Methodology for the Automatic Inventory of Olive Groves at the Plot and Polygon Level

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a methodology to carry out olive grove inventories based on open data sources and automatic photogrammetric and satellite image analysis techniques. To do so, tools and protocols have been developed that have made it possible to automate the capture of images of different characteristics and origins, enable the use of open data sources, as well as integrating and metadating them. They can then be used for the development and validation of algorithms that allow for improving the characterization of olive grove surfaces at the plot and cadastral polygon scales. With the proposed system, an inventory of the Andalusian olive grove has been automatically carried out at the level of cadastral polygons and provinces, which has accounted for a total of 1,519,438 hectares and 171,980,593 olive trees. These data have been contrasted with various official statistical sources, thus ensuring their reliability and even identifying some inconsistencies or errors of some sources. Likewise, the capacity of the Sentinel 2 satellite images to estimate the FCC at the cadastral polygon, parcel and 10 × 10 m pixel level has been demonstrated and quantified, as well as the opportunity to carry out inventories with temporal resolutions of approximately up to 5 days

A Methodology for Automatic Identification of Units with Ecological Significance in Dehesa Ecosystems

The dehesa is an anthropic complex ecosystem typical of some areas of Spain and Portugal, with a key role in soil and biodiversity conservation and in the search for a balance between production, conservation and ecosystem services. For this reason, it is essential to have tools that allow its characterization, as well as to monitor and support decision-making to improve its sustainability. A multipurpose and scalable tool has been developed and validated, which combines several low-cost technologies, computer vision methods and RGB aerial orthophotographs using open data sources and which allows for automated agroforestry inventories, identifying and quantifying units with important ecological significance such as: trees, groups of trees, ecosystem corridors, regenerated areas and sheets of water. The development has been carried out from images of the national aerial photogrammetry plan of Spain belonging to 32 dehesa farms, representative of the existing variability in terms of density of trees, shrub species and the presence of other ecological elements. First, the process of obtaining and identifying areas of interest was automated using WMS services and shapefile metadata. Then, image analysis techniques were used to detect the different ecological units. Finally, a classification was developed according to the OBIA approach, which stores the results in standardized files for Geographic Information Systems. The results show that a stable solution has been achieved for the automatic and accurate identification of ecological units in dehesa territories. The scalability and generalization to all the dehesa territories, as well as the possibility of segmenting the area occupied by trees and other ecological units opens up a great opportunity to improve the construction of models for interpreting satellite images

GPS Tracking to Monitor the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Cattle Behavior and Their Relationship with Feces Distribution

The sustainability of agrosilvopastoral systems, e.g., dehesas, is threatened. It is necessary to deepen the knowledge of grazing and its environmental impact. Precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies pose an opportunity to monitor production practices and their effects, improving decision-making to avoid or reduce environmental damage. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of the data provided by commercial GPS collars, together with information about farm characteristics and weather conditions, to characterize the distribution of cattle dung in paddocks, paying special attention to the identification of hotspots with an excessive nutrient load. Seven animals were monitored with smart collars on a dehesa farm located in Cordoba, Spain. Dung deposition was recorded weekly in 90 sampling plots (78.5 m2) distributed throughout the paddock. Grazing behavior and animal distribution were analyzed in relation to several factors, such as terrain slope, insolation or distance to water. Animal presence in sampling plots, expressed as fix, trajectory segment or time counting, was regressed with dung distribution. Cattle showed a preference for flat terrain and areas close to water, with selection indices of 0.30 and 0.46, respectively. The accumulated animal presence during the experimental period explained between 51.9 and 55.4% of the variance of dung distribution, depending on the indicator used, but other factors, such as distance to water, canopy cover or ambient temperature, also had a significant effect on the spatiotemporal dynamics of dung deposition. Regression models, including GPS data, showed determination coefficients up to 82.8% and were able to detect hotspots of dung deposition. These results are the first step in developing a decision support tool aimed at managing the distribution of dung in pastures and its environmental effects

Avances en la utilización de la tecnología NIRS: aplicaciones en producción animal

La Espectroscopía en el Infrarrojo Cercano se ha consolidado como una verdadera disciplina científica y en la última década ha mostrado su inmenso valor para la industria de la alimentación animal. En el futuro podremos comprobar su contribución científica al entendimiento de los procesos que regulan la utilización del alimento por el animal

Control individualizado de cerdos ibéricos "in vivo" en campo y sobre la canal en matadero mediante tecnología NIRS

El objetivo de este trabajo es la puesta a punto y optimización de la tecnología NIRS para el control del cerdo Ibérico tanto en campo sobre el animal vivo, ya que es una técnica completamente inocua para el animal, como sobre la canal en el matadero, lo cual permitirá consolidar un sistema de trazabilidad basado en sensores no destructivos y rápidos

A Low-Cost IoT-Based System to Monitor the Location of a Whole Herd

Animal location technologies have evolved considerably in the last 60 years. Nowadays, animal tracking solutions based on global positioning systems (GPS) are commercially available. However, existing devices have several constraints, mostly related to wireless data transmission and financial cost, which make impractical the monitorization of all the animals in a herd. The main objective of this work is to develop a low-cost solution to enable the monitorization of a whole herd. An IoT-based system, which requires some animals of the herd being fitted with GPS collars connected to a Sigfox network and the rest with low-cost Bluetooth tags, has been developed. Its performance has been tested in two commercial farms, raising sheep and beef cattle, through the monitorization of 50 females in each case. Several collar/tag ratios, which define the cost per animal of the solution, have been simulated. Results demonstrate that a low collar/tag ratio enable the monitorization of a whole sheep herd. A larger ratio is needed for beef cows because of their grazing behavior. Nevertheless, the optimal ratio depends on the purpose of location data. Large variability has been observed for the number of hourly and daily messages from collars and tags. The system effectiveness for the monitorization of all the animals in a herd has been certainly proved

