Sensors Applied to Digital Agriculture: A Review

Resumo

Sensors are the basis of digital agriculture; they provide data that allows the development of agricultural control and supervisory systems, and it helps analyze the performance of management practices. Further, sensors can be used to provide data for algorithms developed to automate the prescription of inputs. Among the sensors used in agriculture, those used to monitor soil, plants, and crop yield are reviewed in this work. In soil monitoring, the aim is to measure variables associated with the physical and chemical characteristics of soil to evaluate soil fertility and compaction. In plant monitoring, sensors are used to detect diseases and pests, weed infestation, and nutritional stress. Sensors present in the yield monitors of the harvesters allow the generation of yield maps. Finally, remote sensing techniques for predicting crop yields are analyzed owing to their potential applications in crop management.