Item No. 1 of 1

INVESTIGATOR: Nagchaudhuri, A.; Marsh, L. E.; Mitra, M.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
UNIV OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE
PRINCESS ANNE, MARYLAND 21853

APPLIED RESEARCH AND FIELD EXPERIMENTS USING VARIABLE RATE NITROGEN APPLICATION, REMOTE AND IN SITU SENSING, AND DROUGHT TOLERANT CORN SEEDS

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Modern GPS receivers when connected to data collection devices such as yield/ moisture/ nitrogen level monitors etc. can provide the spatial variation of these attributes "stamped" with geographic coordinates over an entire field. GIS maps of the field data lets farmers visualize variable conditions throughout the field and perform appropriate analysis to determine suitable action. Recent research results also indicate that geo-referenced remote sensing data from aerial images and handheld optical sensors such as "Greenseeker" from a crop canopy at appropriate growth stages can be utilized to gather comprehensive crop health data. These data can be utilized for variable rate nitrogen application rates to improve yield and minimize run off. Nitrogen use efficiency contributes significantly to nutrient management efforts that are a priority (as outlined in Governor O'Malleys Chesapeake Bay Restoration Plan (http://www.baystat.maryland.gov/pdfs/1.pdf) for the rural setting of the Eastern Shore and the Delmarva Peninsula. Recent research and development efforts in agricultural biotech industries are bringing seed varieties for cereal crops such as corn into the commercial market which can tolerate drought. These drought-tolerant seed varieties hold promise in meeting the growing food demands of the world while conserving water use. The world population is likely to double by 2050. Increased yield with efficient utilization of fertilizers and water would be the key elements of sustainable agriculture of the future to address the growing food demand in an environmentally friendly manner within realistic land-use constraints. The proposed project will build capacity at UMES in sustainable production agricultural practices that promote global food security consistent with 21st century technologies. The project will also support graduate and undergraduate students from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics) majors, who will conduct applied research in a vertically integrated multidisciplinary team in a framework that is strongly aligned to the university's land grant mission.

OBJECTIVES: The overall goal of the project is to design and conduct field experiments to develop insight to improve nitrogen use efficiency and tolerance to water stress in production agriculture of cereal crops using a variety of seeds, including newly introduced drought tolerant seeds. Significant effort will be devoted in the early part of the project to reinforce the existing precision agriculture related advanced technology infrastructure on campus by developing the capability for on-the-go sensing of nutrient need in mid season and proportionate fertilizer application at an appropriate growth stage. The project funds will not only support capacity building efforts in sustainable production agriculture practices consistent with 21st century technologies but address workforce development needs by supporting and training graduate and undergraduate students from STEAM ( Science, Technology,Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics) majors in a vertically integrated team setting. The project will provide the platform to forge a partnership among academia (UMES), federal agencies (USDA and NASA) and private industries ( Pioneer and Farm-Site Technologies) to address critical issues related to production agriculture for a growing world population in a environmentally friendly manner under ever increasing land use constraints. The partnership will provide a framework for future education, research and extension efforts. The project will successfully demonstrate use of mid season real-time optical sensing of crop canopy and appropriate variable rate application for nitrogen. Field experiments with seed varieties in variable water stress situations will integrate techniques of the variable rate nitrogen application . These experiments are likely to yield significant information related to the efficacy of drought-tolerant seeds and their promised potential to alleviate the food demands of the growing population with limited water and space resources, under strict environmental guidelines. Advances will be made during the project execution to outline cost-effective strategies to carry out remote sensing from platforms such large kites and UAVs carrying multi-spectral cameras for crop vigor and soil moisture analysis. The project will pave the way for master's thesis and/or doctoral dissertation of selected students. It will not only enhance the precision agriculture related infrastructure at UMES, but continue to provide a platform for experiential learning and discovery for all interested undergraduate STEM majors in a critically important area strongly aligned to the 1890 land-grant mission of the university. The participating students will be encouraged to pursue graduate studies at UMES or elsewhere.

APPROACH: The initial phase of the proposed project will be invested in capacity building efforts to support the research and field experiments. The project team will work with the chosen vendor and student participants to acquire, install, and calibrate the on-the-go sensing and variable rate nitrogen application system. The project team will acquire a used JD 6500 SP Sprayer or similar sprayer with an appropriate controller attachment and retrofit it with appropriate sensors and actuators. STEM students will also work with project leaders to develop basic irrigation capability for a portion of an agricultural field. They will acquire appropriate sensors and install them in the field with interfaces for data logging and wireless transmission. Other capacity building efforts will include acquisition of light weight multi-spectral camera for acquiring remote imagery from cost-effective aerial platforms and handheld pocket NDVI sensors. Emphasis in this project will be on mid-season variable nitrogen application. At the outset comprehensive NDVI data will be acquired and related to grain yield in order to establish a yield prediction equation. On-the-go sensing and the application of the variable nitrogen rate will be based on these equations. Variable rate prescription maps will also be developed using low altitude remote sensing from manned airplanes and kites and compared with the variable rate recommendations based on modern optical sensors. Maryland Space Grant Consortium/NASA supports a synergistic student experiential learning project with the acronym AIRSPACES (Aerial Imaging and Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture and Environmental Stewardship). Continued support will allow student teams to explore use of low cost kite platforms carrying multi-spectral camera to support the remote sensing needs of small farms. NDVI data obtained from the kite imagery will be correlated with NDVI data obtained from the handheld optical sensor system. The offline prescription map developed from remote imagery for variable rate fertilizer application is a viable approach for small farms in combination with commercial VRT applicators. Pioneer and other seed development companies are also addressing the issue of limited water resources by developing drought-tolerant seeds. The wireless network of low cost in situ sensors will be utilized for monitoring field conditions that have been irrigated in a non-uniform fashion. The variable water stress conditions created by non-uniform irrigation will also provide opportunities for the AIRSPACES team to explore the relationship between soil moisture content and soil surface reflectance using remote aerial imagery. Experiments with seed varieties and variable water stress situations will integrate techniques of the variable rate nitrogen application discussed earlier. The project will be a platform to attract talented students to contribute to the applied research and field experiments proposed. The professional team of partners from federal agencies and private companies in the project will provide unique experiences to both undergraduate and graduate students.

