Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.


If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

Implementing a web site, wireless data network and SQL database for nitrate-BMP verification in citrus

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Computers in Agriculture and Natural Resources, 4th World Congress Conference, Proceedings of the 24-26 July 2006 (Orlando, Florida USA) Publication Date 24 July 2006  701P0606.(doi:10.13031/2013.21897)
Authors:   L. J. Waldo and A.W. Schumann
Keywords:   BMP, nitrate, groundwater, SQL database, data logger, citrus, web

A Best Management Practices (BMP) verification web site was created to serve as an information resource for citrus grower-cooperators and the general public on the topic of citrus nitrate BMPs located in Florida's Lake Wales Ridge region. The objective of the study is to verify whether the current BMPs for Ridge Citrus are effective at reducing nitrate contamination of groundwater and maintaining nitrate concentrations at safe levels. The web site includes background information about the BMP verification study, and also serves as an up-to-date source for current weather and soil conditions in nine citrus grove locations. Each location has a solar/battery-powered data logger, which measures the weather (temperature and rainfall), soil water content (at 25-, 60-, and 150-cm depths), and irrigation run times (irrigation water pressure, duration, and interval). A cellular phone connected to the data logger communicates with the web server in the laboratory, which collects data from all data loggers every six hours and appends it to a database. Structured Query Language (SQL) commands embedded in Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts are used to filter, sort and average the data by grove location for presentation to the internet as summary graphs and tables. The current rate of data collection is 864 database records per day or 315,360 per year. Other information which is manually added to the web site includes groundwater monitoring well data, vacuum lysimeter soil nitrate concentrations, and leaf nutrient concentrations. These data, along with the horticultural history of each site, are used to assess whether the current BMPs for Ridge Citrus are sufficiently protecting the groundwater from nitrate contamination

(Download PDF)    (Export to EndNotes)