Method and System for Remote Sensing and Limited Field Sampling to Prescribe and Deliver Soil Amendments Targeted Discretely Across Cultivated Fields
A method and system using remote sensing to estimate soil amendment prescriptions for portions of an agricultural field. The prescriptions are based upon limited soil sampling data that are extrapolated across the entire field according to the greenness of the crop. The prescriptions are delivered by mechanical device or irrigation system that is equipped with a global positioning system.
1 . A precision method for applying soils amendments to an agricultural field or portions thereof through a delivery system comprising the steps of:
obtaining EOS data including scene statistics and pixels for the field containing an existing crop;
calculating NDVI* per pixel satellite scene statistics;
identifying and ranking NDVI* values for selected portions of the field;
obtaining soil samples at the selected portions of the field based on the ranked NDVI* values;
analyzing the soil samples and prescribing soil amendments based on interpolation of requirements at high and low NDVI* values at the selected portions of the field;
preparing an amendment mixture based on the prescribed soil amendment; and
delivering the prescribed soil amendment mixture to the selected portions of the field based on the NDVI* sample analysis values.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery system comprises a water irrigation system and the soil amendments are water-soluble and distributed through sprinklers of the irrigation system.
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the water irrigation system is precisely controlled by a field located controller in communication with a central computer system that gathers the data and performs the calculations to prescribe the soil amendment mixture.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the water irrigation system includes multiple sprinklers that are controllable individually or in blocks.
5 . The method of claim 3 wherein the water irrigation system is a center-pivot mechanical irrigation system.
6 . The method of claim 1 additionally including the step of geospatially interpolating the EOS data before calculating the NDVI* for a pixel.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the EOS data is adjusted during the growing season to reflect the variable solar angle and the distance from the sun.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein GPS location is used to determine the portion of the field where the sampling takes place.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein the soil amendments are selected from the group comprising nitrogen phosphorous, potassium, and micronutrients, or chemical substances that change soil properties limiting to plant growth.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the NDVI* corrects for the soil background and atmospheric scatter and attenuation.
11 . A system for applying soil amendments to an agricultural field or portions comprising:
a. computer system for acquiring and storing EOS data including scene statistics and pixels for the field containing an existing crop;
an algorithm for calculating NDVI* per pixel based on said scene statistics;
identifying selected portions of the field by GPS;
an algorithm for ranking the NDVI* values for the selected portions of the field;
physically obtaining soil samples at the selected portions of the field based on the maximum and minimum NDVI* values;
an algorithm for analyzing the soil samples and prescribing soil amendments based on interpolation of the requirements at the high and low NDVI*values at the selected portions of the field;
a container for mixing an amendment based on the prescribed soil amendment; and
a mechanical apparatus for delivering the prescribed amendment mixture to the selected portions of the field based on the NDVI* sample analysis values.
12 . The system for applying soil amendments to an agricultural field of claim 11 wherein the EOS data is adjusted during the growing season to reflect the variable solar angle and the distance from the sun.
13 . The system for applying soil amendments to an agricultural field of claim 11 additionally including GPS location data to determine the portion of the field where the sample is taken.
14 . A precision method for applying soils amendments to an agricultural field or portions thereof through a delivery system comprising the steps of:
obtaining EOS data including scene statistics and pixels for the field containing an existing crop;
calculating greenness utilizing the satellite scene statistics;
determining the maximum and minimum greenness values for selected portions of the field;
obtaining soil samples at the two selected portions of the field;
analyzing the soil samples and prescribing soil amendments based on interpolation of the greenness values for the selected portions of the field;
preparing soil amendment mixture based on the greenness values of the selected portions of the field;
delivering the prescribed soil amendment mixture to the selected portions of the field based on the sample greenness analysis.
15 . The method of claim 14 wherein the delivery system is precisely controlled by a field located controller in communication with a central computer system that gathers the data and performs the calculations to prescribe the soil amendment mixture.
16 . The method of claim 15 wherein the water irrigation system includes multiple sprinklers controllable individually or in blocks.
17 . The method of claim 14 wherein the delivery system is a center-pivot mechanical irrigation system.
18 . The method of claim 14 wherein the delivery system comprises travelling tricklers.
19 . The method of claim 14 wherein the delivery system is a drip irrigation system.
20 . The method of claim 18 wherein the delivery system comprises a mechanical tractor with a dry soil amendment spreader.