Development of soil clod fineness measuring system by using a laser displacement sensor: Clarification of relationship between tillage effect and laser displacement sensor output

The objective of this study is to develop a tilled soil clod fineness measurement method that uses non-contact and non-distractive technique. A laser displacement sensor was adopted as a sensing device, which was installed to an irregularity measuring system stationary set up for this study. We calculated an index of soil clod fineness from measured irregularity data. To obtain a relationship between laser displacement sensor outputs and tilled clod size, we did a calibration experiment in the laboratory. We then applied our system to a tilled soil experiment in a field. As a result, it is confirmed that clod size and index of soil clod fineness (i.e. Roughness) calculated from irregularity data shows a linear relationship