PROGRESS: 2012/09 TO 2017/08
Target Audience:Final no cost extension from NIFA Capacity Building Program allowed project investigatorsto continue with harvesting and data analytics for deficit irrigation field experiment with corn for 2016 growing season. The data analytics and UAV thermal imaging studies of the deficit irrigation studies conducted with different seed varieties including one with drought tolerant characteristics provided the basis for completing masters thesis work of a graduate student who joined the project team in 2015 spring.The 5th year of the project has also been successful in continuing to bring together students from science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics (STEAM) background in a vertically integrated multidisciplinary team to advance the project goals and raise awareness among a broader base of campus community to embrace salient social, educational, ,and research priorities of 1890 land grant mission of the campus. A synergistic grant from Maryland Space Grant Consortium NASA provided partial support for the graduate student over the summer and additional undergraduate STEAM students to work collaboratively in a vertically integrated team setting with the project leaders. Project team has continued to work closely with the farm personnel. Besides the campus, the project leaders have interfaced with broader community at large (both farmers and environmental groups) in the eastern shore area to highlight relevance of the project goals in addressing the concerns related to water quality and nutrient management in the region. Project collaborators from NASA and USDA have participated in project team meetings when possible. PI has continued to involve and interface with Dupont-Pioneer personnel. Project leaders have also been active in relevant engineering and scientific professional societies in local, regional and national settings and involved participating undergraduate and graduate students in developing papers, posters and presentations at conferences organized by these professional organization. The deficit irrigation studies with corn conducted using surface drip lines on small agricultural plots as conducted in 2015 and 2016 growing seasons have shown promise. Project leaders will expand the scope of the work in the broader framework of precision nutrient and irrigation managementusing a subsurface drip irrigation set up on a larger acreage and refine the UAV based visible, near-infrared, and thermal imaging efforts with the newlyfundied project throughNIFA 1890 Capacity Building Program. The student who completed his master's work during this reporting period will continue as a doctoral student in the Food Science and Technology program at UMES . Changes/Problems:The project has made signifcant impact in the past years. Maryland Space Grant/NASA funds had allowed a doctoral student to work on the project during the summers of 2012-2014. He has now been absorbed as a 12 month employee of UMES in the aviation program. The student has continued to work on the project (but his time is not charged to the project) and is in the process of wrapping up his dissertation work. An additional graduate student joined the project team in 2015 spring and was supported by the project funds No cost extension application of the PI to NIFA CBG program that was approved in theearly 2016 summer provided an additional year (2017 August) for the project to be completed. This also allowed the student to be supported by project funds through2017 summer when he completed his master's thesis. Incidentally the student has now decided to continue as a doctoral student at UMES in the Food Science and Technology graduate program and will be largely supported by a new NIFA capacity building grant that will provide support to develop subsurface drip irrigation capability on campus and enhance precision agriculture and remote sensing efforts from UAVs. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students involved with the project continue to be exposed to several geospatial analysis software tools ( ArCGIS, SMS Advanced, GPS Visualizer etc) and have gained valuable experience with research in field and laboratory settings. Use of modern UAV systems for remote sensing and use of advanced precision farming tools have not only provided research.opportunities for graduate students in the Food Science and Technology graduate program at UMES but also attracted undergraduates from all STEAM disciplines to support the graduate students. Amaster's thesis ( Mr. Travis Ford) was completed under the supervision of the PI in 2017 summer in the Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences Program.DIssertation work of another graduate student ( who is also a faculty in the aviation program at UMES- Mr. Christopher Hartman) is also getting wrapped up. Involvement of NASA, USDA and Pioneer - Hi Bred in the project have provided professional development opportunities for students and faculty. A new proposal submittedby PIto NIFA capacity building grant program to expand upon the deficit irrigation and UAV based aerial imaging efforts have been funded and will support a doctoral student in the Food cience and Technology doctoral program at UMES. Small annual grants provided by NASA and Maryland Space Grant Consortium have allowed additional STEM students from UMES as well as College Park and Morgan State University to be involved with this other related projects on campus. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During the reporting period the project team has not only continued to disseminate project results through presentations in professional organizations such as American Society of Agriculture and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and 1890 Association of Research Directors Symposium as mentioned earlier,but also locally in the eastern shore and within campus. Project team members have participated in presentation and outreach efforts on campus for Maryland Farmers and School Teachers as well as to state legislatures at Annapolis ( UMES Day at Annapolis in February, 2017) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

IMPACT: 2012/09 TO 2017/08
What was accomplished under these goals? The experimental designs for the 2015 and 2016 experimental seasons were based on strip plots. The field setup in 2015 was selected to allow for 3 pseudo-replicated treatment areas and a large non-irrigated control area. This layout was repeated in two areas of the field, for a total of 6 pseudo-replicates. In the 2016 experimental year each treatment was pseudo-replicated 6 times. During the 2016 growing season 2 genotypes were incorporated and buffer areas were not applied due to a limited supply of drip line and space limitations. Both genotypes were Pioneer DuPont products. Genotype 1 was P1498 CHR. This genotype was chosen for its high drought tolerance known as Aquamax. This genotype was specifically designed to tolerate drought conditions better than non-Aquamax seeds. Genotype 2 was P1197 AM. This genotype performs well in variable environments and has excellent disease protection and late season plant health. Surface drip irrigation lines had a 60 inch spacing, and were the same throughout the entire experiment. Each strip of drip line is approximately 300 feet long. To ensure the prevention of any edge effect on the growth of the crops, a 6 row buffer was placed along the outside of the treatment areas. Irrigation treatments were based on plant available water which corresponded to a particular soil moisture percentage. The moisture of the soil was monitored with sensors, and irrigation was applied as needed and dictated by the soil moisture. Handheld Spectrum Technologies, Inc. thermal sensor was used to obtain thermal measurements from the field test locations. Dynamax portable soil moisture meter was used to take field measurements at 21 locations in 2015 and 58 locations in 2016 throughout the field. A Flir Tau 336 was flown aboard a 3DRobotics X8 UAV and thermal pictures were taken of the entire field. A Spectrum Watchdog 2000 weather station was placed in the field for the duration of this experiment to obtain soil moisture readings as well as weather data. SM100 Soil moisture sensors were placed in each treatment area. In order to take chlorophyll measurements, a Minolta SPAD 502 Chlorophyll meter was used for field measurements.In the year 2016 hand harvesting was done from 58 test locations of which 10 were from the non-irrigated control area of the field. Additionally, harvest data were obtained from three more test locations from the non-irrigated control area. The ears of corn were then weighed and checked for moisture percentage. Data analyses from the 2015 and 2016 experimental seasons have shown that deficit irrigation does make judicious use of water while maintaining a comparable yield obtained using traditional irrigation strategy. The IWUE of treatment (0-30-15) was 180% more than the IWUE of treatment (70-70-70) in 2015 and 305% more during the 2016 season. The harvest data from 2015 showed that treatment (70-70-70) yielded 8.8% more than treatment (0-30-15), but during the 2016 season treatment (0-30-15) was the highest yielding treatment at 10% higher than treatment (70-70-70). The harvested yield for treatment (0-30-15) was significantly higher than all other treatments except (0-50-50) during the 2016 experimental season. Given that rainfall was above normal during both experimental years especially during the early season when treatment (0-30-15) did not call for irrigation, there is a need to continue these studies under varying drought conditions across diverse ecological regions. Although further research is needed, deficit irrigation strategies have shown promise in the ability to make efficient use of water for irrigation while maintaining high output harvests. IWUE data showed that treatment (0-30-15) was significantly higher than all other treatments during both seasons. These results show that the deficit drip irrigation strategy (0-30-15) does make judicious use of water while maintaining relatively high outputs compared to the traditional irrigation strategy (70-70-70). This may be endemic to the specific geographic region that the experiment was conducted in. The amount of early season rainfall experienced during both experimental seasons may have contributed to less yield loss than would have otherwise been experienced if less rainfall had occurred. Farms in water scarce regions may be best suited to adopt techniques tailored for the specific region in order to benefit from increased water use efficiency for irrigation. During the course of this work, thermal imaging with UAV's were processed to obtain CWSI of the entire field. Ability to visualize crop water stress for the entire field holds potential to offer farmers and researchers new insight into crop water use and irrigation management. Overall this investigation identified that the deficit drip irrigation strategy (0-30-15) significantly outperformed all other treatments for IWUE during both seasons. Harvested yield during the 2016 season was significantly higher for treatment (0-30-15) than all other treatments. The harvest yield showed no significant difference statistically in the 2015 experimental season, although differences existed in actual numbers. The unusually high rainfall totals over both experimental seasons did have an impact on the results. Studies in water scarce and drought prone regions would lead to greater insight on the capabilities of the deficit irrigation strategies presented in this investigation. Although the results of this study are specific to the field and the period over which it was conducted, the general findings are relevant to broader farming community and field researchers in diverse ecological settings.

