Geomatic tools used in the management of agricultural activities: a systematic review

Abstract

Managing agricultural activity encompasses technology, geographic information, spatial data and geomatic tools as support techniques. In this framework, agricultural mapping is an essential geomatic application due to its importance in managing food systems. This research aims to analyze the state of knowledge of geomatics tools and their applications in agriculture through a systematic review of scientific documents and methodological approaches, highlighting the use of geomatics in agricultural mapping to evaluate trends in agriculture management. The study methodology consists of a scientific base of publications on geomatics and its applications in sustainable agriculture, with a quantitative analysis of production and its approaches. Subsequently, PRISMA establishes a systematic review in search of the subject’s methods, applications and trends. The results show that of the total data analyzed, 60% corresponds to general agricultural mapping for crop/water/soil mapping using satellite images. Twenty percent for land use and coverage, considering the georeferencing that contributes to agricultural territorial planning. Nine percent consider geomatic key for agricultural cadastre (plot management). In addition, 6% corresponds to precision agriculture and 5% to watershed management. The most predominant geomatics tools are: Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and remote sensing (RS). Also, among the most used geomatic techniques in agricultural cartography, photogrammetry in crop phenology and multispectral analysis in the optimisation and monitoring of agricultural production stand out. Studies show that the geomatic application promotes sustainability practices such as crop rotation, seeds dispersed and germinated by animals, agricultural irrigation through rivers/basins/streams, family gardens and generation of employment sources. The geomatics use is of great utility/potential for the acquisition and generation of geospatial data accurately, with time and cost savings that contribute to the decision-making of city councils, public cadastral administrations, enterprises, educational institutions and agricultural foundations.