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US-12620037-B2 - On-board satellite cropland analysis apparatus and method of use thereof

US12620037B2US 12620037 B2US12620037 B2US 12620037B2US-12620037-B2

Abstract

The invention comprises a method for managing cropland, comprising the steps of: (1) optically measuring level zero data with an orbiting satellite, the level zero data comprising: first reflected cropland radiation, in a visible range of 400 to 1,000 nm; second cropland radiation in a near-infrared range of 1,000 to 3,000 nm; third radiation in a range of 3,000 to 5,000 nm; and emitted radiation, in a thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm; (2) processing, on-board the orbiting satellite, the level zero data comprising a first data storage size, to yield cropland condition information comprising a second data storage size of less than one percent of the first data storage size; (3) receiving from the orbiting satellite to a ground-based communication system the cropland condition information; and (4) relaying at least a portion of the cropland condition information to a farmer within twenty-four hours.

Inventors

  • Thomas George

Assignees

  • Thomas George

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20221027

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method for managing cropland for a client, comprising the steps of: optically measuring, each of a set of spatially resolved locations, level zero data with an orbiting satellite, said level zero data comprising: first reflected cropland radiation, in a visible range of 400 to 1,000 nm; second reflected cropland radiation in a near-infrared range of 1,000 to 3,000 nm; third radiation in a range of 3,000 to 5,000 nm; and emitted radiation, in a thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm; processing, on-board said orbiting satellite, said level zero data comprising a first data storage size, to yield cropland condition information comprising a second data storage size of less than one percent of said first data storage size; receiving from said orbiting satellite to a ground-based communication system said cropland condition information; relaying at least a portion of said cropland condition information to the client within twenty-four hours; and inter-crop measuring, after harvest and prior to subsequent crop sprouting, crop soil characteristics of a piece of land with said orbiting satellite.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: determining an immediately previous crop type for a piece of land, said step of determining an immediately previous crop type further comprising at least one of the steps of: uploading to said orbiting satellite an immediately previous crop type for the piece of land; and previously determining, on-board said orbiting satellite, said immediately previous crop type for the piece of land.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising the steps of: collecting said first reflected cropland radiation with a silicon detector; collecting said second reflected cropland radiation with an indium-gallium-arsenide detector; collecting said third radiation with an indium-phosphide detector; and collecting said emitted radiation with a gallium-antimony detector.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of: uploading a seasonal weather prediction to said orbiting satellite.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: measuring water absorbance of said piece of land with both said indium-gallium-arsenide detector and said indium-phosphide detector.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , said step of measuring water absorbance further comprising the step of: adjusting said water absorbance at a wavelength greater than 1850 nm and less than 2170 nm with a second water absorbance reading at greater than 2230 nm and less than 3000 nm.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising the step: determining coverage of standing biomass of the piece of land with said silicon detector.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , said step of determining coverage further comprising the step of: measuring a red absorbance of said piece of land.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising the step of: determining an amount of stored water in the piece of land with a red reading from said silicon detector and a comparison to water storage as a percent of standing biomass in a set of library spectra with known water storage as a function of red readings, said library spectra maintained on-board said orbiting satellite.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of: indirectly determining a nitrogen concentration present in a crop of the immediately previous crop type of the piece of land with at least one of: a measure of nitrate at 1320 nm with said indium-gallium-arsenide detector; a measure of ammonia at 3300 cm −1 aboard said orbiting satellite; indirectly measuring nitrogen through a measure of red light with said silicon detector; and receiving an upload to said orbiting satellite of an amount of applied fertilizer.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 10 , said step of processing further comprising the step of: recommending a plant type to plant on the piece of land based on at least two of: said immediately previous crop type; readings taken from said orbiting satellite during a time period of said inter-crop measuring; said amount of stored water; and said determined nitrogen concentration.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of: measuring an amount of water associated with the piece of land with said orbiting satellite; and said step of processing performing said step of recommending with inclusion of said amount of water.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising the step of: monitoring after planting the recommended plant type, on-board said orbiting satellite, the piece of land with each of: a silicon detector; an indium-gallium-arsenide detector; an indium-phosphide detector; and a gallium-antimony detector.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of: indirectly determining, during an intercrop time period after harvest and prior to planting, a cropland state with readings taken said orbiting satellite; and recommending a plant type to plant on the piece of land based on at least: said seasonal weather prediction; and readings taken from said orbiting satellite during said intercrop time period.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: recommending, based on said cropland condition information, a plant type to plant on the cropland.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of: comparing results of said optically measuring step to library information on-board said orbiting satellite prior to said step of recommending.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: comparing first nighttime detected emitted radiation in the thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm with second daytime detected emitted radiation in the thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm to yield a measure of ground temperature.
