CHAPTER 2

Precision Agriculture
(Tools and Processes)
 CHAPTER OUTLINES

2.1 The Global Positioning System-GPS

2.2 Yield Monitoring And Mapping

2.3 Geographic Information System – GIS

2.4 Variable Rate technology - VRT
SATELLITES WORLD
GP
S
Atmospheric Studies satellites - Polar

Communications satellites - Anik E Satellite found MH370 - Inmarsat

the leading provider of global
mobile satellite communications
services
Navigation satellites - Navstar

Reconaissance satellites - Kennan, Big Bird, Lacrosse

Remote Sensing satellites - Radarsat

Search and Rescue satellites - Cospas-Sarsat

Space Exploration satellites - Galileo

Weather satellites - Meteosat

 The Global Positioning System-GPS
• Is a satellite–based navigation system created and operated by the United
States Department of Defense (DoD).
• Started in the early 1980’s, and declared ‘fully operational’ on April
27,1995
• Fully Operational means that the system could be used to determine a
GPS receiver’s position 24 hour a day, anywhere on the globe.
• The system was originally designed to serve as worldwide navigational aid
for U.S. military, but now GPS serve industrial, commercial and civilian
interest as well.
• This service is available free of charge, 24 hours a day in all weather
condition.
 The Global Positioning System-GPS

• GPS satellites broadcast signal that allows GPS receivers to

compute theirs locations.
• This information is provided in REAL TIME, meaning that
continuous position information is provided while motion.
• Having precise location information at any time allows soil
and crop measurement to be mapped.
• GPS receiver either carried to the field or mounted on
implements allows users to return to specific location to
sample or treat those areas.
• Uncorrected signals GPS have an accuracy of about 300 feet.
• To be useful in agriculture, the uncorrected signals must be
compared to a land-based or satellite based that provide a
position called a differential correction.
• The corrected accuracy is typically 63-10 feet.
• When purchasing the a GPS receiver, the type of differential
correction and its coverage relative to use should be
considered.
 Three (3) Segments of the GPS
i. Space Segment
ii. Control Segment
iii. User Segment
 i. Space Segment
• The space segment of current system consists of a constellation of 24
NAVSTAR (NAVigation by Satellite Timing And Ranging)
• Off the 24 satellites, 21 are currently in use and the remaining three are
functional spares.
• Orbiting at 10,900 nautical miles (20,200km) above the earth’s surface.
• Each satellite circle the globe twice a day or one in 12 hours.
• They follow six orbital paths, with four satellite in each path.
• This particular constellation (arrangement of satellite) guarantees that at
least four satellite will be ‘in view’ of GPS receiver anywhere in the world,
24 hours a day.
GPS Satellite Constellation
(24 satellite)
(6 orbital plate)
• Each satellite is equipped with radio transmitter and receiver for sending
and receiving radio waves
• These radio wave are much like the signals received by your television set
(60-500 MHz), but they are transmitted at much higher frequency of
around 1200-1500 MHz (million cycles per second)
• Radio wave travel at speed of light, 186300 miles per second (300,000,000
m/s) in a vacuum, and at a slightly reduce speed through the earth’s
atmosphere.
• The GPS satellite also equipped with atomic clock. The clock are not
powered by atomic or nuclear energy but keep time based on natural
periodic vibration within atom.
• These incredibly precise clock are the critical component that make it
possible to use the satellites for mapping and navigation.
 Functions of Space Segments
• Receive and store data transmitted by control segment
station

• Transmit information and signls to user

• Maintain accurate time by means of several on board atomic

clocks.

• Provide a stable platform on orbit.

 ii. Control Segment
• Sole responsibility of the DOD who undertakes construction, launching,
maintenance and virtually constant performance monitoring of all GPS
satellites.
• Satellite are tracked and monitor by several facilities strategically located
around the world.
• This network of monitoring station is usually referred to as the control
segment of GPS.
• A Master Control Segment Station is located at Falcon Air Force Base in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• The monitoring station measure the radio wave signals that are
continuously transmitted by the satellites and rely information to the
Master Control Segment Station.
• Master Control Segment Station uses this information to compute the
exact orbits of the satellite and update their navigation signals.
 Functions of Control Segments
• The DOD monitoring stations track all GPS signals for use in
controlling the satellite and predicting their orbits.
• Satellite tracking data from the monitoring stations are
transmitted to the master control station for processing.
• The master station controls orbital corrections, when any
satellite strays too far from its assigned position and
necessary repositioning to compensate for unhealthy (not
fully functioning) satellite.
 iii. User Segment
• The GPS unit and receiver, which civilians and the military use
for determining the position of a person, location or vehicle,
constitute the user segment.
• Civilian GPS receiver do not require a license to operate
because they do not send out or transmit radio signals. They
only receive signals.
HOW does GPS Works
 Overview Of Satellite Ranging
• Basic GPS operation is satellite ranging.
• In other words, a GPS receiver determine its position by
measuring its distance from several satellites in space.
• Each GPS satellite continuously transmits its position and
accurate timing signals.
• The user’s GPS receiver measures the time required for the
satellite signals to travel from the satellite to the receiver.
• The receiver uses this time delay to calculate its distance from
each satellite by process known as RANGING.
• RANGING takes place on earth, and determine a location of
spot in the earth.
 Factors Affecting GPS Accuracy
Though much sophisticated technology a money has gone into
development of GPS, it accuracy is still degraded by several
sources of errors:

