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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #113650
Title: A LASER DISTANCE BASED METHOD FOR MEASURING STANDING RESIDUE

Author
item FOX, FRED - USDA, ARS NPA WERU
item Wagner, Larry

Submitted to: Soil Tillage Research Organization International Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/3/2001
Publication Date: 1/3/2001
Citation: In: J.C. Ascough II and D.C. Flanagan, Proc. Int. Symp. Soil Erosion Research for the 21st Century, 3-5 January 2001, Honolulu, HI. St. Joseph, MI: pp 206-209.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Crop residue standing above the soil surface is 5 to 10 times more effective in preventing wind erosion than the same mass of residue laying flat on the soil surface. Managing tillage operatioins and designing tillage tools to preserve standing residue requires accurate and objective measurement before and after field operations. Manual methods of counting and measuring standing residue provide slow and accurate measuremetns, making it costly to obtain representative samples for field size areas. A device was developed using a laser distance sensor to obtain estimated stem counts, width and height. Estimated counts, width and height were compared to values obtained using manual counting and measurement. At scan speeds of two meters per minute in wheat straw with a stem population of 800 per square meter, counts were accurately estimated and width and height consistenly underestimated.