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2012/09 TO 2017/08
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Travis Ford, Christopher Hartman, Abhijit Nagchaudhuri , Madhumi Mitra, Lurline Marsh , Analysis of Yield Response with Deficit Drip Irrigation Strategies, Remote Sensing with UAVs, and Thermal Image Processing Paper number 1701003, 2017 ASABE Annual International Meeting. (doi: 10.13031/aim.201701003) @2017

PROGRESS: 2015/09/01 TO 2016/08/31
Target Audience:No cost extension from NIFA Capacity Building Program allowed project directors to address proposal objectives for the 4th year and successfully advance the master's thesis work of the graduate student who was identified in the fall of 2014 and who joined the project team in 2015 spring. As reported in the previous progress report in the 2015 growing season field studies were initiated using deficit irrigation techniques on corn crops, using surface drip irrigation for a selected portion of Bozman farm at UMES. Three deficit irrigation strategies were compared. In the 2016 growing season an additional treatment was added on a similar field study. Two different seed types from Dupont Pioneer was used in the study, of which one has been identified by the company as drought tolerant. The 4th year of the project has also been successful in continuing to bring together students from science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics (STEAM) background in a vertically integrated multidisciplinary team to advance the project goals and raise awareness among a broader base of campus community to embrace salient social, educational, ,and research priorities of 1890 land grant mission of the campus. A synergistic grant from Maryland Space Grant Consortium NASA have provided partial support for the graduate student over the summer and additional undergraduate STEAM students to work collaboratively in a vertically integrated team setting with the project leaders. The project leaders have also recruited an additional graduate student who is being supported by the project funds starting spring of 2015. Project team has continued to work closely with the farm personnel. Besides the campus, the project leaders have interfaced with broader community at large (both farmers and environmental groups) in the eastern shore area to highlight relevance of the project goals in addressing the concerns related to water quality and nutrient management in the region. Project collaborators from NASA and USDA have participated in project team meetings when possible. PI has continued to involve and interface with Dupont-Pioneer personnel. Project leaders have also been active in relevant engineering and scientific professional societies in local, regional and national settings and involved participating undergraduate and graduate students in developing papers, posters and presentations at conferences organized by these professional organization. Changes/Problems:The project has made signifcant impact in the past years. Maryland Space Grant/NASA funds had allowed a doctoral student to work on the project during the summers of 2012-2014. He has now been absorbed as a 12 month employee of UMES in the aviation program. The student has continued to work on the project (but his time is not charged to the project) and will complete his dissertation work by next summer. An additional graduate student joined the project team in 2015 spring and is now being supported by the project funds. No cost extension application of the PI to NIFA CBG program was approved in the early 2016 summer that will provide an additional year (2017 August) for the project to be completed. This will provide the master's student that joined the project in 2015 spring to complete his master's work with the support of the project funds and the project's educational and research goals to be accomplished in a cost-effective manner. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students involved with the project continue to be exposed to several geospatial analysis software tools ( ArCGIS, SMS Advanced, GPS Visualizer etc) and have gained valuable experience with research in field and laboratory settings. Use of modern UAV systems for remote sensing and use of advanced precision farming tools have not only provided research opportunities for graduate students in the Food Science and Technology graduate program at UMES but also attracted undergraduates from all STEAM disciplines to support the graduate students. It is anticipated a master's thesis ( Mr. Travis Ford) and doctoral dissertation( Mr. Christopher Hartman) will be completed under the supervision of the PI by end of 2017 summer based on research work conducted on campus related to this capacity building grant. Involvement of NASA, USDA and Pioneer - Hi Bred in the project have provided professional development opportunities for students and faculty. The PI has also submitted a new proposal to NIFA capacity building grant program to expand upon the deficit irrigation related work initiated during the project execution which is currently under review. Small annual grants provided by NASA and Maryland Space Grant Consortium have allowed additional STEM students from UMES as well as College Park and Morgan State University to be involved with this other related projects on campus. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During the reporting period the project team has not only continued to disseminate project results through presentations in professional organizations such as American Society of Agriculture and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE),but also locally in the eastern shore and within campus. Project team members have participated in several K-12 outreach events on campus to inspire and interest middle and high school students in this as well as other ongoing projects supported by NIFA on campus. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The plans for the next reporting include analyses of the data for the field studies conducted in the 2016 growing season. Preparations are underway to publish the results in the proceedings of national conferences of organizations such as ASABE, ARD ( Association of Research Directors for 1890 Schools)ASEE and ASA, CSSA and SSSA as well as relevant refereed journals. The project leaders have submitted a new proposals to NIFA(USDA) and Maryland Space Grant to continue and expand the ambitious project goals in vertically integrated team settings with undergraduate and graduate students across disciplinary boundaries. During the next reporting period the project leaders anticipate that the food science and technology (FDST) doctoral student and the Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences masters student working on research projects inspired by the objectives delineated in this project proposal will complete their dissertation and thesis work. The project team will also continue to work with UMES farm personnel and reinforce interactions with the UMES extension during the next reporting period and continue to be involved with outreach activities in local, regional, national and international avenues. New environmental regulations in Maryland related to use of organic fertilizer ( such as poultry litter) have grown significant interest in the farming community in the eastern shore of Maryland related to precision farming. Discussions are underway with UMES extension to develop a framework for broader dissemination of project efforts among the local farmers.

IMPACT: 2015/09/01 TO 2016/08/31
What was accomplished under these goals? Deficit irrigation is being widely investigated as a valuable and sustainable production strategy. As reported in the previous annual report report(2015) deficit irrigation studies were conducted in UMES campus on a small portion of the Bozman field for the 2015 growing season . the The growing season was divided in three equal portions corresponding to early, middle, and late stages of crop growth. Three irrigation treatments (70-70-70), (0-30-15), (0-50-50) were chosen along with a non-irrigated control area (rain-fed). In the 2016 field experiment we added another treatment (15-50-0) with a small early season irrigation component and no irrigation in the late season. 70 corresponds to maintaining 70% plant available water. It is to be noted two of the treatments has '0' for the early stage indicating that no irrigation will be scheduled unless permanent wilting point occurs. Weekly measurements were taken using a handheld Infrared Temperature (IRT) sensor, soil moisture sensor, as well as a SPAD meter. Thermal imagery was also captured using a low flying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). These images were then assembled, mosaicked, and processed to display crop water stress index (CWSI) image of the entire field. A selected portion of the experimental area will be hand harvested and the rest with combine harvester equipped with a yield monitor. The results of the study conducted in 2015 has been reported in the paper titled " Yield Response to Deficit Irrigation Strategies based on Plant Available Water for Growing Field Corn" that was published in the proceedings of the 2016 Annual International Meeting of the ASABE as well as presented at the meeting. The results of this preliminary field study indicates deficit irrigation does indeed make judicious use of irrigation water. The study also validates that UAV based thermal imagery holds promise in crop health assessment in water stressed conditions. The field data, harvest data and aerial imaging data for the 2016 experiment will be analyzed and reported as an integral part of the final report and will also form a major part of the master's thesis document of the graduate student who joined the project team in 2015 spring ( Mr. Travis Ford). As reported in the previous annual report a small field experiment was also undertaken in 2015 growing season at the Bozman farm. This field study was designed to utilize prescription maps developed from color infrared imagery from an UAV, in lieu of the Optrx sensor on the Spray-coupe for estimating NDVI ( crop nutrient status) for application of fertilizer( nitrogen) using the variable rate applicator(VRA) . The 3DRobotics X8 UAV mentioned earlier was used to fly a Tetracam (color Infrared) camera over a 2 hectare field near the V8 growth stage. The CIR Images were orthorectified and processed to create an NDVI map of the field. Using Agleader SMS Advanced a Nitrogen prescription map was created based on the NDVI map. This prescription application of Nitrogen was completed using the SpraCoupe. The project team presented the preliminary results of this work at 2016 ASABE International Meeting at the Advances and Innovative UAV applications session ( see other products). Analysis of yield data from this experiment will be integrated with the dissertation document of Mr. Christopher Hartman who has been working under the supervision of the PI and Co-Is as well as the project collaborator from USDA ARS Beltsville. The UMES project team also worked with the remote sensing group at ARS Beltsville to conduct a trial remote sensing flight using the UMES UAV (3DR Octocopter) over one of the UMES fields this summer using a new 4 band camera system acquired by USDA. Cloud based analysis of the image data is currently being undertaken.

