Advances in Sensor Technology for Sustainable Crop Production

Dr Craig Lobsey is a Senior Lecturer in Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He is Chair of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) Working Group on Proximal Soil Sensing (WG-PSS). His research extends across many different sensor technologies and applications, with a focus on improving our understanding and optimisation of agricultural systems. He has previously guest edited a special issue of Sensors on ‘Proximal Soil Sensing’. Dr Asim Biswas is a Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, Canada. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada College, the President of Canadian Society of Soil Science, Vice-Chair of the IUSS WG-PSS and is an Associate Editor of eight journals. He is internationally known for his research on data-driven sustainable soil management. Professor Jeffrey Walker received his B.E. (Civil) and B.Surveying degrees in 1995 with Hons 1 and University Medal from the University of Newcastle, Australia, and his Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering from the same University in 1999. His Ph.D. thesis was among the early pioneering research on estimation of root-zone soil moisture from assimilation of remotely sensed surface soil moisture observations. He then joined NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre to implement his soil moisture work globally. In 2001 he moved to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Melbourne as Lecturer, where he continued his soil moisture work, including development of the only Australian airborne capability for simulating new satellite missions for soil moisture. In 2010 he was appointed as Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University where he is continuing this research. He is contributing to soil moisture satellite missions at NASA, ESA and JAXA, as a Science Team member for the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission and Cal/val Team member for the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and Global Change Observation Mission – Water (GCOM-W) respectively. Dr Alain Tabbgh received his PhD degree from ‘Université Pierre et Marie Curie’ in Paris in 1971 and his ‘thèse d’état’ in 1977 for his research work in geophysical prospecting for archaeology. Since 1972 he is teacher-researcher in this university where he was elected professor of applied geophysics in 1988. He has been director of the ‘Centre de Recherches Géophysiques de Garchy’ of the CNRS and director of the UMR7619 ‘Sisyphe’ (UPMC/CNRS/EPHE/ENSMP). Barry Allred is a Research Agricultural Engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) - Soil Drainage Research Unit in Columbus, Ohio. He developed the concept and served as principal editor for the first book devoted to the topic of applying near-surface geophysical methods to agriculture (Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics - CRC Press). He has been active in the Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society; serving as President, Vice-President Committees, Editor-in-Chief of the FastTIMES news magazine, a virtual symposium lead coordinator, organizing two of the society’s conference workshops, and chairing several SAGEEP technical sessions.

• Part 1 Advances in remote sensing technologies 1.Advances in remote/aerial sensing of crop water status: Wenxuan Guo, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M AgriLife Research, USA; and Haibin Gu, Bishnu Ghimire and Oluwatola Adedeji, Texas Tech University, USA;2.Advances in remote sensing technologies for assessing crop health: Michael Schirrmann, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Germany;3.Advances in remote/aerial sensing techniques for monitoring soil health: Jeffrey P. Walker and Nan Ye, Monash University, Australia; and Liujun Zhu, Monash University, Australia and Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, China;Part 2 Advances in proximal sensing technologies 4.Advances in using proximal spectroscopic sensors to assess soil health: Kenneth A. Sudduth and Kristen S. Veum, USDA-ARS, USA;5.Advances in using proximal ground penetrating radar sensors to assess soil health: Katherine Grote, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA;6.Using proximal electromagnetic/electrical resistivity/electrical sensors to assess soil health: Alain Tabbagh,Sorbonne Université, EPHE, UMR7619, Métis,4 place Jussieu 75252 Paris CEDEX 05, France; and Seger Maud and Cousin Isabelle, INRAE, Centre Val de Loire, UR0272 SOLS, 2163 Avenue de la Pomme de Pin, CS40001 Ardon, F-45075 Orléans Cedex 2, France;7.Using ground-penetrating radar to map agricultural subsurface drainage systems for economic and environmental benefit: Barry Allred, USDA-ARS – Soil Drainage Research Unit, USA; and Triven Koganti, Aarhus University, Denmark;Part 3 Advances in sensor data analytics 8.Advances in machine vision technologies for the measurement of soil texture, structure and topography: Jean-Marc Gilliot, AgroParisTech Paris Saclay University, France; and Ophélie Sauzet, University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, The Geneva Institute of Technology, Architecture and Landscape (HEPIA), Soils and Substrates Group, Institute Land-Nature-Environment (inTNE Institute), Switzerland;9.Using machine learning to identify and diagnose crop disease: Megan Long, John Innes Centre, UK;10.Advances in proximal sensor fusion and multi-sensor platforms for improved crop management: David W. Franzen and Anne M. Denton, North Dakota State University, USA;11.Using remote and proximal sensor data in precision agriculture applications: Luciano S. Shiratsuchi and Franciele M. Carneiro, Louisiana State University, USA; Francielle M. Ferreira, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil; Phillip Lanza and Fagner A. Rontani, Louisiana State University, USA; Armando L. Brito Filho, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil; Getúlio F. Seben Junior, State University of Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Brazil; Ziany N. Brandao, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), Brazil; Carlos A. Silva Junior, State University of Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Brazil; Paulo E. Teodoro, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Brazil; and Syam Dodla, Louisiana State University, USA;