CRSS 4060/6060
Advc. Topics in Precision Ag.
Bastos Material
(UGA Spring 2024)

Hi there!

This is the welcome page for the 2024 CRSS 4060/6060 Advanced Topics in Precision Agriculture - Programing Precision Ag taught by Dr. Leo Bastos.

Below you will find:

Prep material before first lab
Schedule with links for slides, code, and recordings
Course syllabus

Important links

Prep material before first lab

To be ready for next class (Intro to R), please follow the link below and complete all tasks:

Lab 01 prep

If you have questions or issues, email me before class.

Schedule

Chalkboard

date	time	topic
Mon, Jan 08	9:10 to 10:00	Welcome and Intro
Wed, Jan 10	9:10 to 11:10	R & RStudio intro pt 1
Fri, Jan 12	9:10 to 10:00	Intro pt. 2 Assignment #1 - data viz RStudio Projects
Mon, Jan 15	9:10 to 10:00	No class - MLK
Wed, Jan 17	9:10 to 11:10	Rmarkdown Data wrangling Assignment #2 - data wrangling
Fri, Jan 19	9:10 to 10:00	Coordinate reference system
Mon, Jan 22	9:10 to 10:00	Geospatial data types CRS and EPSG USDA NASS data
Wed, Jan 24	9:10 to 11:10	USDA NASS tables and plots pt 1
Fri, Jan 26	9:10 to 10:00	USDA NASS tables and plots pt 2
Mon, Jan 29	9:10 to 10:00	quarto reports USDA spatial data
Wed, Jan 31	9:10 to 11:10	USDA spatial data USDA NASS mini-project
Fri, Feb 02	9:10 to 10:00	Digitizing field boundary Assignment #3 - yield editor paper
Mon, Feb 05	9:10 to 10:00	Digitizing pt 2
Wed, Feb 07	9:10 to 11:10	Open source soils data Open source elevation Assigment #4 - Open data
Fri, Feb 09	9:10 to 10:00	Yield monitor wrangling pt 1
Mon, Feb 12	9:10 to 10:00	Yield monitor wrangling pt 2
Wed, Feb 14	9:10 to 11:10	Yield editor pt 1
Fri, Feb 16	9:10 to 10:00	Yield editor pt 2 Assignment #5 - yield editor 19 and 20
Mon, Feb 19	9:10 to 10:00	Open data and rendering issues
Wed, Feb 21	9:10 to 11:10	Yield interpolation Assignment #6 - yield interpolation 19 and 20
Fri, Feb 23	9:10 to 10:00	No class
Mon, Feb 26	9:10 to 10:00	Yield spatiotemporal stability pt 1 Assignment #7 - yield stability paper
Wed, Feb 28	9:10 to 11:10	Yield spatiotemporal stability pt 2
Fri, Mar 01	9:10 to 10:00	Terrain pt 1
Mon, Mar 04	9:10 to 10:00	No class - Spring Break
Wed, Mar 06	9:10 to 11:10	No class - Spring Break
Fri, Mar 08	9:10 to 10:00	No class - Spring Break
Mon, Mar 11	9:10 to 10:00	Terrain pt 2
Wed, Mar 13	9:10 to 11:10	Terrain pt 3
Fri, Mar 15	9:10 to 10:00	Quiz 4 follow up
Mon, Mar 18	9:10 to 10:00	Soil ECa pt 1
Wed, Mar 20	9:10 to 11:10	Midterm
Fri, Mar 22	9:10 to 10:00	Soil ECa pt 2
Mon, Mar 25	9:10 to 10:00	Soil ECA pt 3
Wed, Mar 27	9:10 to 11:10	Spatiotemporal yield validation pt 1
Fri, Mar 29	9:10 to 10:00	Spatiotemporal yield validation pt 2
Mon, Apr 01	9:10 to 10:00	Creating management zones pt 1
Wed, Apr 03	9:10 to 11:10	Creating management zones pt 2
Fri, Apr 05	9:10 to 10:00	Creating management zones pt 3
Mon, Apr 08	9:10 to 10:00	Validating management zones Creating zone-based VRx pt 1 Assignment #8
Wed, Apr 10	9:10 to 11:10	Creating zone-based VRx pt 2 Final project
Fri, Apr 12	9:10 to 10:00	Imagery-based VR Nitrogen pt 1
Mon, Apr 15	9:10 to 10:00	Imagery-based VR Nitrogen pt 2
Wed, Apr 17	9:10 to 11:10	Imagery-based VR Nitrogen pt 3
Fri, Apr 19	9:10 to 10:00	Satellite imagery - Resolutions - Open-data satellites - Satellite APIs
Mon, Apr 22	9:10 to 10:00	Satellite for scouting
Wed, Apr 24	9:10 to 11:10	Satellite for scouting
Fri, Apr 26	9:10 to 10:00	Profitability maps pt 1
Mon, Apr 29	9:10 to 10:00	Profitability maps pt 2