i. Satellite clocks
ii. Satellite orbits
iii. Earth’s atmosphere
iv. Multipath errors
v. GPS receiver
 i. Satellite clocks
• Small error in timing (error in atomic clock) in the satellite and
GPS units – Error in GPS position
• Atomic clocks in the satellite known as the most accurate
(expensive) clock but they are not perfect. Insignificant timing
errors can create large errors in the measurement of position.
• For example; since signal for NAVSTAR satellite travel at
speed of light, since ranging estimates are based on measured
signal travel times, a clock errors of one millisecond, would
produce a position estimation error of 186.3 miles (300 km).
• Thus, the US Department of Defense monitors and adjust
these clocks to minimize small deviations.
 ii. Satellite orbits
• The satellite orbit so high that the earth’s atmosphere doesn’t
affect them.
• However, natural phenomenon like gravitational forces from
the moon and sun as well as the pressure of solar radiation
create minor errors in satellite altitude, position and speed.

iii. Earth’s atmosphere

• Our atmosphere slows the radio signal from satellite.
• These delay mainly occur in IONOSPHERE, a blanket of
electrically charged particles 50 to 250 miles (80 to 400 km)
above earth.
• After passing through IONOSPHERE, satellite signals must
pass through the lower atmosphere, TROPOSPHERE where
water vapor may also increase delays.
 iv. Multipath errors
• Multipath errors arise when GPS signal “bounce” around
before getting to the GPS receiver.
• The signal arrives at the receiver’s antenna by way of more
than one path.
• Part of the signal follows a direct path and part of the signal
follows different path, where causing differences in travel
distance and time.

v. GPS receiver
• Noise due to electrical interference or rounding off a
mathematical operation can be very small or very big.
• More expensive GPS receivers are designed to have better
clocks, less internal noise, and higher mathematical precision.
 Multipath errors

Atmospheric effects
 GPS Accuracy
• Positional accuracy of this system is important for
making decisions.
• When determining the placement of a terrace in a
500acre field or placement of a herbicide within a
25-inch row, GPS must be able to provide the
locational capabilities to accomplish either.
• Accuracy will range from 10 to 30 yards for
Autonomous GPS ( use of GPS without any
correction) to sub-inch for a differentially corrected
GPS signal.
• For most application in agriculture, correction is
needed.
• The signal generated by GPS alone are not
accurate. Therefore correction must be made
to GPS signal to improve their accuracy. There
are three main correction services available
today :

1. DGPS (Differential GPS) or SBAS (Space Based

Augmentation System)
2. RTK ( Real Time Kinematic)– Provided by
TRIMBLE company
3. VRS (Virtual Reference Station)-
 Differential GPS (DGPS)
• All of the mentioned earlier, all the errors
reduce the accuracy of GPS. These are the
reasons that “pseudoranging” with civilian
GPS receivers is only accurate to within 100 m
(horizontal)

• With such limited accuracy, we could use a

GPS receiver to tell us we were standing inside
a football stadium, but we could not
determine our location on the playing field.
Differential GPS (DGPS)
• DIFFERENTIAL CORRECTION is a simple concept employing a
stationary (or not moving) GPS receiver located at a known
surveyed location.
• The stationary receiver is usually called a BASE STATION.
• Since the stationary receiver knows its true position and the
true position of each satellite, it knows the true distance to
each satellite.
• When the base station calculate the pseudorange or distance
to each satellite in its view, it also determines the error in
each measurement.
• The difference between true distance and the GPSmeasured
distance, then, designates the differential correction distance.
• The differential correction can be used to
improve accuracy of a nearby, moving GPS
receiver.
• The moving receiver subtracts the appropriate
differential correction from estimated
distance to each satellite, thus improving the
position accuracy.
DGPS
• Different correction of a location calculated by a GPS
field unit ( refer as a ROVER ) relies on a second GPS
receiver (referred as the BASE), which is at a
location, with a known latitude/longitude.
• Since the base receiver knows its correct location,
any difference in the latitude and longitude as
calculated by the GPS can be considered as error.
• Example: the BASE GPS unit calculates its position as
position A, but the actual known position is B.
• The difference between point A and point B is
known as the error differential.
• This error differential can be sent by radio
transmitter to one or more rover GPS units,
which must have a corresponding receiver.

• The rover uses the error differential to correct

its own GPS calculated position, thus resulting
in a higher accuracy for field data collection.
 Data Storage in a GPS Unit
• Data storage has a data dictionary that can not only
store more than 500 waypoints, it can also store
several hundred piece information about each
waypoints.
• A data dictionary is an outline of the objects that will
be mapped and the characteristics or attributes that
will be collected as data for each object.
• This information can be transferred to a data base
for analysis by a computer.
Uses of GPS