PUBLICATIONS: 2015/09/01 TO 2016/08/31
1. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Travis Ford, Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, Christopher Hartman, Madhumi Mitra"Yield Response to Deficit Irrigation Strategies Based on Plant Available Water for Growing Field Corn" , Paper number 162459772, 2016 ASABE Annual International Meeting. (doi: 10.13031/aim.20162459772) @2061
2. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hartman, C., Nagchaudhuri, A., Daughtry, C., and Mitra, M., "Nitrogen Rate Prescription Maps created using UAV-acquired Aerial Imagery in Support of Nitrogen Use",Abstract Number/CONTROL ID: 2459302, Presented at Advances and Innovative UAV Applications at the 2016 Annual International Meeting of the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), July 17-20, Orlando, Florida

PROGRESS: 2014/09/01 TO 2015/08/31
Target Audience:The 3rd year of the project has been successful in continuing to bring together students from science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics(STEAM) background in a vertically integrated multidisciplinary team to advance the project goals and raise awareness among a broader base of campus community to embrace salient social, educational, and research priorities of 1890 land grant mission of the campus. A synergistic grant from Maryland Space Grant Consortium /NASA have partially supported a graduate student and additional undergraduate STEAM students to work collaboratively in the vertically integrated team setting with the project leaders. The project leaders have also recruited an additional graduate student who is being supported by the project funds starting spring of 2015. The student completed a bachelors degree in environmental sciences from Delaware State University, a neighboring 1890 land grant institution , in the fall semesterof 2014 and hit the ground running as a graduate student to advance the project goals. He is working closely with the doctoral student who was partially supported by Maryland Space Grant/NASA to work on broader goals of this project including aspects related to remote sensing.The no-cost extension approved by NIFA CBG program manager will allow the project leaders to continue to advance the project goals and support the research efforts of the two graduate students currently working on the project.Project team has worked closely with the farm personnell to use all the advanced technology tools and equipment related to precision farming acquired through this grant and prior capacity building grants for conducting field experiments in realistic field settings. Besides the campus the project leaders have interfaced with broader community at large ( both farmers and environmental groups) in the eastern shore area to highlight relevance of the project goals in addressing the concerns related water quality and nutrient management in the region.Project collaborators from NASA, USDA, as well as Pioneer Hi-Bred Int. have participated in project team meetings when possible. Project leaders have also been active in relevant engineering and scientific professional societies in local, regional and national settings. Changes/Problems:Supplementary funding from Maryland Space Grant Consortium (MDSGC) and NASA for proposals titled"AIRSPACES: Aerial Imaging and Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture and Environmental Stewardship", and "Building a Vertically Integrated Multidisciplinary Team to Enhance Research and Extension Efforts in Precision Agriculture" allowed significant cost savings with regard to supporting and involving undergraduate and graduate students to advance the project goals. The PIs request for a no-cost extension for an additional year has been granted by the NIFA CBG program leader and will not only allow the continuation and advancement of the project goals but will allow the project leaders to support an additional masters student who joined the project team in spring of 2015 to make significant strides towards completing his master's thesis. It will alsoallow project funds to be available for field experiments in 2016 growing season and support publication endeavors of the doctoral and masters level graduate student working in the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students involved with the project continue to be exposed to several geospatial analysis software tools ( ArCGIS, SMS Advanced, GPS Visualizer etc) and have gained valuable experience with research in field and laboratory settings. Use of modern UAV systems for remote sensing and use of advanced precision farming tools have not only provided research opportunities for graduate students in the Food Science and Technology graduate program at UMES but also attracted undergraduates from all STEAM disciplines to support the graduate students. In the spring of 2015 a new graduate student who completed a bachelor's degree in environmental sciences at a neighboring 1890 school joined the project team and is pursuing his master's thesis work under the supervision of the PI. Involvement of NASA, USDA and Pioneer - Hi Bred in the project have provided professional development opportunities for students and faculty. Project team has been using variety of remote sensing platforms in support of the precision agriculture efforts. The PI was a invited speaker at the 8th International Integrated Pest Management Symposium in March 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The remote sensing session at the meeting provided a platform for potential use of UAVs in the pest management endeavors. In recent years there has been significant interest in UAVs for remote sensing. The project team has extensive experience with UAV based remote sensing and are poised to play a significant role in integration UAV based remote sensing for agriculture and other applications in the future. The doctoral student working with the PI in the project has been inducted in the committee on "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Agriculture" committee of the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) to help steer the future policies of ASABE pertaining proper use of UAVs in agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During the reporting period the project team has not only continued to disseminate project results through presentations in professional organizations such as American Society of Agriculture and Biological Engineers (ASABE), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and ASA ( agronomy) , CSSA ( Crop Science) , and SSSA ( Soil Science) meetings but also locally in the eastern shore and within campus. Project team members have participated in several K-12 outreach events on campus to inspire and interest middle and high school students. The project has attracted attention from the media and several articles related to the project have been published in local newspapers (Daily times, Delmarva times and our own UMES Key (https://www.umes.edu/PR/Article.aspx?id=53847 ). Video footage of interviews of the PI and the lead doctoral student has been aired in WRDE Coast TV and Maryland Public Television (MPT)'s - Maryland Farm and Harvest segment). The UMES president also mentioned the success of the project during her speech at the "125th Anniversary of the Signing of the Second Morrill Act" in Washington DC in 2015 summer. The PI was also invited to present aspects of this project at several national and international meetings including the session on Advanced Technologies for Precision IPM at "The 8th International IPM Symposium" that was held in Salt Lake City Utah, in March, 2015. The symposium organizers have posted the invited presentations including mine at the URL http://www.northeastipm.org/about-us/publications/videos/advanced-technology-fo r-precision-ipm/ . In addition the PI was also invited to Fresno State University to present his research and experiential learning endeavors https://www.facebook.com/fresnostatechemistryclub/posts/922331747785446 as well as at theUnmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Technical Interchangeon October 2, 2014 hosted by Eastern Shore Community College,in partnership with the Wallops Research Park. The presentation is available at the URL http://es.vccs.edu/news/unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas-technical-interchange-pro gram-held-october-2/ . What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The plans for the next reporting include analyses of the data for the field studies conducted in the 2015 growing season. Preparations are underway to publish the results in the proceedings of national conferences of organizations such as ASABE, ASEE and ASA, CSSA and SSSA as well as relevant refereed journals. The project leaders plan to continue develop proposals for submission to NIFA(USDA) and Maryland Space Grant as well as other state, federal and private agencies to continue and expand the ambitious project goals in vertically integrated team settings with undergraduate and graduate students across disciplinary boundaries. During the next reporting period the project leaders anticipate that the food science and technology (FDST) doctoral student and the Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences masters student working on research projects inspired by the objectives delineated in this project proposal would have completed or made significant progress towards completion of their dissertation and thesis work. The project team will also continue to work with UMES farm personnel and reinforce interactions with the UMES extension during the next reporting period and continue to be involved with outreach activities in local, regional, national and international avenues.

