Methodology for site-specific determination of slope inclination using digital height information in the Plant Protection Application Manager (PAM)

Abstract

In agriculture, many plant protection products (PPP) are subject to slope restrictions as part of their approval process. The aim is to prevent the discharge of pesticides into adjacent water bodies caused by surface runoff and soil erosion. There are currently no practicable instruments available throughout Germany, supporting farmers to deter­mine the slope inclination in a reliable and verifiable manner. The PAM3D-service will provide an internet-based decision support system for complying with slope requirements in the context of PPP risk management. The slope inclination of a field is determined automatically based on digital elevation information using a novel algorithm. Contrary to other services providing an unreliable average field value, this new methodology allows for a site-specific slope assessment. The service supports various sources of elevation information including official laser, tractor, satellite, and drone data, and it is robust to the spatial resolution of input elevation data.