  18. 18 . A method for managing cropland for a client, comprising the steps of: optically measuring, each of a set of spatially resolved locations, level zero data with an orbiting satellite, said level zero data comprising: first reflected cropland radiation, in a visible range of 400 to 1,000 nm; second reflected cropland radiation in a near-infrared range of 1,000 to 3,000 nm; third radiation in a range of 3,000 to 5,000 nm; and emitted radiation, in a thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm; processing, on-board said orbiting satellite, said level zero data comprising a first data storage size, to yield cropland condition information comprising a second data storage size of less than one percent of said first data storage size; receiving from said orbiting satellite to a ground-based communication system said cropland condition information; relaying at least a portion of said cropland condition information to the client within twenty-four hours; determining an immediately previous crop type for a piece of land, said step of determining an immediately previous crop type further comprising at least one of the steps of: uploading to said orbiting satellite an immediately previous crop type for the piece of land; previously determining, on-board said orbiting satellite, said immediately previous crop type for the piece of land; collecting said first reflected cropland radiation with a silicon detector; collecting said second reflected cropland radiation with an indium-gallium-arsenide detector; collecting said third radiation with an indium-phosphide detector; collecting said emitted radiation with a gallium-antimony detector; inter-crop measuring, after harvest and prior to subsequent crop sprouting, crop soil characteristics of a piece of land with said orbiting satellite, said step of inter-crop measuring further comprising the steps of: determining a moisture absorbance reading of the piece of land with a water absorbance band measured with said indium-gallium-arsenide detector; determining a coverage percent of standing biomass with said silicon detector; indirectly measuring nitrogen through an absorbance measurement of at least one of: nitrate at 1320 nm and ammonia at 3300 cm −1 ; and indirectly measuring nitrogen through a measure of red light with said silicon detector.
  19. 19 . A method for managing cropland for a client, comprising the steps of: optically measuring, each of a set of spatially resolved locations, level zero data with an orbiting satellite, said level zero data comprising: first reflected cropland radiation, in a visible range of 400 to 1,000 nm; second reflected cropland radiation in a near-infrared range of 1,000 to 3,000 nm; third radiation in a range of 3,000 to 5,000 nm; and emitted radiation, in a thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm; processing, on-board said orbiting satellite, said level zero data comprising a first data storage size, to yield cropland condition information comprising a second data storage size of less than one percent of said first data storage size; receiving from said orbiting satellite to a ground-based communication system said cropland condition information; relaying at least a portion of said cropland condition information to the client within twenty-four hours; comparing first nighttime detected emitted radiation in the thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm with second daytime detected emitted radiation in the thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm to yield a measure of ground temperature; and recommending timing of planting based on the measure of ground temperature.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of: generating a recommendation of a plant type to plant on-board said orbiting satellite.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/974,975 filed Oct. 27, 2022, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/974,928 filed Oct. 27, 2022, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/974,879 filed Oct. 27, 2022, all of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to agriculture. Discussion of the Prior Art Patents related to the current invention are summarized here. R. Lindores, et. al., “Wide-Area Agricultural Monitoring and Predicting”, U.S. Pat. No. 8,731,836 (May 20, 2014) describe a ground based normalized difference vegetative index used to calibrate an aerial agricultural measurement. Problem There exists in the art of agriculture a need for accurate, precise, and timely intervention to alter crop growing conditions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises an iteratively updated, multivariate/multi-dimensional, and spatially resolved agriculture aid apparatus and method of use thereof. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES A more complete understanding of the present invention is derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to similar items throughout the Figures. FIG. 1 illustrates remote monitoring of agricultural land; FIG. 2 illustrates on-board satellite processing of crop image data; FIG. 3 illustrates analysis of cropland with various spectral regions; FIG. 4 illustrates image rectification; FIG. 5 illustrates data processing and data reduction; FIG. 6 illustrates spatially resolved monitoring of agricultural land; FIG. 7 illustrates on-board cropland image processing; FIG. 8 illustrates monitoring agricultural land using multiple regions of the electromagnetic spectrum; FIG. 9 illustrates combining multiple regions of spatially resolved light and resulting actionable intelligence; FIG. 10 illustrates agricultural monitoring using a dynamically updated, spatially resolved, and multi-region wavelength resolved system; FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B illustrate a temporally updated wavelength and spatially resolved agricultural monitoring system; FIG. 12 illustrates normalized difference vegetative index readings; FIG. 13 illustrate pest infestation as measured by NDVI; FIG. 14A illustrates water and fat absorbance and FIG. 14B illustrates fat and protein absorbance; FIG. 15 illustrates water protein absorbance; FIG. 16 illustrates an n-dimensional data cube; and FIG. 17 illustrates a crop selection/monitoring tool. Elements and steps in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been rendered according to any particular sequence. For example, steps that are performed concurrently or in different order are illustrated in the figures to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a method for managing cropland, comprising the steps of: (1) optically measuring level zero data with an orbiting satellite, the level zero data comprising: first reflected cropland radiation, in a visible range of 400 to 1,000 nm; second cropland radiation in a near-infrared range of 1,000 to 3,000 nm; third radiation in a range of 3,000 to 5,000 nm; and emitted radiation, in a thermal infrared range of 8,000 to 12,000 nm; (2) processing, on-board the orbiting satellite, the level zero data comprising a first data storage size, to yield cropland condition information comprising a second data storage size of less than one percent of the first data storage size; (3) receiving from the orbiting satellite to a ground-based communication system the cropland condition information; and (4) relaying at least a portion of the cropland condition information to a farmer within twenty-four hours. Herein, the farmer is an example of a client or a consumer. More generally, the client is optionally any one or more of: a crop insurance company, an agriculture company, a farmer supply company, and/or a financial market/financial company. Herein, a z-axis is aligned with gravity and an x/y-plane represents a place, such as cropland, perpendicular to the z-axis. As cropland is often not level, the cropland is optionally represented as a projection of the cropland along the z-axis onto the x/y-plane. Herein, near-infrared light (NIR) light comprises light from 700 to 2500 nm and short wave near-infrared light comprises light from 700 to 1000 nm. Infrared light comprises: (1) short wave infrared light (SWIR) light from 700 to 1000 nm (2) NIR non-SWIR light from 1000 to 3000 nm; (2) mid-wave infrared (MIR or MWIR) from 3000 to 5000 nm (2000-3333 cm−1 or wave numbers); and (3) long wave infrared (LWIR), also referred to as thermal infrared (TIR) from 8,000 to 12,000 nm (833-1250 cm−1), whi