Inverse Problems and Data Fusion for Crop Production Applications Targeting Optimal Growth - Fertilization

This work in progress is a contribution to cropgrowth systems for planning and monitoring of farm activitiesand practices by farmers. The work outlines the initial findingsrelated to modelling, simulation and visualization techniques forcrop growth, specifically targeting the barley crop, such thatthe crop yield is optimized with respect to several parameters(e.g. high end user value and minimum environmental impact),thus obtaining a sustainable production. The growth processoptimization is based on information, including sensor basedmeasurements with sensor quality monitoring, from previousand the present growth season. Initially, references targetingthe importance of site specific management for obtaining theobjective of yield optimization under the constraint of minimizingthe environmental load is pointed to. This is followed by keyreferences on modelling, simulation and visualization of thecrop growth process based on information on soil quality, fieldseeding, spraying/fertilization and environmental informationin general. Finally, references to software tools, which couldform the basis for an open source platform for a planningand monitoring system for optimal crop growth in multipleapplication areas are given. The contribution concludes withproposals of research questions to be pursued in the near future.