Wireless-and-GPS system for cotton fiber-quality mapping

A system including wireless-communication and GPS technologies was designed, constructed and field tested to enable site-specific crop management in cotton production in the form of fiber-quality mapping. The system is comprised of three functional sub-systems associated with the three machines typically used in cotton harvesting: harvester, boll buggy and module builder. Harvest area for a basket load of cotton is recorded with GPS, and the module into which a basket is dumped is tracked through wireless communication among the sub-systems. In three field tests, the system was easily installed on equipment and performed as designed. Fiber-quality maps were produced by combining the GPS-based module area data collected during harvest with bale-level fiber-quality data measured at a cotton classing office after ginning. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in most cotton fiber properties among mapped modules, and spatial trends were identified. The system provides a useful tool for studying spatial variability in cotton fiber quality.