Course Syllabus

Course information

General information

CRSS 4060/6060 - Advanced Topics in Precision Agriculture
Spring Semester 2024
3 credit hours

Meeting times and locations

Lectures: Monday and Friday at 09:10-10:00
Labs: Wednesday at 09:10-11:10
Location:
- Athens campus: in person at 1203 Miller Plant Sciences
- Tifton campus: in person at 601 NESPAL South OR remote
- Griffin campus: M/F 217 SLC in person, W at 107 SLC in person OR remote

Prerequisites

CRSS 3030 – Principles of Precision Agriculture

Co-requisites

CRSS 4050 / 6050 – Improving Nutrient and Energy Efficiency with Geographic Information Systems or equivalent GIS course.

Instructors information

General information

Dr. Leonardo M. Bastos, Assistant Professor
Crop & Soil Sciences Dept.
4101 Miller Plant Sciences Building, Athens Campus
University of Georgia
Email: lmbastos@uga.edu
URL: leombastos.github.io/bastoslab/

Office hours

Because of social distancing requirements, please make an appointment if you would like a face-to-face meeting the instructor. Otherwise, I am always available by email.

Course description and details

Description

The course will emphasize sampling plan, obtaining and processing, and using various agricultural geospatial data layers for decision making related to precision agriculture. Data types used in the course include publicly available like weather, soils, and satellite remote sensing, and private data like yield monitor, Veris-derived soil electrical conductivity and elevation, and drone remote sensing. Data processing steps include cleaning, removal of outliers, normalization, interpolation, and drone imagery processing. Analytical techniques include clustering for creation of management zones, zone-based and imagery-based variable rate prescription, profitability maps, and use of satellite remote sensing for crop scouting. All steps will be conducted utilizing the R statistical language to create well documented and reproducible precision agriculture analytical workflows. No previous knowledge in R is required.

Course learning outcomes

Provide students with a good understanding of the emerging areas in precision agriculture, the ability to find, analyze and evaluate spatially distributed data sets, and the experience to use key precision agriculture tools and technologies. Additional goals are to:

extend critical thinking and problem solving abilities
improve written and oral communication skills
learn how to create, present, and interpret maps
create reproducible analytical workflows using R

Topical Outline

Intro to R
Using R as a geographic information system (GIS)
Accessing publicly available geospatial data through R
1. Crop statistics from USDA NASS
2. Soils data from SSURGO
3. Weather and satellite remote sensing
4. State and county boundaries
Digitizing field boundaries
Creating grids for soil sampling
Geostatistics for point-data interpolation Inverse distance weighting
Yield monitor data processing
1. Understand the sources of error
2. Cleaning and removal of erroneous data points
3. Spatial and temporal yield variability analysis
Terrain data processing
1. Elevation
2. Aspect
3. Slope
Management zones
1. Combining yield and soils data
2. Creating management zones with cluster analysis
3. Validating management zones
Variable rate prescription
1. Zone-based variable rate prescription
2. Imagery-based variable rate prescription
Profitability maps
Satellite remote sensing for crop scouting
Course final project

The topical outline is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Course materials

Textbook

A textbook is not required. Reading materials will be supplied by instructor and will include benchmark research articles, manuals, and other materials.

Technology and software requirements

Students will need to have access to:

A computer (to install software, code along with instructors)
A second screen (main screen to code along, second screen to watch class if not in person)

If a student does not have access to these resources (personal laptop/desktop and a second screen), please let instructors know to ensure proper accommodations can be made.

