FIELD EFFICIENCY DETERMINATION USING TRAFFIC PATTERN INDICES

Abstract

Field efficiency is an important criterion for determining field capacity during field operations and, indirectly,for making important machinery management decisions. Geographic location data gathered with a yield monitor during harvestand a data logger during planting were used to provide time-motion studies of equipment and operator productivity. Thisstudy used these spatial and temporal data to quantify field performance of a combine and a planter. Seven Nebraska fieldswere used to compare results from soybean and corn production systems. Fields that were relatively flat with straight rowswere contrasted with contoured fields with slopes of 3% to 5%. Two unique traffic patterns in fields with a center pivot werecompared. Four traffic pattern indices were developed and averaged across each field to indicate the steering behavior (oradjustments) made during field operations. Geo-referenced data were used to predict field efficiency for various traffic patterns.Of the four indices compared, the average steering angle (.) and its standard deviation had the strongest associationwith field efficiency with Pearson correlation coefficients of -0.654 and -0.664, respectively. The average steering angle forcontoured traffic patterns were two to four times in magnitude that of straight- and gently curved-row traffic patterns. Thesteering angle index gave valuable information about field operating conditions but differences in data recording methodsand operational characteristics imposed limitations on statistically appropriate comparison analyses.