Development of soil nitrate sensor system for on-the-go variable rate nitrogen management
The ultimate goal of precision N management is to enable farmers to identify, measure, and deferentially manage soils within fields in a manner that increases farm profitability and decreases environmental impact associated with over-application of nitrogen fertilizer. Our patent-pending soil sensing technology will help achieve this goal.
We are developing a soil nitrate sensor that can be attached to farm implements and used to determine in-real-time on-the-go soil nitrate concentrations with sufficient accuracy to facilitate precision application of nitrogen fertilizers.
Our technology uses, for the first time, a diamond coupled with a miniaturized and robust Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer to measure soil nitrate concentrations in field moist soil. The sensor can measure soil nitrate in about one second.
N-Sense, LLC
ISU Research Park, 2710 South Loop Dr., Suite 2000; Ames IA, 50010