Course website

Important links related to this course:

Assessment and Grading

Grading categories

The grade you receive in this course will be determined from your performance on a mini-project, one mid-term exam, periodic quizzes, homework assignments and lab reports, a final project, and class participation. These factors will be weighted as follows:

Activity	Grade
Mini-project: USDA NASS data	10%
Mid-term exam	10%
Homework assignments	35%
In-class quizzes	15%
Final project: from raw data to zone-based variable rate	20%
Class participation	10%

Written assignment quality

Up to thirty percent of the grade on written assignments (mini-project, homework, final project) will be based on quality of communication.

Spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clarity of writing are evidence of written communication quality.

Class participation

Active class participation is important for you to achieve the learning goals of the class. To receive maximum credit for class participation you must

attend every class period (lecture or laboratory)
arrive on time and remain for the entire class period
you are actively engaged and attentive throughout the class period
participate in the class discussion and ask and answer questions

Grading scale

Final grades will be assigned as follows:

Letter	Grade
A	93 and above
A-	90-92
B+	87-89
B	83-86
B-	80-82
C+	77-79
C	73-76
C-	70-72
D+	67-69
D	63-66
D-	60-62
F	59 and below

Extra credit opportunities

Extra credit opportunities may be made available during projects, homework assignments, and exams, at the discretion of the instructor.

Course statements and policies

Academic honesty

UGA Student Honor Code: “I will be academically honest in all of my academic work and will not tolerate academic dishonesty of others.” A Culture of Honesty, the University’s policy and procedures for handling cases of suspected dishonesty, can be found at www.uga.edu/ovpi.

For this course, all lab reports, projects, and other assignments can be discussed with your classmates but any work you turn in must be your own.

Students can work together through coding exercises, but direct copying and pasting from a colleague will be considered plagiarism.

If using code from an online source, it is ok to copy and paste IF proper credit is given (e.g., showing the website source from where the code was obtained).

Unless explicitly stated, artificial intelligence-based technologies, such as ChatGPT, must not be used to generate responses for student assignments.

Attendance policy

Students are expected to attend every class period.

Students on the Athens campus must attend class in-person. If a special circumstance arise (illness, travel, etc.), student absence or remote attendance must be informed to instructors prior to that class period.

Students on the Tifton and Griffin campuses may attend class in-person on their campuses or remote using the zoom link information. Student absence must be informed to instructors prior to that class period.

Per Board of Regents policy, I reserve the right to drop students from the class roll who miss more than 5 class periods unexcused. Such students will be given a WF grade.

Disclaimer

The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Make-up procedures

There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes. Any missed quiz will be recorded as a zero
Exams can be made up only with a note from a doctor or if you can document extenuating circumstances. Any unexcused missed exam will be recorded as a zero
Homework assignments will be accepted up to one week beyond the due date. The penalty for submitting a late assignment is one letter grade
Homework assignments may be submitted late without penalty in case of illness, extenuating circumstances, or if prior arrangements are made with the instructors. All late assignments are due within a week of the original due date or within a week of when a student returns from an illness

Mental Health and Wellness Resources

If you or someone you know needs assistance, you are encouraged to contact Student Care and Outreach in the Division of Student Affairs at 706-542-7774 or visit https://sco.uga.edu/. They will help you navigate any difficult circumstances you may be facing by connecting you with the appropriate resources or services.
UGA has several resources for a student seeking mental health services (https://www.uhs.uga.edu/bewelluga/bewelluga) or crisis support (https://www.uhs.uga.edu/info/emergencies).
If you need help managing stress anxiety, relationships, etc., please visit BeWellUGA (https://www.uhs.uga.edu/bewelluga/bewelluga) for a list of FREE workshops, classes, mentoring, and health coaching led by licensed clinicians and health educators in the University Health Center.
Additional resources can be accessed through the UGA App.

Disability statement

If you plan to request accommodations for a disability, please register with the Disability Resource Center. They can be reached by visiting Clark Howell Hall, calling 706-542-8719 (voice) or 706-542-8778 (TTY), or by visiting https://sitedrc.uga.edu

Resources

Below there are some resources for students to further your knowledge in topics ranging from using quarto files, vector and raster manipulation in R, data visualization, and geostatistics.