean square error). Results using data from several replicated on-farm experiments between 2005 and 2008 suggest that a...

Publication year: 2010
Source: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 2 July 2010

Chandra B., Singh , Digvir S., Jayas , Jitendra, Paliwal , Noel D.G., White

Healthy wheat kernels and wheat kernels damaged by the feeding of the insects: rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica), rusty grain beetle (Cryptolestes ferrugineus), and red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) were scanned using a near-infrared (NIR) hyperspecrtal imaging system (700–1100nm wavelength range) and a colour imaging system. Dimensionality of hyperspectral data was reduced and statistical and histogram features were extracted from NIR images of significant wavelengths and given as input to three statistical discriminant classifiers (linear, quadratic, and Mahalanobis) and a back propagation neural network (BPNN) classifier. A total of 230 features (colour, textural, and morphological) were...