DETERMINATION OF SENSOR LOCATIONS FOR MONITORING OF ORCHARDS PARAMETERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS

Optimal management of the farm and increasing production efficiency can be achieved by collecting accurate and appropriate information from the fields. The aim of this study is to determine the location of soil moisture sensors in pistachio orchards. For this purpose, initial information was obtained using satellite image processing. Then, using clustering method the information was clustered to different class, representing moisture and canopy cover changes at the garden level, and at each class, the position of every sensor is selected using maximum covering location methods. Classification of garden data demonstrated nine different classes of soil moisture and vegetation. The results showed that in each garden with flood or drip irrigation systems, soil moisture classes with different conditions can be identified. Moreover, the results showed that satellite images can provide valuable information for agricultural area. And also, through proper site selection of sensors, all changes and variation of the desired parameters at the garden level can be measured. Sensor’s site selection confirms that this garden requires at least 9 soil moisture sensors for proper irrigation planning.