LandWISE 2019: A Closer Look at Orchard Drainage

Orchard drainage isn’t just about shedding excess surface water quickly – although that is the main aim. Effective orchard drainage mitigates wheel rutting in the interrow which contribute to slips, trips and falls of orchard staff, and restrict orchard access by machinery at critical times of the year (such as harvest).

At LandWISE 2019 we will be taking a closer look at orchard drainage – and the tools and technology that are making it possible in existing orchards.

First up on the programme for Session 3 will be a progress update from Year 1 of Smart Tools for Orchard Drainage. From surveying growers, to analysing LiDAR data, and mapping puddles, there has been considerable progress made preparing for the land levelling work. We look forward to sharing this with conference delegates at LandWISE 19.

Contour Map Example
Mapping ponding using a handheld GPS unit

Ponding and Puddling: Comparing survey and computer generated ponding maps and the locations of puddles (white dots) after a rain event.

Following on from the project update, will be an in-depth presentation about the technical side of mapping land contours.

Technologies that have made the orchard drainage project possible include:

LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) a remote sensing method using a pulsed laser light to determine the distance to the earth from an aircraft that enabled us to create contour maps of existing orchards
ESRI ARC GIS, OptiSurface and other software packages for analysis and planning
RTK-GPS and drainage surveying and implementation software
SBAS (Satellite Based Augementation System) which allows us to get very accurate location on our smartphones when scouting

These technologies have a range of applications for horticulture, and have huge potential to improve the precision of our operations – whether in crops, orchards, or vineyards.

RTK-GPS mounted on qud bike and quad tractor (the funnest survey tool ever).

We’ll have our newly developed RutMeasurer available for viewing at the Field Session. We are using it toaccurately measure ruts in orchard inter-rows, and will be able to repeat measurements over time to assess the effectiveness of the different rut fixing approaches taken.