The purpose of the research is to establish the possibility of using ground hyperspectral equipment for determining soil and plant moisture during the agricultural crops vegetative period aimed to sprinkler irrigation rate adjustment in real time. Recent researches have shown that irrigation technologies do not always correspond to the agronomic requirements of agricultural crop cultivation and ecological requirements to ensure the soil conservation even by modern sprinkling machines. The rain distribution uniformity along the entire length of the sprinkler is regulated by the selection of sprinklers with an individual fixed water flow, however they do not provide the necessary uniformity of soil moistening in practice when using both rotary and frontal sprinklers. During the experiment, spectral images were shot on-site using a rotating platform on a tripod at a constant speed. These measurements to a certain extent model the conditions of shooting with special purpose facilities, which is proposed to be installed on a new generation rotary sprinkler. With a specialized program, a hyperspectral image of the site (obtaining hypercubes) was assembled. Further processing of the obtained hyperspectral images was carried out in the ENVI software package. The vegetation moisture content index allocation maps calculations and generation were carried out according to the algorithms given in the program. According to the research carried out, it was found that the maximum distribution corresponds to a value of 1.34. The index minimum value corresponds to 0.85, the maximum value is 1.83. From the obtained values of the moisture content index in vegetation, one can indirectly judge soil moisture content and irrigation quality.
Key words: ground hyperspectral equipment, vegetation indices, precision irrigation, sprinkler, soil moisture.
