Field Traffic-Induced Compaction Effects on Physical Soil Properties, Plant Vegetation Index and Crop Yield on a Chernozem Soil

Soil compaction induced by in-field traffic affects key soil functions and plant growth. In the context of the SoilCompaC project (EJP SOIL), a three factorial field experiment in Lower Austria was established to investigate the effects of field traffic (slurry tanker-tractor combination wheeling with different loads in spring), soil tillage for cover crop (ploughing, cultivating, no-tillage) and cover crop m (deep rooted, shallow rooted, no cover crop) on soil physical and agronomic parameter. NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) were calculated using multispectral imagery mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (hexacopter). The measured indicators (track depth, soil penetration resistance, bulk/packing density, crop yield) detect soil compaction well. Soil compaction monitoring via multispectral imagery mounted hexacopter is sensitive and could be a non-destructive method monitoring in-field compaction during vegetation period. This one-year field experiment shows that the testing factor wheel load affects the measured parameters more than the factors tillage for cover crop and cover-crop mixture. The strong multi-passing effect on soil compaction and above-ground biomass yield (–27%), indicated that Controlled-Traffic Farming (CTF) is a suitable technical solution to separate traffic lines from plant cropping areas in the field. Physical soil protection with its technical und agronomic measurements is a keystone in knowledge-based cropping (smart farming).