Project-based learning as a tool for training on precision livestock farming

Este artículo describe una experiencia en el uso de la metodología docente del aprendizaje basado en proyectos en varias asignaturas de Grado y Máster de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes. Se ha seleccionado el tema de la ganadería de precisión para el desarrollo de los proyectos, en concreto el uso de acelerómetros para la monitorización del movimiento de los animales. Los estudiantes, en grupos de ocho a diez miembros, han diseñado y aplicado un proyecto relativo a las utilidades reales de los datos registrados por collares para vacas que incorporan sensores de posicionamiento y aceleración. Esta metodología ha mejorado la motivación de los estudiantes y algunas de sus habilidades. No obstante, se han encontrado algunos problemas relacionados con la gestión de los grupos de trabajo y con las características de los datos registrados por los collares.This paper describes an experience in the use of the teaching methodology of project-based learning in several undergraduate and postgraduate courses of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes. Precision Livestock Farming was chosen as the main topic of the projects, specifically the use of accelerometers to monitor animal activity. The students, working in groups of eight to ten members, have designed and applied a project relating real-world utilities for data recorded by GPS + accelerometer cow collars. This methodology has improved motivation and some of students’ skills. Nevertheless, some problems have arisen regarding the management of working groups and the characteristics of data recorded by cow collars

The use of immersive virtual worlds in the improvement of competencies of team work, creativity and innovation

El Plan de Innovación Docente 2015-2016 de la Universidad de Córdoba tenía entre sus líneas prioritarias tanto el trabajo en competencias (línea 1), como el fomento de la enseñanza virtual (línea 10) y la tutorización del alumnado (línea 12). En este contexto, nuestro trabajo ha aplicado y evaluado el uso de mundos virtuales inmersivos para la mejora del manejo de herramientas virtuales y competencias de trabajo en equipo, aspectos claves y transferibles al aprendizaje de cualquier disciplina. Así, se creó un escenario virtual inmersivo para reuniones de trabajo y se diseñaron unas actividades grupales que incluían un manual para el aprendizaje del manejo de avatares y su interacción en un grupo de trabajo en mundos inmersivos. Además se llevaron a cabo actividades tutoradas dirigidas a resolver dudas en grupo así como para definitivamente mejorar la creatividad en un contexto innovador y diferente. Estas sesiones se incluyeron dentro de las prácticas de la asignatura “Proyectos” del grado de Ingeniería Agroalimentaria y del Medio Rural. Los resultados de la evaluación de la experiencia a modo de encuestas diseñadas ad hoc para caracterizar la curva de aprendizaje del manejo de avatares y mundos inmersivos, puso de manifiesto el éxito y utilidad del proyecto cuyo material es reutilizable en futuras experiencias educativas.The Teaching Innovation Plan 2015-2016 of the University of Cordoba had among its priorities competency-based work (line 1), the promotion of virtual teaching (line 10) and tutoring students (line 12). In this context, the use of immersive virtual worlds has been applied to improve teamwork competencies and the management of virtual tools, both being important and transferable aspects to the learning of any discipline. Thus, an immersive virtual scenario was created to enable work meetings, and group activities were designed for learning the handling of avatars in working groups. In addition, tutored activities aimed at solving group doubts as well as definitely improving creativity in an innovative and different atmosphere. These sessions were included within the practices of the subject "Projects" of the degree of Agri-food Engineering and Rural Environment. The results of the evaluation of the experience -as an ad hoc survey designed to characterize the learning curve of the management of avatars and immersive worlds-, showed the success and usefulness of the project whose material is reusable in future educational experiences.Keywords: avatar; immersive worlds; teamwork; virtual teaching

Caracterización de la hoja de limpia de almazara: nivel de humedad, contaminación con tierra y valor nutritivo

Se ha caracterizado una considerable muestra de hoja de limpia de almazara (377 muestras) en función de su grado de humedad y de su contaminación con tierra, obteniéndose un nivel medio de 62,8 p.100 de MS y de 6,0 p.100 de CEN-CIH. Asimismo se han estudiado las digestibilidades de la MO (DMQ) estimadas in vivo, mediante la técnica de pepsina celulasa, en 59 muestras del colectivo anterior, diferenciándolas en función del grado de contaminación con tierra

Caracterización de la hoja de limpia de almazara: nivel de humedad, contaminación con tierra y valor nutritivo

Se ha caracterizado una considerable muestra de hoja de limpia de almazara (377 muestras) en función de su grado de humedad y de su contaminación con tierra, obteniéndose un nivel medio de 62,8 p.100 de MS y de 6,0 p.100 de CEN-CIH. Asimismo se han estudiado las digestibilidades de la MO (DMQ) estimadas in vivo, mediante la técnica de pepsina celulasa, en 59 muestras del colectivo anterior, diferenciándolas en función del grado de contaminación con tierra