Monitoring erosion control by polymer application on pineapples – 2019-2022: Final Report

Javier Leon

A preliminary study about the feasibility of scaling-up the monitoring of erosion control by polymer application on pineapples farms was undertaken between 2018-2019 by the University of the Sunshine Coast and Healthy Land and Water as part of the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme. Soil erosion was monitored across sites near the Glass House Mountains in the Sunshine Coast between 2019-2022 using a survey-grade DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone. Erosion pins were also used to assess erosion. The maximum measured erosion (based on erosion pins) was 37 mm which was below the minimum level of detection (0.04 m) between DEMs derived from the selected drone system. We conclude that using the selected survey grade drone (DJI Phantom 4 RTK) is not feasible for monitoring soil erosion across pineapple plantations. A drone carrying a better camera is needed to assess erosion of such magnitude. We recommend the use of a survey-grade drone lidar system to assess future soil erosion. This will allow to assess erosion of such magnitude and Lidar is better at penetrating vegetation. The use of erosion pins provided evidence that significant erosion occurred between control and full application sites but not between control and walkway-only sites. The use of erosion pins across larger spatial scales has many challenges and it is only recommended to test other approaches (e.g., remote sensing or modelling). Overall, the use of polymer applications (full coverage, 10-12 % solution) was shown to mitigate soil erosion.

Monitoring erosion control by polymer application on pineapples – 2019-2022: Final Report

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