Ground-based canopy reflectance sensor data analysis and processing for determining a methodology for nitrogen fertilization in sugarcane crop

• Grant number: 12/03897-9
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: José Paulo Molin
• Grantee: Lucas Rios Do Amaral
• Supervisor abroad: James S. Schepers
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Local de pesquisa : University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/08882-7 - Sugarcane nitrogen fertilization management at variable rates supported by ground optical sensors, BP.DR

Abstract

The demand for alternative sources of energy is globally growing , propitiating an intense expansion to the Brazilian sugarcane sector that demands technologies to maximize the sugarcane production and its economical return. Precision agriculture appears as an important tool, offering among others, sensors that work with crops reflectance allowing for variable rate nitrogen fertilization on real time. In this context, the main objective of the present project is to analyze data already collected in field experiments, focusing on the development of a methodology for nitrogen fertilization from active ground-based optical sensors in sugarcane crop, with the assistance of researchers that for several years have been working with this technology. The elected supervisor is recognized as one of the global authorities in this topic and is the creator of the crop sensor used in the filed investigations. The aim is to adapt what is already in use for crops such as wheat and maize in Europe and North America to the needs of the Brazilian sugarcane sector, through data collected in plot experiments with nitrogen rates and in strips tests with georreferenced data for the generation of nitrogen fertilization algorithms. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

AMARAL, LUCAS R.; MOLIN, JOSE P.; SCHEPERS, JAMES S. Algorithm for Variable-Rate Nitrogen Application in Sugarcane Based on Active Crop Canopy Sensor. AGRONOMY JOURNAL, v. 107, n. 4, p. 1513-1523, JUL-AUG 2015. Web of Science Citations: 10.