
Yara N-Sensor V3.10
Operation Manual
5.2 N-Application
The
N-application
operation mode is the default mode to use the N-Sensor for site-
specific nitrogen application. It provides a relative calibration, i. e. application rates are
changed up and down from a user-selectable baseline. To determine this baseline, the
user is supported by the agronomic calibration procedure (see below).
The basic principle of the calibration curve is shown below:
Reference
rate
SN
Application rate [kg N/ha]
Biomass
cutoff
Calibration point
Sensor value at
reference
Maximum
rate
Minimum
rate
Generally, application rates decrease with increasing sensor values SN, i. e. the better
the crop is developed and the more nitrogen has already been taken up by the plants,
the lower the application rate will be. However, the rate is clipped to a user-selectable
minimum and maximum rate. If the crop is extremely bad, the sensor value drops be-
low a threshold level (
biomass cutoff
) and rates will again be reduced to avoid over-
fertilisation in areas where the crop is obviously suffering from other problems that ni-
trogen deficiency. This biomass cutoff level is dependent on crop type and growth
stage and will be automatically preset by the program. However, it is possible to manu-
ally change this value to adapt to local conditions.
While this general pattern is similar for oilseed rape, potatoes and maize at all relevant
growth stages and for cererals until flowering, late cereal applications (growth stage
between 59 and 69) will be treated differently. These applications will automatically be
treated as protein applications to achieve a certain level of protein concentration in the
grain. Consequently, the system will react with increasing application rates at increas-
ing sensor values in order to achieve a uniform concentration of nitrogen in the crop
stand. You should be aware of this different approach when selecting a cereals crop at
the respective growth stages. However, a warning message will be displayed as a re-
minder.
5.2.1 Agronomic
calibration
To enter the agronomic calibration menu, press the
Agronomic Calibration.
button on
the main menu bar. Usually, this menu is entered at the beginning of the field after a
task has been selected (section 4).
The menu itself consist of three pages that can be navigated using the
Up
and
Down
buttons:
Last revised: 28.01.2009 14:39
Page 33 of 64