The potential role of GIS in autonomous field operations

Two issues of increasing importance in agriculture are the targeted approac h to managing field operations, or precision farming, and the development o f automated guidance systems. The viability of both of these approaches has been increased by recent technological developments in positioning, sensin g and control systems. These separate technologies appear to provide the ne cessary tools for the adoption of spatially varying crop management strateg ies, undertaken by autonomous guidance. However, the latter in particular r equires a high level of integration of the data and information flows that provide the foundations for the field operations management process. These data and information flows are becoming increasingly complex due to the inc reasing use of sensing systems to provide information on the spatial and te mporal attributes of fields, both stable and transient, at precisely determ ined locations. In addition, the application of improved agronomic understa nding increasingly requires the combined interpretation of separate field a ttributes. The data and information that are the basis of the field operati ons management process are electronically recorded and are position and tim e related. Consequently it is the technology of Geographic Information Syst ems (GIS) that provides a basis for combined management and guidance applie d to autonomous field operations. This paper provides an overview of the po tential role of GIS in this context. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.