The presence of soil compaction may be considered a serious problem for the development of crop root systems. It can be alleviated by biological or mechanical methods (such as tillage). One of the most popular diagnostic methods is based on standardized cone penetrometer measurements, which requires a considerable amount of time to obtain the data. With the advent of site-specific field management, high-density measurements have become a necessity. This work reports on an alternative approach to use a cone penetromenter. It involves the generation of maps of soil mechanical resistance at three depths using three instrumented blades, a GPS receiver and a data logger. The system is attached to a toolbar that is installed to the tractor's three-point hitch. It has proven to be mechanically simple and reliable. Maps indicating the variability of soil mechanical resistance with relatively high spatial resolution (as compared to traditional methods) were generated in a reasonable amount of time based on data collected during initial field tests.
precision agriculture; soil sensor; compaction
