Yield Editor: Software for removing errors from crop yield maps

Yield maps are a key component of precision agriculture, due to their usefulness in both development and evaluation of precision management strategies. The value of these yield maps can be compromised by the fact that raw yield maps contain a variety of inherent errors. Researchers have reported that 10 to 50% of the observations in a given field contain significant errors and should be removed. Methods for removing these outliers from raw yield data have not been standardized, although many different filtering techniques have been suggested to address specific error types. We developed a software tool called Yield Editor to simplify the process of applying filtering techniques for yield data outlier detection and removal. Yield Editor includes a map view of the yield data, allowing the user to interactively set, assess the effects of, and refine a number of previously reported automated filtering methods. Additionally, Yield Editor allows manual selection of erroneous points, transects, or regions for investigation and possible deletion. This paper describes the filters implemented in Yield Editor, discusses input, output, and filtering options, and documents availability of the program. Example applications of Yield Editor on five test fields are used to show how the user interacts with the software and to analyze the relative importance of the various filters.