title: Image analysis to estimate mulch residue in soil.
abstract: Mulching is used to improve the condition of agricultural soils by covering the soil with different materials, mainly black polyethylene (PE). However, problems derived from its use are how to remove it from the field and, in the case of it remaining in the soil, the possible effects on it. One possible solution is to use biodegradable plastic (BD) or paper (PP), as mulch, which could present an alternative, reducing nonrecyclable waste and decreasing the environmental pollution associated with it. Determination of mulch residues in the ground is one of the basic requirements to estimate the potential of each material to degrade. This study has the goal of evaluating the residue of several mulch materials over a crop campaign in Central Spain through image analysis. Color images were acquired under similar lighting conditions at the experimental field. Different thresholding methods were applied to binarize the histogram values of the image saturation plane in order to show the best contrast between soil and mulch. Then the percentage of white pixels (i.e., soil area) was used to calculate the mulch deterioration. A comparison of thresholding methods and the different mulch materials based on percentage of bare soil area obtained is shown.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha/Escuela de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Ronda de Calatrava 7, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha/Escuela de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Ronda de Calatrava 7, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mancebo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Edafología y Climatología, ETSI Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria sn, 28040 Madrid, Spain ; CEIGRAM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria sn, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saa
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha/Escuela de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Ronda de Calatrava 7, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Moreno
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000465:Algorithms; D063566:Biodegradable Plastics / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D003116:Color; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D063566:Biodegradable Plastics; D012987:Soil