February 2002 Review Article

 

 

 

                                   

 

 

 

 February 2002: NCWC GIS USERS GROUP INTRODUCTION/REVIEW ARTICLE

 

Thanks to all those who are curious and following the review article trail.

 

For February, I am presenting an introduction rather than a review article. The purpose of the upcoming review articles and archive pages on this site is threefold:

 

 

We have been using maps and diagrams in our daily lives since we can remember. When I was a youngster, the Compton's Encyclopedia I used for school reports had transparent overlays to display the human body. The principal was simple. I kept laying one transparent page over another to learn the relative positioning of organ systems within the body's compartments. The pages were constructed to produce a slight element of depth. Very cool !!

 

While at the Cloverdale Ag Show in the Autumn of 1997, I met a fellow named Don Gordon who was demonstrating computer software that aided in vineyard design and spatial visualization. He called it a Geographic Information System (GIS). In this system, each plant was a discrete unit. Measurements could be made that summarized selected plants which were located in one area relative to the entire block or vineyard. Layers representing elevation, soil characteristics, plant materials, trellis components and solar illumination could all be overlaid in one view. The composite "map" could be zoomed in or out. You could move around as if you were there. This Don guy had even written little "macro-like tools" that allowed you to redraw row orientations and reposition blocks. Gordon called it Precision Farming. Very, very cool !!

 

That spring, I spoke with some folks and the Northern California GIS Users Group was formed. I wanted to learn more about this technology. Additionally, I wanted to create a forum where my northern California neighbors could check it out and see if they thought it was cool also. Here we are in 2002 still curious and hopefully, better informed.

 

The supporting technology for Precision Farming has been evolving for 20 years. Precision Farming and the use of GIS methods began in the mid-west with flatland row crops. There, the terrain was sufficiently uniform in enough ways that the technology could be more easily developed, applied and the basic methods established.

 

Here on the Pacific coast, due to enormous variation in terrain, climate, crop types and soil compositions; the refinements necessary to bring essential three-dimensional capabilities to farming were slower to develop. The inclusion of terrain elevation as a variable to farming added a complex, expensive dimension to developing software and achieving approachable product pricing. The computer hardware to calculate and display such maps was evolving and very expensive. Only large firms with analysis divisions could afford to take it on. Recently, this has all changed. Practically all precision farming technology areas are quite well-developed.

 

Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology combines simple and complex data models with a highly sophisticated geoprocessing tool. Specific applications of these methods to agriculture have resulted in systematic ways to identify, account for and control variability in crop quality and yield......essentially, what has been referred to in this essay as Precision Farming. With the availability of increasingly powerful and economical desktop computers and improvements in Global Positioning Systems (GPS), agriculture is now joining other industries in making regular use of this technology.

 

Global Positioning Systems are commercially available from half a dozen manufacturers; all competing and leap-frogging each other. I am not referring to the navigation grade handhelds. These units are resource-tracking grade and survey grade higher-tech devices that can measure as accurately as hundredths of an inch. Prices are dropping. Quality is improving. Availability is not a problem. Some GPS manufacturers have engineering divisions and agricultural divisions. This is because of the growing acceptance of Precision Farming.

 

The software applications to calculate board feet, azimuth and bearing, vine row orientation, degree days and how much fertilizer to deliver through a spray nozzle are available....NOW. Sophisticated computer analysis software products that can estimate crop yields as a function of any number of collectable parameters are in second and third revisions. Further refinements consist of rewriting the applications to run on handheld Personal Data Assistants (PDAs). These PDAs can be used to integrate with GPS devices to collect data and analyze the data on the fly.

 

Computer hardware systems that can survive the daily rigors of farm site and construction site use are now easily obtained and moderately affordable. Desktop workstations for data management, data analysis and high resolution graphics are available for between $1500 and $2500.....that's cheap.

 

This year at the Tulare Farm Show, the first serious demonstration of GPS guidance systems for tractors was presented by Trimble. Variable Rate Technology (VRT) products were numerous. VRT allows GPS tractor guidance systems to integrate with computer controlled chemical deployment off the back of a tractor or ATV. Predetermined and precisely timed changes are programmed into the onboard computer to account for deficiencies in certain field locations. This allows a farmer to analyze his crop and make precise changes in the farming practices through varying the amount of water or chemicals applied to a field or vineyard. Correspondingly, there were more refined analysis systems to detect soil deficiencies, terrain variability, plant variability and moisture and climatic variabilities. These analysis systems can now be linked to the VRT devices on the back of GPS monitored tractors. Within two more years, the hillside navigation problem will be solved. Driver assisted VRT systems are available now for steep terrain.

 

Each year the breadth of products and product vendors grows more vast. What should a farmer buy? Who should a farmer believe? How can a farmer learn to do these things on his or her own? When should they outsource these high-tech tasks? When should they hire in?

 

At the farm show, I also met Rollin D. Strohman Ph.D. He is a professor of BioResource and Agricultural Engineering at Cal Poly. He has put together a B.S. program conferring a minor in Precision Farming. This program is for agriculture majors. Upon completion, they are familiar with GPS data collection, GPS tractor guidance, software based crop yield analysis and GIS methods in agriculture. They are the beginning of the next generation of "Precision Farmers".

 

Although far from a formal curriculum, PVTS coordinates a northern California viticultural GIS users group that meets every other month. Topics include information-based lectures and discussions of GIS methods that directly apply to viticulture and wine making. The group has been meeting for four years and represents a stable forum for the increasing use of GIS methods in local farming and land planning activities.

 

Up to now, the GPS data collector and GIS workstation have been used mainly for vineyard design. This methodology is well established. More recently, we have begun to use imagery to identify optimum harvest patterns and reserve quality harvest loci. This is just the beginning.

 

The combined use of aerial and satellite imagery, GPS land documentation and GIS methodology is currently aiding U.S. farmers and some California viticulturists in the following ways:

 

 

 

 

I hope that the viticultural communities of the north and central coasts continue to integrate local homegrown "technology" products into the monitoring and management of ultra premium wine grapes.

 

I want to thank the panelists and attendees of the NCWC GIS Users Group. Our discussions have opened our "north coast eyes" to precision farming technology. There is plenty more to come. Stay tuned.

 

 

Reg Parks

 

Parks Vineyard & Trellising Systems

Napa, CA

office: (707) 257-8041

cell: (707) 246-6959

home: (707) 226-1554 (eves)

 

Email: RPARKS@PVTS.NET

PVTS WEBSITE: http://WWW.PVTS.NET

 

The Vineyard Development and Technology Group

Napa, CA

Kenwood, CA

phone: (707) 529-6911

Email: VDTG@PVTS.NET