SENSOR SYSTEMS FOR MAPPING SOIL FERTILITY ATTRIBUTES: CHALLENGES, ADVANCES, AND PERSPECTIVES IN BRAZILIAN TROPICAL SOILS

ABSTRACT Soil fertility attributes have different scales and forms of spatial and temporal variations in agricultural fields. Adequate spatiotemporal characterization of these attributes is fundamental to the successful development of strategies for variable rate application of fertilizers, enabling the classic benefits of precision agriculture (PA). Studies on Brazilian soil have shown that at least 1 sample ha-1 is required for the reliable mapping of key fertility attributes. However, this sampling density is difficult owing to the operational challenges of sample collection and the cost of...