Hyperspectral Sensing for Soil Health

Soil nutrient mapping has been implemented in agriculture for the last 40 years. Ongoing economic pressures in agriculture to increase crop yields while sustaining farmer profitability demands in-depth knowledge of soil nutrients. Spatial and temporal variability of yield-limiting factors have been recognized for a long time, and, with such information, farmers have technologies to manage their fields site-specific. However, farmers still tend to manage their fields uniformly because it takes cost, labor, and money to assess and monitor soil health conditions by traditional lab-based methods. We have used a rapidly emerging hyperspectral sensing technology to assess plant-available nutrient content in soil, especially nitrogen, for the use of optimizing in-season nitrogen management. The new and emerging technology would empower farmers with data to help them make better decisions to grow more profitable crops, protect the environment, while growing more nutritious food