IMPACT: 2014/09/01 TO 2015/08/31
What was accomplished under these goals? In this reporting period the results of the field experiments that were conducted in the2014 growing season of corn (spring planting and fall harvest) on UMES campus will be delineated. A brief outline of the 2015 field experiments will also be provided. As mentioned in the previous report ( 2nd year) field studies with Pioneer Aquamax P0876AM and Pioneer P0987AM1 were continued duplicating year 2013's 108 plot 3 factor experiment with Seed type, Nitrogen and Irrigationat the Bozman farm. The campus acquired a new ~125 acre (~50 hectares)farm (Stark) during this period. The project team worked with the farm personnel to conduct additional Nitrogen rate, as well as seed density experiments under the auspices of this project, on portions of this farm in 2014 growing season. Since no water was available at the Stark farm, the irrigation treatments could not be replicated. The experiment consisted of Seed as the strip plots and Nitrogen (0, 44, 89, 134, 179 and 224 kg ha-1) as the subplot. A total of 4 replications were created for a total of 48 plots each the same size as those in the Bozman experiment, 6 rows wide and 15.2m long. Significant effects of Nitrogen, Seed and Nitrogen-Seed interaction effect were observed and the Nitrogen response curve wasvery similar to that in the Bozman experiments over the 2012-2014 time frame. The non-Aquamax seed variety outperformed Aquamax in this experiment, although this result is not unexpected given the high-precipitation rate during theseason. Aquamax and non-Aquamax seed types (Pioneer P0987AM1 and P0876AM1, identical to 2013) were used in the seed-density experiment at the Stark farm. The seeds were planted in 6 row wide strip plots across approximately 16 hectares on the Stark Farm. 59300, 69,000, and 79000 seeds per hectare were used. Normal farmer practice is 69,000 seeds per hectare. This resulted in an experiment where there were 6 strip plots per population, per seed, for a totalof 36 plots. Strip plots were harvested with a 6-row combinehead harvesterequipped with a calibrated yield monitor. Overall Aquamax (0876) significantlyimproved yield over the non-Aquamax variety by 2% (182.4 v. 178.5 bu ac-1, respectively). The population yields across the 59300, 69000, and 79000 seeds per hectare rates were not statistically significant. There was a significant interaction effect between seed and population. In the low and mid population levels, the Aquamax seed significantly outperformed the Non-Aquamax seed by 5.5% (11,593 vs. 10,984 kg ha-1, respectively) at the low population and by 5.1% (11,637 vs. 11,072 kg ha-1, respectively) at the mid population level. However, the non-Aquamax seed outperformed the Aquamax seed at the highest population significantly improving yield by 3.0% (11,505 vs. 11,167 kg ha -1, respectively). It is interesting to note that the Aquamax variety provided its best yield at the lowest population density and that this yield was significantly better than the non-Aquamax variety at the same population. This would seem to indicate a potential seed cost savings could be achieved with Aquamax planted at lower population densities. Although the non-Aquamax seed outperformed Aquamax at 32,000 seeds per acre, its yield at that density (11,505 kg ha-1) was still less than Aquamax at 24,000 seeds per acre (11,593 kg ha-1). During the 2014 growing season the project team continued to work with the farm personnel to apply variable rate nitrogen according to the crop needs in mid-season. The SpraCoupe with OptRx based variable rate fertilizer applicator that was acquired with the project funds was used extensively, applying Nitrogen on-the-go on more than 40 hectares. Farm personnel indicated greater comfort with the equipment that came with familiarity and use. Maryland Space Grant/NASA continued their annual (2014-15) funding support for the synergistic AIRSPACES(Aerial Imaging and Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture and Environmental Stewardship) project that facilitated involvement of undergraduate STEAM students with the broad goals of precision agriculture related endeavors at UMES. Undergraduate students worked with the project team to improve the UAV based image acquisition of color-infrared-imagery using ADC Tetracam and 3DR X8 Octocopter UAV system for acquiring crop nutrient status data for the ongoing field experiments. Efforts undertaken in the fall semester of 2014 by the project team and the undergraduate students related to this endeavor was presented at the annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in June, 2015, and a refereed paper was published in the proceedings of the conference. Starting in the Spring of 2015 the project team has welcomed a new graduate student who is being supported by the project funds. The PIs request for a no-cost extension till 2016 fall has been granted to continue the field research. The new graduate student who has joined the Agriculture Food and Resource Sciences department is working with the doctoral student (who is partially supported by Maryland Space Grant to work on the broad objectives of this project)and the PI to define his master's thesis on field experiments related to deficit irrigation studies and water use efficiency. In the 2015 growing season field studies were initiated using deficit irrigation techniques on corn crops, using surface drip irrigation on Bozman farm. For this study, three irrigation treatments were chosen along with a non-irrigated control area. These treatments were based on plant available water in the soil which takes into account the permanent wilting point and field capacity. A percentage of the plant available water equates to a particular soil moisture percentage, the aim was to keep the soil at or above that level of soil moisture for the treatment time frame. The treatmenttime frames were broken up into three zonesso that the growing season of the corn was evenly distributed over 3 parts. These treatments were as follows; Treatment 1 (70-70-70), treatment 2 (0-50-50), treatment 3 (0-30-15), and the non-irrigated control (where 70-70-70 corresponds 70% plant available soil moisture level , when soil moisture fell below that irrigation was initiated for a certain length of time, 0's in the treatment two and three correspond to rain-fed growth during the early vegetative state to save irrigation water application with the anticipation that it will not compromise yield significantly).Weekly measurements related to crop growth and an infrared temperature probe were taken from the field during the growing season. A newly acquired thermal camera was also mounted on 3DRX8 octocopter to capture thermal imagery of the experimental field. All the harvest, field data, and image data will be analyzed in fall of 2015 and spring of 2016 and will be reported in the next annual report. The project team is working on publications related to these field studies in journals and conference proceedings articles In additional a small field experiment was also undertaken in 2015 growing season at the Bozman farm. This field study has been designed to utilize prescription maps developed from color infrared imagery from an UAV, in lieu of the Optrx sensor on the Spray-coupe for estimating NDVI ( crop nutrient status) for application of fertilizer( nitrogen) using the variable rate applicator(VRA). The 3DRobotics X8 UAV mentioned earlier was used to fly a Tetracam (color Infrared) camera over a 2 hectare field near the V8 growth stage. The CIR Images were orthorectified and processed to create an NDVI map of the field. Using Agleader SMS Advanced a Nitrogen prescription map was created based onthe NDVI map. This prescription application of Nitrogen was completed using the SpraCoupe. Analysis of yield data from this experiment is ongoing.

