Field nutrient distribution maps obtained from the study on soil variations within fields are the basis of precision agriculture. The quality of these maps for management depends on the accuracy of the predicted values, which depends on the initial sampling. To produce reliable predictions efficiently the minimal sampling size and combination should be decided firstly, which could avoid the misspent funds for field sampling work. A 7.9 hectare silage field close to the Agricultural Research institute at Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, was selected for the study. Soil samples were collected from the field at 25 m intervals in a rectangular grid to provide a database of selected soil properties. Different data combinations were subsequently abstracted from this database for comparison purposes, and ordinary kriging used to produce interpolated soil maps. These predicted data groups were compared using least significant difference (LSD) test method. The results showed that the 62 sampling sizes of triangle arrangement for soil available K were sufficient to reach the required accuracy. The triangular sample combination proved to be superior to a rectangular one of similar sample size.
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