Characterization of Cone Index and Tillage Draft Data to Define Design Parameters for an On-the-go Soil Strength Profile Sensor

Precision agriculture aims to minimize costs and environmental damage caused by agriculture and to maximize crop yield and profitability, based on information collected at within-field locations. In this process, quantification of soil physical properties, including soil strength, would be useful. To quantify and manage variability in soil strength, there is need for a strength sensor that can take measurements continuously while traveling across the field. In this paper, preliminary analyses were conducted using two datasets available with current technology, (1) cone penetrometer readings collected at different compaction levels and for different soil textures and (2) tillage draft (TD) collected from an entire field. The objective was to provide information useful for design of an on-the-go soil strength profile sensor and for interpretation of sensor test results. Analysis of cone index (CI) profiles led to the selection of a 0.5-m design sensing depth, 10-MPa maximum expected soil strength, and 0.1-MPa sensing resolution. Compaction level, depth, texture, and water content of the soil all affected CI. The effects of these interacting factors on data obtained with the soil strength sensor should be investigated through experiments. Spatial analyses of CI and TD indicated that the on-the-go soil strength sensor should acquire high spatial-resolution, high-frequency ($\ge$ 4 Hz) measurements to capture within-field spatial variability.