PUBLICATIONS: 2014/09/01 TO 2015/08/31
1. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hartman, C. E., & Nagchaudhuri, A., & Zhang, L., & Diab, A. H. (2015, June), Improving Image Quality of a Color Infrared Digital Camera Mounted on a Small UAV Platform: An Iterative Active Learning Experience Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24257
2. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Abstract Number/Control ID: 2189226 Hartman, C., Nagchaudhuri, A., Daughtry, C., and Mitra, M., "Aerial Imaging from a UAV in Support of Nitrogen Rate Studies at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore." Abstract Number/Control ID: 2189226 , Presented in session 332 at 2015 Annual International Meeting of the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), July 26-29, 2015.

PROGRESS: 2013/09/01 TO 2014/08/31
Target Audience: In the 2nd year the project continued to reinforce the broad goals related to agricultural productivity, environmental stewardship, and climate change contextualized from the perpective of the realities on the ground in the Delmarva Peninsula. The proximity of UMES to Chesapeake and other coastal bays, the farming practices within the UMES campus, and the core social and academic mission of the 1890 land grant institutions in general, and UMES in particular provided the underpinning for the project execution tasks and expected outcomes. To this end, the 2nd year of the project has been successful in continuing to bring together students from science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics(STEAM) background in a vertically integrated multidisciplinary team to advance the project goals and raise awareness among a broader base of campus community to embrace salient social, educational, and research priorities of 1890 land grant mission of the campus. A synergistic grant from Maryland Space Grant Consortium /NASA have partially supported a graduate student and additional undergraduate STEAM students to work collaboratively in the vertically integrated team setting with the project leaders. Project team has worked closely with the farm personnell to use all the advance technology tools and equipment related precision farming acquired through this grant and prior capacity building grants for conducting field experiments in realistic setting. Besides the campus the project leaders have interfaced with broader community at large ( both farmers and environmental groups) in the eastern shore area to highlight relevance of the project goals in addressing the concerns related water quality and nutrient management in the region. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Extensive soil testing results have provided evidence that there is excessive phosphorus in UMES fields and has provided additional justification for using variable rate nitrogen applicators using inorganic nitrogen sources. The newly acquired variable rate applicator using OPTRX sensors have opened up additonal avenues of field research for nutrient management and crop yield enhancement. Students involved with the project has been exposed to several geospatial analysis software environments and have gained valuable experience with research in field and laboratory settings. Use of modern UAV systems for rempte sensing and use of advanced precision farming tools have not only provided research opportunities for graduate students in the Food Science and Technology graduate program at UMES but also attracted undergraduates from all STEAM disciplines to support the graduate students. Involvement of NASA, USDA and Pioneer - Hi Bred in the project have provided professional development opportunities for students and faculty. UMES students have been provided internship opportunities at these organizations. Project team has been using variety of remote sensing platforms in support of the precision agriculture efforts. In recent years there has been significant interest in UAVs for remote sensing. The project team has extensive experience with UAV bases remote sensing and are poised to play a significant role in integration UAV based remote sensing for agriculture and other applications in the future. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The undergraduate students helped extensively with experimental lay out and bi-weekly field data collection with variety of equipment including hand-held Green seeker, SPAD meter, pH meter etc. They have also been involved in supporting the graduate stduent with data analysis effort. Besides students and farm personnel at UMES, the project results have been shared with the local farming community and environmental groups. The project team presented the results of the field trials at annual meetings of various professional organizations including American Society for Agriculture and Biological Engineers (ASABE), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and ASA, CSSA and SSSA. The publications related to these presentations have been delineated in an earlier section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In the fall of 2014 harvest data from the field trials that were conducted in the 2014 growing season will be analyzed. The data from the 2012 , 2013 and 2014 field trials will be assimilated to outline the field trials for 2015 growing season with the two seed varieties. The plans for the next year also include variable rate application of phosphorus in the Bozman field. Extensive utlization of on-the-go variable rate applicator and UAV based remote remote sensing efforts are also planned for the next year. Additional support from Maryland Space Grant/ NASA have supplemented student support to enhance project efforts. The project team also plans to continue to devote efforts to develop new proposals to expand efforts related to agricultural automation and remote sensing.

IMPACT: 2013/09/01 TO 2014/08/31
What was accomplished under these goals? In the fall of 2013 the field experiments that were laid out in the President's field and Bozman field were harvested and analyzed. In the President's field performance of the two seed types (Aquamax (P0876AM) and non-Aquamax (P0987AM1)) provided by Pioneer Hi-Bred were compared . 6 row strip plots alternating a drought tolerant (Aquamax P0876AM) and a non-drought tolerant (P0987AM1) variety. Each block of seed density contained three strips of each seed. Blocks of seeding densities were varied after 3 strips of each variety. Blocks of the 24000 seed/acre and 32000 seeds/acre were alternated with two replications of each block. The 28000 seed/acre density was planted in all other fields and across turn rows in the experimental field. All plots received a flat application of 160 lbs/acre of Nitrogen fertilizer. In the Bozman field 2 acre split plot design was laid out as reported earlier. 108 subplots ( 6 row wide and 50 feet long) of the 2-acre lay out had 3 replicates of 3 factor experiment with 6 nitrogen levels ( 0, 40, ,80, 120,160, 200 lbs/acre) , 3 irrigation levels ( rainfed, partial season, full season) and 2 seed types ( Aquamax (P0876AM) and non-Aquamax (P0987AM1) ). Additional acreage in Bozman field was utilized for field trial with the two seed varieties in which three different planting dates for corn were used in a field. The goal was to observe any short-term water stress impact on corn during three differing growth stages. Each planting of approximately 6 to 10 acres was staggered by approximately 2.5 weeks with the first corn planted on April 17 (henceforth referred to as early-plant), and subsequent plantings on May 6 (mid-plant) and May 23 (late-plant). Aquamax and non-Aquamax varieties were alternated in 6-row strip plots throughout the field. The early-plant corn received a flat rate of 150 lbs/acre, mid-plant corn received no Nitrogen, and the late-plant corn received an average of 146 lbs/acre Nitrogen applied using the new on the go variable rate applicator. VRA system was delivered late to campus and could be utilized only for the late- planting. Plot divisions were marked using a hand-held mobile mapper and maps were created using ArcGIS. The analysis of the harvest data have been elaborated in the papers published in proceedings of 2014 ASABE conference (i)Nagchaudhuri, A., Mitra, M., Hartman, C., Daughtry, C., Bland, G., Shanahan, J., and Reese, K., (2014). “Towards Greener Farms and Cleaner Bays in the Eastern Shore”, Presented at 2014 ASABE and CSBE SCGAB Annual International Meeting , Paper number 141913243,2014 Montreal, Quebec Canada July 13 – July 16, 2014.(doi: 10.13031/aim.20141913243) @2014 and (ii)Hartman, C., Nagchaudhuri, A., Daughtry, C., and Mitra, M., (2014), “The Development of Nitrogen Response Curves for the Improvement of Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) on Maryland’s Eastern Shore”, Presented at 2014 ASABE and CSBE SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Paper number 141900381,2014 Montreal, Quebec Canada July 13 – July 16, 2014.(doi: 10.13031/aim.20141900381) @2014. The preliminary trials with variable seeding, differing planting dates, and variable rate nitrogen application for drought tolerant and non-tolerant corn could not discern any clear advantage for drought tolerant trait since the rainfall in 2013 growing season was adequate, resulting in no drought stress. Although no statistically significant conclusions can be drawn from the results of 2013 field experiments of corn with regard to improved nitrogen use efficiency for variable rate application, the corn yield data from field experiments confirm that yield is not compromised by VRA and should in theory result in lower nutrient run-offs. Moreover, use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer for flat or variable rate application is an improvement over using poultry manure as fertilizer particularly for its implications related to phosphorus run-offs and concerns with eutrophication of Chesapeake and other coastal bays in Maryland and the eastern shore region. The adequate rainfall of 2013 growing season could not draw out the differences in three levels of irrigation. Very late in the season some irrigation was necessitated and was only applied in some of the plots which showed improved results. A more systematic field study is being conducted for the 2014 growing season to build upon the preliminary field trials for the 2013 growing season for corn reported here. Aerial imaging efforts will be conducted from an UAV wirh a color infra red (CIR) digital camera.

