AgroWatch™

Soil Zone Index:

Below the Canopy

Looking in on the ground level

Ever wonder what's going on at the soil surface? Without a clear view of the surface landscape, growers may be unaware of damaging irrigation or soil problems that ultimately will impact long-term production. Soil Zone Index is an AgroWatch™ product map that can see through vegetation to focus strictly on soil surface. Soil Zone maps give growers a ground-level view of their crops' foundation with each image that's collected.

Assessing the current condition of your soil

To develop a Soil Zone map, satellite images of your land are calibrated and then spectral algorithms are applied that isolate soil components from vegetation. The final satellite image shows what the soil surface of your field looks like, including irrigation patterns, sand streaks, clay lenses, and organic matter and crop residue variations. If the crop has less than 50 percent canopy cover, AgroWatch™ sees it all, and the Soil Zone map shows only the underlying soil. With a Soil Zone map, you can clearly see landscape variations. Lighter colors indicate dry, salty or coarsely textured soils, while darker colors indicate wet or organic soils. Often, variations in color indicate topographic variations across fields, which can greatly impact your crop management strategies and zone creation for precision agriculture management applications.

This information will help you adjust irrigation practices, determine where to take soil samples or place moisture sensors, and understand drainage or tiling problems. Additionally, because surface patterns can change during the growing season due to rainfall, tillage or irrigation, Soil Zone maps can be provided each time an image is collected. This gives you the most up-to-date data to determine how your crop is actually growing and provides more than one image to select from when making management decisions once the crop has been harvested.

By providing a Soil Zone map through the use of satellite remote sensing technology each time satellite images are collected, we will make sure that you will get a good satellite picture of your soil surface even if you have early, late or multiple crops in a growing season.

Building a better foundation for your crops

By focusing on improving soil management during and after the growing season, growers can increase vegetation health and harvests.

Because Soil Zone maps highlight soil patterns, you can alter existing irrigation, fertility and production practices, making the most of the current season. Moreover, the maps are effective tools for determining where to sample soils and how to draw next season's crop-management zones.

The Soil Zone information layer can be used in a desktop GIS or on-line tools offered through Satellite Imaging Corporation to generate sampling points or Variable Rate Application (VRA) maps as shown at right.

Soil Zone Index — At a Glance

• What: A quantitative and calibrated map generated each time Satellite Image data is collected. These maps indicate your soil's surface moisture, texture, organic matter and other visible characteristics.
• Uses: Establish optimal soil sampling strategies, shift crops to more suitable zones, determine which production practices are best for the soil and visualize surface patterns that affect plant health.
• Benefit: By understanding the effect of soil patterns on vegetative growth, you will be able to make better and faster input, production and land management decisions.

For more information, please click here or contact us at:

Satellite Imaging Corporation
12777 Jones Road, Suite 370
Houston, Texas 77070-4671
USA

Tel: (1) 832-237-2900
Fax: (1) 832-237-2910
E-mail: info@satimagingcorp.com
Websites:

• www.satimagingcorp.com (English)
• www.satimagingcorp.es (Spanish)

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