Point-of-use sensors and machine learning enable low-cost determination of soil nitrogen
File(s)Grell.et.al-Manuscript-Tracked-Changes-Accepted.docx (130.11 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Overfertilization with nitrogen fertilizers has damaged the environment and health of soil, but standard laboratory testing of soil to determine the levels of nitrogen (mainly NH4+ and NO3-) is not performed regularly. Here, we demonstrate that Point-of-Use measurements of NH4+, combined with soil conductivity, pH, easily accessible weather and timing data, allow instantaneous prediction of levels of NO3- in soil (R2 = 0.70) using a machine learning model. A long short-term memory recurrent neural network model can also be used to predict levels of NH4+ and NO3- up to 12 days into the future from a single measurement at day one, with R2NH4+= 0.60 and R2NO3-= 0.70, for unseen weather conditions. Our machine learning-based approach eliminates the need of using dedicated instruments to determine the levels of NO3- in soil. Nitrogenous soil nutrients can be determined and predicted with enough accuracy to forecast the impact of climate on fertilization planning, and tune timing for crop requirements, reducing overfertilization while improving crop yields.
Date Issued
2021-12-13
Date Acceptance
2021-10-28
Citation
Nature Food, 2021, 2, pp.981-989
ISSN
2662-1355
Publisher
Nature Research
Start Page
981
End Page
989
Journal / Book Title
Nature Food
Volume
2
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00416-4
Sponsor
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00416-4
Grant Number
BMPF_P81384
EP/V520354/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Food Science & Technology
NITRATE
NITRIFICATION
FERTILIZATION
SPECTROSCOPY
IMPACTS
DESIGN
CARBON
WATER
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-12-13