A field comparison of two prototype sensors for horizontally on-the-go soil mechanical resistance measurement

Soil compaction is the basis of determining the tillage depth in the precision tillage system. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of two prototypes of measuring systems for horizontally on-the-go soil mechanical resistance measurement including: a vertical single blade equipped with four miniature load cells and a multiple blades system with four independent sensing blades equipped with precision measuring implements and octagonal ring transducers. Results showed that the multiple probes sensor represented closer data to cone penetrometer with correlation coefficient of 0.63, 0.84, 0.83 and 0.80 for the depth of 0–10, 10–20, 20–30 and 30–40 cm, respectively. While these values were 0.23, 0.16, 0.51 and 0.69 for single blade sensor. Some other advantages of multiple blade probes were lower disturbance in the soil, representation of the same failure mode to cone penetrometer at deeper depths, and lower fluctuations in measured data.

► The multiple probes sensor represented closer data to CI than single blade sensor.
► The multiple probes sensor represented lower disturbance in the soil, than single blade sensor.
► The multiple probes sensor represented the same failure mode to cone penetrometer at more depths.
► The multiple probes sensor had lower fluctuations in measured data than single blade sensor.