Aerial tool for nutrient mapping
Fertiliser co-operative Ravensdown is adding a new aerial imaging tool to its top dressing fleet, first developed for military surveillance and space exploration.
The $500,000 Fenix hyperspectral imaging system by Finnish company Specim was bought by the fertiliser company with Massey University. The tool is part of Pioneering to Precision, a $10.3 million Primary Growth Partnership programme between Ravensdown and the Ministry for Primary Industries to improve how fertiliser is applied to hill country.
Massey Professor of precision agriculture Ian Yule said the remote sensor would enable unprecedented levels of data to be captured about the nutrient content of large sections of land that may have been previously inaccessible.
‘‘This is a game changer,’’ Professor Yule said. ‘‘It’s like turning the whole of New Zealand into a living lab, where you can observe exactly what is going on and describe it in greater detail than ever before.’’ He said the tool could make New Zealand agriculture more efficient, profitable and environmentally friendly.
Ravensdown spokesman Gareth Richards said manual soil testing on hill country was arduous and time-consuming. ‘‘Scanning from the sky using the camera is far more efficient.
The camera spots the wavelengths of plants and goes on to give the nutrient status of each area and where you might need, for instance, more phosphorus. ‘‘So where the planes are the hardware to deliver the right amount in the right place, it is only as good as the map that tells it what to do.’’
Ravensdown had been testing the science behind the camera, Richards says. ‘‘We are checking that the model is accurate and once it is validated, it starts to become something people can use with confidence in any part of the country.’’
Yule said the camera’s technology used hyperspectral imaging to detect the signature of objects or land areas, based on a near-infrared reflection scanned by the sensor installed in the plane.
‘‘It would be an excellent advantage for accurately applying fertiliser on hill county but also for the dairy sector. You could put the sensor over a whole catchment to show you where your hotspots are, to help determine where there is nitrogen run-off. ‘‘We can’t soil sample every part of a farm, but we know it’s hugely variable.
‘‘With this tool we can overcome the sampling limitations by mapping whole landscapes, and provide data about what type and quantity of fertiliser are needed, assess pasture quality over the whole farm to help farmers determine stock carrying capacity and to locate the good quality pasture where they can fatten younger stock,’’ Yule said.
‘‘And there are opportunities for huge environmental benefits too.’’
Massey commercialisation manager Russell Wilson said the university had partnered with Aerial Surveys, which would fly planes fitted with the imaging system anywhere in New Zealand. ‘‘Aerial Surveys would fly the area, capturing the data and then it would come to Massey for specific analysis based on the key questions the client wants to be answered, with results presented in a 3D virtual map,’’ Wilson said.
Wilson said the Fenix technology, which could sense up to 1000 hectares an hour, was a major investment for the university and would not have been possible without the support of the Pioneering to Precision PGP programme. The technology was chosen after initial trials under New Zealand conditions produced outstanding results.