PUBLICATIONS: 2013/09/01 TO 2014/08/31
1. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hartman, C., Daughtry, C., Mitra, M., Nagchaudhuri, A., (2013). ?The Development Sensor-Based Algorithms and On-the-Go Application for the Improvement of Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE)?, Water, Food, Energy and Innovation for a Sustainable World, ASA, CSSA and SSSA, International Annual Meeting, November 3-6, Tampa, Florida, Abstract # 279-2
2. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hartman, C., Nagchaudhuri, A., Daughtry, C., and Mitra, M., (2014), ?The Development of Nitrogen Response Curves for the Improvement of Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) on Maryland?s Eastern Shore?, Presented at 2014 ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Paper number 141900381, 2014 Montreal, Quebec Canada July 13 ? July 16, 2014. (doi: 10.13031/aim.20141900381) @2014
3. Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Nagchaudhuri, A., Mitra, M., Hartman, C., Daughtry, C., Bland, G., Shanahan, J., and Reese, K., (2014). ?Towards Greener Farms and Cleaner Bays in the Eastern Shore?, Presented at 2014 ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting , Paper number 141913243, 2014 Montreal, Quebec Canada July 13 ? July 16, 2014. (doi: 10.13031/aim.20141913243) @2014

PROGRESS: 2012/09/01 TO 2013/08/31
Target Audience: The project seeks to provide tangible directions that will begin to address the global food security issues in the face of climate change, criticalnutrient management issues to optimize agricultural productivity , and, the rising food demands of a growing population. The broad goals were contextualized from the perpective of the realities on the ground in theDelmarva Peninsula, proximity of UMESto Chesapeake and other coastal bays, the farming practices within the UMES campus, and the core social and academic mission of the 1890 land grant institutions in general, and UMES in particular. To this end, the initial year of the project has been successful in bringing together students from science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics(STEAM) background in avertically integrated multidisciplinary team to advance the project goals and raise awarenessamong a broader base ofcampus community to come together andfully embrace the land grant missionwhile devoting effortsto solve serious societal problems related to health,food,energy, and environment. Besides STEAM faculty and students, the infrastructure development effortsand field experimentsconducted inthe past year have targetedassisting and working with farm personnel to improve production agricultural practices within campus. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project leaders work closely with collaborators at USDA- ARS facility in Beltsville and NASA Wallops Island facility. USDA and NASA collaborators have made available to the project team some of the advanced remote sensing tools and field data gathering instrumentation. Whenever appropriate they have also trained the students and faculty to use these equipment. Students and faculty participating in the project have benefitted from visiting the NASA Wallops and USDA Beltsville facility as well. Future plans include internship opportunities for participating students at these facilities. A training workshop has been conducted at the UMES premises by AgLeader representativeto introduce basic functionality and field utilization of the OpTRX sensor based variable rate applicator, that has been installed on a UMES spray-coupe.Faculty and Students participating in the project have also attended online webinars for OpTRX, as well as SMS Advanced software that will be used to record and analyze data from (i) the varibale rate applicator (VRA) and (ii) the yield monitor installed in the combine harvester. Agronomy research team from Pioneer Hybrid International also visited UMES in early spring to discuss how they will participate in the project. They have provided the two seed varieties for the field experiments with corn and have promised continued support. They will also look into providing internship opportunities for participating students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Field data from corn harvest will be availabe later in fall 2013 for the field experiments that were conducted in the first year of the grant. Field experiments that were conducted in 2012 summer as part of an ongoing experiential learning project on campus, were designed in anticipation of the the award of this grant and have provided preliminary datathat was used toenhance field experiments in 2013 corn season. These results and how they relate to future efforts that will be integrated in this research project were presented by the graduate student working in the project at the 17th Biennial 1890 Association of Research Director's Meeting, held during April 10-13 in Jackonville Florida. This not only exposed a broader audience at the 1890 schools to the ongoing efforts at UMES, but it also won the graduate student 2nd Prize in the oral competition for the category in which he competed. Modern technological tools acquired by the project team is being introduced to the farm personnel through the field experiments that are being conducted under the auspices of the project .These effortswill be integrated with operations of the UMES farms for the production of corn, soybean and wheat. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In the next reporting period all field data from smaller plots ( hand harvesting) and larger plots ( yield monitor data from combine harvester) for the 2013 field experiments using 2 seed varieties from Pioneer Hybrid International will be analyzed and mapped using appropriate statistical and GIS tools. Efforts will also be devoted towards publishing the results in suitable conference proceedings and/or Journals. The data will also be utilized to develop and refine algorithms for optical sensor based variable nitrogen application for UMES fields. Thevariable rate nutrient applicator (VRA)was commissioned towards the end of the growing season of corn last summer and as such could not be effectively utilized in the field trials in 2013 summer. Future field trials will fully utilize the VRA capability in conjunction with drought tolerant seed varieties provided by Pioneer Hybrid Int. to explore water and nitrogen use efficiency in field conditions. In collaboration with a soil scientist at Delaware State University post- harvest grid soil sampling and analysis will be performed and compared with pre-harvest data using GIS software. It is anticipated that the project team will gain valuable insight into the complex interaction of soil chemistry, variable rate nutrient application, seed varieties, irrigation, field productivity and environmental considerations. The project leaders will continue to work closely with USDA and NASA collaborators and get valuable inputs from them with respect to agronomy and remote sensing aspects of the project. Capacity buidling and infrastructure improvement efforts in these areas will continue as proposed.

IMPACT: 2012/09/01 TO 2013/08/31
What was accomplished under these goals? Some of the split plot experimental efforts on a 2-acre area initiated prior to the funding of this grant in 2012 summer in conjunction with a previously funded USDA CBG grant was adapted to includetwo varieties of seeds( including one with a drought tolerant trait)provided by the partnering organization for the grant -Pioneer Hybrid International. Pioneer seeds were also utilized forproduction scale experiments ona 15 acre ( Presidents field)and 50 acre ( Bozman field) for 2013 season ( March /April planting date). For the 2-acre plot, 3 factor experiment was set-up in consultation with the USDA collaborator and Pioneer HybridInt. agronomy research managers,with two seed varieties, 5 nitrogen levels, and 3 irrigation levels to generate data related to water use efficiency(WUE) and nitrogen use efficiency(NUE), as well as prediction algorithms for mid season nitrogen application. For the larger fields no irrigation was used but experiments were laid out with the two seedtraits with varying density ( President's field) and varying planting date ( Bozman field). Significant efforts were also devoted for infrastructure development to support field activities. Trial runs were conducted using kite aerial imaging with support from NASA engineers and scientists to acquire color, color infrared, and thermal pictures of the two acre field experiment. UMES yield monitor integrated with combine harvester was checked and calibrated, irrigation ( pump, drip lines etc), soil moisture sensing, and weather monitoring stations were set-up appropriately, and a used spray-coupe was acquired with a retractablesixty foot boom. The boom sections were integrated with colocated optical sensors and sprayers to apply variable rate nitrogen, based on crop needs in mid-seasonusing optical sensor feedback. Grid soil sampling was performed on a half acre grid for the Bozman field. Collaboration was established witha soil science facultyat Delaware State University to perform analysisof the soil samples. Maryland Space Grant and NASA is partially supporting a graduate student to work on this project to enhance remote sensing efforts, as well as to support the PIs to streamlinea vertically integrated team of undergraduateswho willprovide field support to his dissertation work in the project. Search for an additional graduate student who will work on his/her master's thesis or dissertation on aspects of this project is currently underway.

