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USER-PA - USability of Environmentally sound and Reliable techniques in Precision Agriculture
Project
Project code: 2812ERA039
Contract period: 01.04.2013
- 31.12.2015
Budget: 125,761 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
USER-PA targets to develop an integrated, innovative, and reliable technical precision agriculture solution for orchards and vineyards delivering spatial information on irrigation and harvest management. The project (ICT-AGRI) comprises a conceptual framework, an innovative technical architecture, and the enabling technologies. This comprehensive approach will allow to integrate canopy and fruit sensors with mobile and static data acquisition systems and farm management information systems, thus targeting a system helping farmers to optimize harvesting.
FBH will demonstrate the concept of a portable Raman sensor system monitoring the status and the ripeness of leaves and fruits within the project. As a result, a compact measurement system will be available that is suitable for field trials in precision agricul-ture. By means of Raman spectroscopy, USER-PA will determine different molecules in fruits by their characteristic 'fingerprint' spectra. Based on these data, the concentrations of different components can be analyzed in order to estimate the ripeness of fruits and further parameters.
In detail, a compact optical system will be designed for Raman measurements on plants using a diode laser with an excitation wavelength of 785 nm. The optical system will be mounted with micro-optical elements only and therefore be extremely compact. It will then be housed to allow measurements under field conditions. Together with a commercially available spectrometer, the total size and power consumption is well suitable as portable system.
The main tasks of FBH are to select and implement a laser source into a compact optical system, coupling to a spectrometer, measurements under laboratory conditions, and verification of the results. FBH will also participate in field trials in Turkey and Switzerland. The experience of these experiments will be used to further improve the measurement system, the data acquisition systems and the data reduction.
Section overview
Subjects
- Horticulture
Framework programme
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Ferdinand-Braun-Institute for High Frequency Technology (FBH)
