Best Practices for Agriculture using GIS

GIS has been playing an important role in agriculture development around the globe.  It helps farmers elevate crop production, reduce raw material cost, and manage land resources very efficiently through the integration of GIS technology. Agriculture mapping plays a crucial role in management of soil types and irrigation methodologies for any farm area. This helps farmers, especially in India control and manage agricultural resources. Geographic Information System allows clear understanding and interpretation of visual data through understanding of relationships and patterns for maps, globes, charts, and more. This information can be easily used by farmers through geographically referenced information.

Applications of GIS in Agriculture

Why is GIS so important for Agriculture?

The basic principle of a farm works on the quantity of input and output, that means demand and supply.  Farmers need to balance both, the input and output for maximum crop yield and profitability. GIS has the ability to analyze and visualize agricultural areas and workflows, this makes it beneficial for farmers in the farming industry.  Positive farming is dependent on making informed decisions on where, what, and when – spatial phenomenon through GIS.

Benefits of GIS for Agriculture

Some of the benefits using GIS for agriculture are listed below –

• Crop mapping
• Crop analysis
• Landscape Mapping for Irrigation
• Soil Analysis
• Soil Erosion Analysis
• Studying various crop models
• Drainage systems through elevation models

The end of guess work in Agriculture

From the dawn of time, farming or agriculture has always been carried out through rough calculations and guesswork. The integration of GIS in crop planning management takes the guessing or human interference out of the picture and provides precise data in terms of soil analysis, erosion in the area, seasonal topography, and more. This makes it easier for farmers to understand what kind of crop can be grown on a specific piece of land.

Natural Factors

What was discussed above was the impact of soil on the quality of the crop, but there are other factors wherein agriculture and crops can suffer an impact if not analyzed completely.  Ground below the soil can have slopes that can affect drainage and water access to the crops, this means it can either deliver excess water to the crops or dehydrate the soil due to less water. Other factors include the intensity of sunlight, the amount of rainfall, man-made structures, industries around the field, pollution levels and more. All these factors can be taken into account through GIS for agricultural planning, as these factors can affect the quality of crops to a large extent.

Mapping and Identification

Geographic Information System plays a crucial role in identification and mapping of fields for archaeological features or optimizing the crop yield in other areas.  Increasing crop yield is one of the most important aspects and requirements of agriculture, GIS can be used to reorder crops patterns to manage food security, or even ensure maximum productivity from various soil types. Mapping is also used to trace areas that are vulnerable to drought and flood. This valuable information can be used by farmers to prepare contingency plans or even take informed decisions to grow the right crops.

Climate Change

Having an idea about weather patterns, temperature changes, etc. through robust information gives farmers an idea on what needs to be done to maximize productivity and efficiency. Climate changes can significantly affect soil erosion, soil quality, and in-turn damage crops. These are disasters that can be avoided through the application of GIS, change in weather patterns can cause –

• Changes in precipitation
• Changes in temperature
• Increase in crop pricing & more

Closing on a polite note

The future implications of GIS are immense and exceptional. But this technology needs to be available for rural farmers in India as they form the backbone of maximum food production in India. The big part of the revenue for the Indian government comes from the Agricultural sector, and technology needs to be incorporated for these people to enhance their yield. Global food crisis can be mitigated through the application of GIS. Check More…

Source: https://blog.nibt.education/2018/07/best-practices-for-agriculture-using-gis/

Reasons to switch to Geographic Information System (GIS) for Civil Engineering

Since the last decade, technology has moved up several notches for various industry verticals.  Man has created significant innovations in the areas of communication, transportation, energy systems, engineering, and more. Land has been deemed more valuable than gold, and thus, we have seen a significant rise in the construction industry in the past few years. In this article, we would be talking about the applications of GIS in Civil Engineering, but looking at the construction industry, every builder, owner, architect, or construction professional is looking at new construction tools and methodologies like Building Information Modeling(BIM), AR/VR, Drones, Building Automation machines, GIS, and more.

How valuable is GIS in Civil Engineering?

The area of civil engineering is all about new developments, renovations, and sustainable infrastructure developments.  This is a broad range career, and involves the integration of various software technology platforms. Civil engineers need to work with huge amounts of data, this information is collated from various sources and parties. GIS is cutting-edge technology that provides a platform and the tools to create, manage, analyze, and visualize large data volumes, and turn them into simplistic formats for other people to view and communicate. Sustainable development through civil engineering companies needs complete penetration of GIS for all its projects and developments.

The question remains, why GIS?

GIS has the power to flow and integrate its technology through complete interoperability and multiple data formats. Through centralized technology, GIS delivers construction companies and professionals to perform spatial analysis, overlap data, and integrate various other systems from other platforms and software. This enables civil engineers to create, manage, edit, share, and evaluate various data streams for multiple project cycles.

GIS in Civil Engineering

Some objectives & necessary components of GIS

• Maximize efficiency for planning and decision making
• Quantifying vital information from various data sources
• Conducting complex querying and analysis
• Reducing de-duplication

Like other technology, even GIS has various components like – hardware, software, data, procedures, and people. Hardware systems like scanners, digitizers, plotters, and more interface with various software in the industry such as ArcGIS, Microstation, Terra Solid, etc. to provide the necessary information in the form of data, transformations, output, etc. Whatever data is collected such as maps, satellite imagery, or any other infrastructure photograph is analyzed and transformed in the necessary format for viewing or presentation.

