Evaluation of a Low-Cost GPS Receiver for Precision Agriculture Use in Adana Province of Turkey

The most vital factor in the application of precision agriculture technology is the cost of the required high-technology equipment. The equipment cost is the major obstacle in adopting the precision agriculture. GPS receiver is one of the most essential tools with high initial costs in this technology. The aim of this study was to evaluate a low-cost GPS receiver in 3 different tests including static, dynamic circular area, and dynamic straight line tests. It was observed that the tested low-cost GPS receiver yielded a deviation of less than 1.50 m, 1.60 m, and 1.48 m in static, circular area, and straight line tests, respectively. It can be concluded that the low-cost GPS receiver without differential correction can be used for variable fertilizer application and soil and yield mapping since it has an appropriate accuracy values for these applications. On the other hand, it would not be suitable for some precision agriculture applications that require an accuracy of less than 1 m such as variable herbicide application and row crop planting. Instead, a GPS receiver with differential correction service should be employed for such applications. In addition, the mean percent error values were -1.3% and -0.5% in all tests in the circle area calculation. These values can be considered to be acceptable for the field area calculation studies.