Spatial variability of chlorophyll content in a Tifton 85 bermudagrass pasture in a tropical region

Abstract

Precision Agriculture techniques, such as the management of spatial variability of crop attributes, have been studied for several crops. However, few studies have been performed on Tifton 85 bermudagrass. Thus, this work aimed to analyse the spatial variability of chlorophyll content in a Tifton 85 bermudagrass production area, located in Seropédica, Brazil. A georeferenced grid was created to measure the chlorophyll content in two periods using a portable chlorophyll metre. Different geostatistical methods and models were evaluated in order to identify which had the best fit to analyze the spatial dependence of the chlorophyll content.The atribute was mapped based on interpolation by the ordinary kriging method. Therefore, kriging interpolation was used to create isoline maps, which were used to observe the spatial variability of the chlorophyll content. The methodology and maps generated proved to be of great value to the Tifton 85 bermudagrass producers.