The applications of GIS are vast, and they are mostly used for civil engineering applications like –

• Determination of Landslide Hazards
• Solid Waste Removal
• Site Selection
• Transportation analysis
• Weather analysis
• Landfill selection
• Pollution analysis…. & more

Improving project processing through GIS

Project Processing through GIS

Precise Planning

This phase of the project involves detailed planning from the ground-up for various scenarios and functions that need to be deployed such as location, environmental conditions, utilities, contingency scenarios, modeling, etc. Accurate planning makes it easier to initiate a project or a series of projects.

Information logging  

Whilst collating data, it is crucial for people and devices to collect data for pre-design analysis, engineering calculations, traffic systems, soil type, area geology, photogrammetry, and more. A centralized information architecture provides vital information on multiple data patterns that can be evaluated further.

Environmental Examination

Looking at the vast size of the environment, construction engineering companies need to examine various environmental factors that could affect infrastructure development at the later stages of construction. Environmental examinations generally include soil types, load bearing capacity of land,  erosion , infrastructure and traffic capacity, forest areas, and more. The application of GIS for civil engineering renders GIS professionals and construction companies with transparent information on various geographical trends, multiple area patterns,  and other vital connections that can facilitate efficient & productive  construction.

Beginning Design

As soon as vital data has been collated, it is analyzed and converted into design models through next-generation CAD tools and software, taking into account parameters like grading, cross-sections, design calculations, and more. Through accurate 3D models, construction engineers can move onto the next phase, i.e. construction.

Moving to construction  

Once all the models and information is in place, it paves the way for construction companies to deploy various  engineering tools and machines onsite, as well as calculate material quantities and volumes, logistics management, manpower creation, traffic analysis, and more.

Coming to a closure

GIS technology helps companies visualize, upgrade , and build infrastructure  and make informed decisions to move further with your construction plans. Through the demands of time and budget, it has become very important for engineering firms to focus on GIS as the best alternative that makes absolute sense for mapping and high quality visualization.

Source: https://blog.nibt.education/2018/07/reasons-to-switch-geographic-information-system-gis-for-civil-engineering/

Disrupt the conventional LIDAR market through Geiger Mode(GM) and Single Photon(SP) Systems

Geographic Information System or GIS has played a major role in Geospatial technology to collate, manage, and analyze data. It is basically geographical science that provides the platform for multiple applications of GIS viz. Photogrammetry, LIDAR, Mapping, and more. GIS has a multitude of applications in various industry verticals like Urban planning, Environmental Analysis, Disaster Management, Navigation, and the comprehensive list continues…GIS education has picked up significant traction in terms of various GIS courses in India and Abroad. There is an influx seen by many individuals and professionals in India to enroll for career-based training for Geographic Information System(GIS). These training programs offer great career options wherein individuals can apply for positions for GIS analyst, GIS developer, GIS engineers, GIS technicians and more. One of the technologies that we are going to point out is Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). Like SONAR, that works on sound navigation, LIDAR works on the principle of Light, wherein a pulse of light energy hits the object and returns to the sensor generating a point cloud of millions of points in a single pulse.

Understanding the concept of LIDAR

LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging(LIDAR). It is a remote sensing technology that uses laser pulses to measure ranges or a variable distance of the earth. When these light pulses are integrated with data from airborne sources, they tend to generate information in 3D, these are precise models that provide information about the shape of the earth. Instruments used in laser scanners are lasers, scanners, and a receiver that is equipped with Global Positioning System or GPS. A LIDAR can be used to map natural and man made environments and objects with precision, accuracy, and reliability. The outputs of a LIDAR include Number of Returns, Digital Elevation Models, Canopy Height Models, Point Classification, Predicting the energy yield for wind power, use of fertilizers for farming, navigation of autonomous vehicles, and more.

LIDAR – Geiger Mode LIDAR and Single Photon

The next evolution of LIDAR – Geiger Mode LIDAR and Single Photon technology

The next step in LIDAR evolution is Geiger-mode LIDAR and Single Photon LIDAR, that offers high altitude scans over a larger mapping area. These lasers require a low laser energy requirement, it provides technologists to map with very less photon density. With low energy requirements and high density mapping, this technology can be used for high altitude flying up to 30,000 feet, and acquire high density points of up to 25 points per square meter, this was limited to 5000-8000 feet in linear LIDAR or legacy Radar Systems. Not moving into greater technical details, the main difference of Linear vs Geiger-Mode and Single Photon is the laser color scheme, return capability with single photon, and solar noise sensitivity. Green lasers have an advantage over Geiger – mode as it can penetrate shallow water, whilst Geiger-mode cannot. In terms of solar noise, Geiger-Mode technology can be used for night flights as well.

 Accurate Sensing

With less photon density, and higher density gain the accuracy of both these systems is very high in terms of producing dense and sharp point clouds regardless of time and environment. Several experiments conducted for vertical accuracy through these sensors revealed that both the sensors performed well for various areas of interest.

Solar Noise  

Several experiments conducted with the Geiger-mode sensor showed very less variation in day and night performance. The sensor performed well at night, rather than day,  but the values were infinitesimal. The overall quality of the sensor at the both the times was high quality.

Reflectivity

Many object reflect light, thus legacy sensors or linear sensors do not provide very sharp and precise images for reflective surfaces. In an experiment conducted with both these LIDARS provided an accuracy of 15-50cm combined for the Single-Photon Radar and Geiger Mode LIDAR.

Closing lines

So, does this mean Single Photon LIDARS and Geiger-Mode LIDARS would replace Linear LIDAR technology? The answer to this varies with applications. Each of these devices may perform differently under different circumstances. There’s a lot of development happening in this area of technology, and these devices would be better suited for wide-area collects, rather than small projects due to their cost projections. We hope to see better traction for these LIDAR’s in the future for geospatial users and communities.

A complete guide to What is LIDAR & also get to Know more about LIDAR, GIS, & Photogrammetry technologies Visit