Agriculture has long been associated with the production of food crops; however, in modern society, it encompasses not only the production of crops and livestock, but also the processing, distribution, and marketing of these products. As such, agriculture is the backbone of our economic system. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, approximately 60 percent of the world’s population depends on agriculture for survival. Because of how interconnected the economy is to agricultural production, it is important to protect these assets and maximize their outputs.
Matergenics GIS understands how important maximizing crop production can be to many individuals. Our agricultural site assessment provides our clients with a comprehensive knowledge of vegetation and related soil properties to make informed decisions to best manage their assets.
Using digital soil mapping in combination with aerial imagery analysis, we identify areas where vegetation is under stress or where there is soil erosion, and, using our knowledge on soil chemistry, we relate the observed stress with underlying soil properties.
Image Analysis
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is calculated for your area of interest to assess vegetation health. Values below 0.1 are considered low and represent barren rock, soil, sand, or snow. Senescing crops and sparse vegetation result in NDVI values from 0.2 to 0.5 while healthy crops and dense vegetation have NDVI values from 0.6 to 0.9. Multispectral, aerial imagery allows Matergenics GIS to effectively locate different land cover and vegetation conditions that may not be seen with the eye. Doing so allows for a more precise agricultural assessment.
Aerial image (top right) compared side-by-side with a map of Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) (top left). Red on the NDVI map represent barren soil while dark green represent healthy vegetation and yellow represents stressed vegetation.
Aerial imagery using band color combinations for agriculture. Dark green represents healthy vegetation while bare earth has a magenta hue.
Soil Layers Related to Crop Health
With soil digital soil mapping for agriculture, Matergenics GIS considers the following properties relevant to crop production.
- The physical properties of soil (e.g. clay, sand, silt, soil type, organic matter, bulk density, etc.)
- Macro-nutrients like pH, calcium, magnesium, potassium, nitrogen etc.
- Micro-nutrients like Iron, Zinc, copper, etc.
- Geological characteristics of soil (i.e. hydraulic conductivity, cation exchange capacity, etc.)
Matergenics GIS’ approach to agricultural assessments will help you locate specific areas of vegetation stress and help you understand the underlying soil conditions for under-preforming crops. Using our knowledge on soil chemistry, we will assist you in making informed decisions to improve soil quality.
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