PUBLICATIONS: 2012/09/01 TO 2013/08/31
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hartman, C., Nagchaudhuri, A., and Mitra, M.,Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Through Sensor-based Algorithms and On-the-go Application, 17th Biennial Research Symposium of the Association of Research Directors (ARD) Jacksonville, Florida, April 10-13 [ Presentation]

PROGRESS: 2012/09/01 TO 2013/08/31
Target Audience: The project seeks to provide tangible directions that will begin to address the global food security issues in the face of climate change, criticalnutrient management issues to optimize agricultural productivity , and, the rising food demands of a growing population. The broad goals were contextualized from the perpective of the realities on the ground in theDelmarva Peninsula, proximity of UMESto Chesapeake and other coastal bays, the farming practices within the UMES campus, and the core social and academic mission of the 1890 land grant institutions in general, and UMES in particular. To this end, the initial year of the project has been successful in bringing together students from science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics(STEAM) background in avertically integrated multidisciplinary team to advance the project goals and raise awarenessamong a broader base ofcampus community to come together andfully embrace the land grant missionwhile devoting effortsto solve serious societal problems related to health,food,energy, and environment. Besides STEAM faculty and students, the infrastructure development effortsand field experimentsconducted inthe past year have targetedassisting and working with farm personnel to improve production agricultural practices within campus. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project leaders work closely with collaborators at USDA- ARS facility in Beltsville and NASA Wallops Island facility. USDA and NASA collaborators have made available to the project team some of the advanced remote sensing tools and field data gathering instrumentation. Whenever appropriate they have also trained the students and faculty to use these equipment. Students and faculty participating in the project have benefitted from visiting the NASA Wallops and USDA Beltsville facility as well. Future plans include internship opportunities for participating students at these facilities. A training workshop has been conducted at the UMES premises by AgLeader representativeto introduce basic functionality and field utilization of the OpTRX sensor based variable rate applicator, that has been installed on a UMES spray-coupe.Faculty and Students participating in the project have also attended online webinars for OpTRX, as well as SMS Advanced software that will be used to record and analyze data from (i) the varibale rate applicator (VRA) and (ii) the yield monitor installed in the combine harvester. Agronomy research team from Pioneer Hybrid International also visited UMES in early spring to discuss how they will participate in the project. They have provided the two seed varieties for the field experiments with corn and have promised continued support. They will also look into providing internship opportunities for participating students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Field data from corn harvest will be availabe later in fall 2013 for the field experiments that were conducted in the first year of the grant. Field experiments that were conducted in 2012 summer as part of an ongoing experiential learning project on campus, were designed in anticipation of the the award of this grant and have provided preliminary datathat was used toenhance field experiments in 2013 corn season. These results and how they relate to future efforts that will be integrated in this research project were presented by the graduate student working in the project at the 17th Biennial 1890 Association of Research Director's Meeting, held during April 10-13 in Jackonville Florida. This not only exposed a broader audience at the 1890 schools to the ongoing efforts at UMES, but it also won the graduate student 2nd Prize in the oral competition for the category in which he competed. Modern technological tools acquired by the project team is being introduced to the farm personnel through the field experiments that are being conducted under the auspices of the project .These effortswill be integrated with operations of the UMES farms for the production of corn, soybean and wheat. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In the next reporting period all field data from smaller plots ( hand harvesting) and larger plots ( yield monitor data from combine harvester) for the 2013 field experiments using 2 seed varieties from Pioneer Hybrid International will be analyzed and mapped using appropriate statistical and GIS tools. Efforts will also be devoted towards publishing the results in suitable conference proceedings and/or Journals. The data will also be utilized to develop and refine algorithms for optical sensor based variable nitrogen application for UMES fields. Thevariable rate nutrient applicator (VRA)was commissioned towards the end of the growing season of corn last summer and as such could not be effectively utilized in the field trials in 2013 summer. Future field trials will fully utilize the VRA capability in conjunction with drought tolerant seed varieties provided by Pioneer Hybrid Int. to explore water and nitrogen use efficiency in field conditions. In collaboration with a soil scientist at Delaware State University post- harvest grid soil sampling and analysis will be performed and compared with pre-harvest data using GIS software. It is anticipated that the project team will gain valuable insight into the complex interaction of soil chemistry, variable rate nutrient application, seed varieties, irrigation, field productivity and environmental considerations. The project leaders will continue to work closely with USDA and NASA collaborators and get valuable inputs from them with respect to agronomy and remote sensing aspects of the project. Capacity buidling and infrastructure improvement efforts in these areas will continue as proposed.

IMPACT: 2012/09/01 TO 2013/08/31
What was accomplished under these goals? Some of the split plot experimental efforts on a 2-acre area initiated prior to the funding of this grant in 2012 summer in conjunction with a previously funded USDA CBG grant was adapted to includetwo varieties of seeds( including one with a drought tolerant trait)provided by the partnering organization for the grant -Pioneer Hybrid International. Pioneer seeds were also utilized forproduction scale experiments ona 15 acre ( Presidents field)and 50 acre ( Bozman field) for 2013 season ( March /April planting date). For the 2-acre plot, 3 factor experiment was set-up in consultation with the USDA collaborator and Pioneer HybridInt. agronomy research managers,with two seed varieties, 5 nitrogen levels, and 3 irrigation levels to generate data related to water use efficiency(WUE) and nitrogen use efficiency(NUE), as well as prediction algorithms for mid season nitrogen application. For the larger fields no irrigation was used but experiments were laid out with the two seedtraits with varying density ( President's field) and varying planting date ( Bozman field). Significant efforts were also devoted for infrastructure development to support field activities. Trial runs were conducted using kite aerial imaging with support from NASA engineers and scientists to acquire color, color infrared, and thermal pictures of the two acre field experiment. UMES yield monitor integrated with combine harvester was checked and calibrated, irrigation ( pump, drip lines etc), soil moisture sensing, and weather monitoring stations were set-up appropriately, and a used spray-coupe was acquired with a retractablesixty foot boom. The boom sections were integrated with colocated optical sensors and sprayers to apply variable rate nitrogen, based on crop needs in mid-seasonusing optical sensor feedback. Grid soil sampling was performed on a half acre grid for the Bozman field. Collaboration was established witha soil science facultyat Delaware State University to perform analysisof the soil samples. Maryland Space Grant and NASA is partially supporting a graduate student to work on this project to enhance remote sensing efforts, as well as to support the PIs to streamlinea vertically integrated team of undergraduateswho willprovide field support to his dissertation work in the project. Search for an additional graduate student who will work on his/her master's thesis or dissertation on aspects of this project is currently underway.

PUBLICATIONS: 2012/09/01 TO 2013/08/31
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hartman, C., Nagchaudhuri, A., and Mitra, M.,Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Through Sensor-based Algorithms and On-the-go Application, 17th Biennial Research Symposium of the Association of Research Directors (ARD) Jacksonville, Florida, April 10-13 [ Presentation]