Precision site characterization using digital twin

1 . A method of characterizing soil properties of a subject soil located in an unmapped, wrongly mapped, or minimally mapped geographic location, wherein the subject soil does not have an associated or correct predefined and known soil classification, the method comprising:

retrieving an existing soil map of a geographic region;

deploying a sensing tool to a plurality of first geographic locations within the geographic region in differing classified soils that each have a corresponding predefined and known soil classification, wherein the sensing tool includes a plurality of sensors of differing types each configured to be responsive to one or more soil properties;

obtaining, at each of the plurality of first geographic locations, first depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at each of the plurality of first geographic locations;

creating for the first depth varying raw signal outputs from each of the plurality of first geographic locations, a corresponding first digital signature;

deploying the sensing tool to the subject soil at a second geographic location within the geographic region;

obtaining, at the second geographic location, second depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at the second geographic location;

creating for the second depth varying raw signal outputs from the second geographic location, a corresponding second digital signature;

comparing the second digital signature of the subject soil to the first digital signatures of the classified soils;

determining, based on the comparing and on the corresponding predefined and known soil classifications of the plurality of first geographic locations, a characterization of the subject soil at the second geographic location; and

generating an updated soil map by updating the existing soil map based on the characterization of the subject soil at the second geographic location.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second geographic location corresponds to or is proximal to a geographic position of a boundary drawn between a plurality of differing soil map units on the existing soil map, and generating the updated soil map comprises updating the boundary.

3 . The method claim 1 , wherein the characterization of the subject soil at the second geographic location comprises at least one of the group consisting of: layers present, layer thickness, and depth to one or more layers.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining first depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at each of the plurality of first geographic locations comprises obtaining first depth varying raw signal outputs every 10 mm or less; and wherein obtaining second depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at the second geographic location comprises obtaining second depth varying raw signal outputs every 10 mm or less.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensing tool comprises a multi-sensor penetrometer.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the multi-sensor penetrometer comprises at least two sensors selected from the group consisting of: imaging sensors, water content sensors, near-infrared reflectometry sensors, electrical conductivity sensors, electrical resistivity sensors, electrical impedance spectroscopy sensors, and acoustic sensors.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the first depth varying raw signal outputs and the second depth varying raw signal outputs in a database.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second geographic location is a location whose soil composition has changed with time.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the second digital signature of the subject soil to the first digital signatures of the classified soils comprises using a distance metric.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the distance metric is selected from the group consisting of: Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance, Chebychev distance, cosine distance, Jacquard distance, Sorensen-Dice distance, and Hamming distance.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the distance metric is selected from the group consisting of dynamic time warping and Fréchet distance.

12 . A method of characterizing soil properties of a subject soil located in an unmapped, wrongly mapped, or minimally mapped geographic location, wherein the subject soil does not have an associated or correct predefined and known soil classification, the method comprising:

deploying a sensing tool to a plurality of first geographic locations in differing classified soils that each have a corresponding predefined and known soil classification, wherein the sensing tool includes a plurality of sensors of differing types each configured to be responsive to one or more soil properties;

obtaining, at each of the plurality of first geographic locations, first depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at each of the plurality of first geographic locations;

creating for the first depth varying raw signal outputs from each of the plurality of first geographic locations, a corresponding first digital signature,

deploying the sensing tool to the subject soil at a second geographic location;

obtaining, at the second geographic location, second depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at the second geographic location;

creating for the second depth varying raw signal outputs from the second geographic location, a corresponding second digital signature;

comparing the second digital signature of the subject soil to the first digital signatures of the classified soils; and

determining, based on the comparing and on the corresponding predefined and known soil classifications of the plurality of first geographic locations, a characterization of the subject soil at the second geographic location;

wherein the second geographic location corresponds to or is proximal to a geographic position of a boundary drawn between a plurality of differing soil map units on an existing soils map, and employing the method to improve the accuracy and spatial resolution of the soil map by refining the soil map boundary locations.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the characterization of the subject soil at the second geographic location comprises at least one of the group consisting of: layers present, layer thickness, and depth to one or more layers.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining first depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at each of the plurality of first geographic locations comprises obtaining first depth varying raw signal outputs every 10 mm or less; and wherein obtaining second depth varying raw signal outputs from the plurality of sensors at the second geographic location comprises obtaining second depth varying raw signal outputs every 10 mm or less.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the sensing tool comprises a multi-sensor penetrometer.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the multi-sensor penetrometer comprises at least two sensors selected from the group consisting of: imaging sensors, water content sensors, near-infrared reflectometry sensors, electrical conductivity sensors, electrical resistivity sensors, electrical impedance spectroscopy sensors, and acoustic sensors.

17 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising storing the first depth varying raw signal outputs and the second depth varying raw signal outputs in a database.

18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the second geographic location is a location whose soil composition has changed with time.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein comparing the second digital signature of the subject soil to the first digital signatures of the classified soils comprises using a distance metric.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the distance metric is selected from the group consisting of: Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance, Chebychev distance, cosine distance, Jacquard distance, Sorensen-Dice distance, Hamming distance, dynamic time warping, and Fréchet distance.