Monitoring soil and crop condition is vital for the sustainable management of agricultural\nsystems. Often, land management decision-making requires rapid assessment of conditions, which\nis difficult if samples need to be taken and sent elsewhere for analysis. In recent years, advances\nin field-based spectroscopy have led to improvements in real-time monitoring; however, the cost\nof equipment and user training still makes it inaccessible for most land managers. At the James\nHutton Institute, we have developed a low-cost visible wavelength hyperspectral device intended to\nprovide rapid field-based assessment of soil and plant conditions. This device has been tested at the\nInstitute�s research farm at Balruddery, linking field observations with existing sample analysis and\ncrop type information. We show that it is possible to rapidly and easily acquire spectral information\nthat enables site characteristics to be estimated. Improvements to the sensor and its potential uses\nare discussed.
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