Methods and systems for analyzing a field

• US 10,234,439 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2016
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Air Scout Inc.
• Original Assignee: Air Scout Inc.
• Inventors: Sutton, Brian Harold
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunlap, Jonathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cotey, Philip
• Application Number:
  US15/005,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20160216245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,149 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0098 Plants or trees wood G01N33/46
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/08 Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10024 Color image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10032 Satellite or aerial image; Remote sensing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10048 Infrared image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30188 Vegetation; Agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0016 involving temporal comparison
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/17 taken from planes or by drones
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/188 Vegetation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/68 Food, e.g. fruit or vegetables
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/18124 related to illumination properties, e.g. according to a reflectance or lighting model
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/189 Soil moisture sensing

Abstract

A method and system for monitoring the health and growth of plants in a field. The method and system acquire a thermal image indicative of thermal energy emitted by the plants and process the thermal image to assess variations in the temperatures among the plants.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing a field, the method comprising:

positioning an imaging system in an aircraft;

acquiring with the imaging system an aerial thermal image and an aerial digital visual image of at least a portion of the field that contains plants while the aircraft is in flight over the field, wherein the aerial thermal image comprises pixels indicating different levels of thermal energy emitted by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, and the aerial digital visual image comprises pixels indicating different levels of light reflected by the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field;

identifying at least three of the pixels on the aerial thermal image, a first of the pixels indicating a lowest temperature in the aerial thermal image, a second of the pixels indicating a highest temperature in the aerial thermal image, and a third of the pixels indicating a temperature between the lowest and highest temperatures of the first and second pixels;

processing the aerial thermal image to assess relative variations in temperatures among the plants within the portion of the field by assessing variations in the pixels of the aerial thermal image, determining a temperature difference between the lowest and highest temperatures of the plants, and comparing the temperature difference and the first, second, and third pixels to each of the pixels in the aerial thermal image to assign each of the pixels thereof with a yield prediction based on temperature to perform a yield prediction of the plants in the portion of the field; and

comparing the aerial digital visual image to the aerial thermal image.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

georeferencing the aerial thermal image by superimposing the aerial thermal image on a geographical map of the field to obtain a georeferenced aerial thermal image;

providing the georeferenced aerial thermal image to a handheld device located in the field; and

locating and displaying the present position of the handheld device on the georeferenced aerial thermal image.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

georeferencing the aerial thermal image by superimposing the aerial thermal image on a geographical map of the field to obtain a georeferenced aerial thermal image;

providing the georeferenced aerial thermal image to a user interface;

indicating with the user interface a location on the georeferenced aerial thermal image to be inspected in the field;

operating an unmanned aerial vehicle to fly over the location in the field, the unmanned aerial vehicle having a camera; and

controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle with the user interface to fly over the location in the field while providing to the user interface a live camera view of the field with the camera and an indication on the georeferenced aerial thermal image of where the unmanned aerial vehicle is over the field as the live camera view is acquired.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the aerial thermal image is a first aerial thermal image, the method further comprising:

acquiring a second aerial thermal image of the portion of the field that is indicative of the thermal energy emitted by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field at a time after the first aerial thermal image is acquired;

processing the second aerial thermal image to assess variations in temperatures among the plants; and

comparing the first aerial thermal image with the second aerial thermal image to assess the health or growth of the plants over a time period between when the first aerial thermal image was acquired and the time when the second aerial thermal image was acquired.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the variations in temperatures among the plants are assessed to detect disease in the plants.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the variations in temperatures among the plants are assessed to detect insect infestation in the plants.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the field further comprises bare soil having substantially no vegetation, the aerial thermal image is indicative of thermal energy emitted by the bare soil within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, the aerial digital visual image is indicative of the light reflected by the bare soil within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, and the processing of the aerial thermal image assesses the relative variations in the temperatures of the bare soil, the method further comprising:

processing the aerial digital visual image to assess relative variations in light reflectance of near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums of the light in the aerial digital visual image and assign an intensity value to each of the pixels of the aerial digital visual image across the field; and

analyzing the relative variations in the temperatures across the field and the relative variations in the light reflectance across the field to identify soil types within the portion of the field.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the aerial digital visual image is indicative of light reflected by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, the aerial digital visual image captures light in near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums, and the method further comprises processing the aerial digital visual image to assess relative variations in the near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums of light reflectance among the plants.

9. The method of claim 8, the method further comprising:

comparing the relative variations in the near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums of the light reflectance among the plants and the relative variations in the temperatures among the plants to assess stress factors among the plants.

10. A method of analyzing a field, the method comprising:

positioning an imaging system in an aircraft;

acquiring with the imaging system an aerial thermal image and an aerial digital visual image of at least a portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, wherein the aerial thermal image comprises pixels indicating different levels of thermal energy emitted within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, and the aerial digital visual image comprises pixels indicating different levels of light reflected by the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field;

processing the aerial thermal image to assess relative variations in temperatures within the portion of the field by assessing variations in the pixels of the aerial thermal image;

comparing the aerial digital visual image to the aerial thermal image;

locating a soil moisture probe at a location within the portion of the field;

sensing a moisture content at the location with the soil moisture probe;

identifying the location of the soil moisture probe on the aerial thermal image;

assigning the location of the soil probe to one of the pixels of the aerial thermal image;

comparing a temperature associated with the one pixel to temperatures of others of the pixels in the aerial thermal image to assign each of the others of the pixels with a moisture content relative to the moisture content sensed by the soil moisture probe at the location assigned to the one pixel; and

determining moisture content across the field based on the moisture content sensed by the soil moisture probe and the moisture contents assigned to the others of the pixels.

11. A system for analyzing a field, the system comprising:

an imaging system in an aircraft, the imaging system being operable to acquire an aerial thermal image and an aerial digital visual image of at least a portion of the field that contains plants while the aircraft is in flight over the field, wherein the aerial thermal image comprises pixels indicating different levels of thermal energy emitted by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, and the aerial digital visual image comprises pixels indicating different levels of light reflected by the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field;

means for identifying at least three of the pixels on the aerial thermal image, a first of the pixels indicating a lowest temperature in the aerial thermal image, a second of the pixels indicating a highest temperature in the aerial thermal image, and a third of the pixels indicating a temperature between the lowest and highest temperatures of the first and second pixels;

means for processing the aerial thermal image to assess relative variations in temperatures among the plants within the portion of the field by assessing variations in the pixels of the aerial thermal image, determining a temperature difference between the lowest and highest temperatures of the plants, comparing the temperature difference and the first, second, and third pixels to each of the pixels in the aerial thermal image to assign each of the pixels thereof with a yield prediction based on temperature to perform a yield prediction of the plants in the portion of the field, and comparing the aerial digital visual image to the aerial thermal image.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for georeferencing the aerial thermal image by superimposing the aerial thermal image on a geographical map of the field to obtain a georeferenced aerial thermal image;

means for overlaying the aerial image on the geographical map;

means for providing the aerial image on the geographical map to a handheld device located in the field and having means for locating and displaying the present position of the handheld device on the georeferenced aerial thermal image.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for georeferencing the aerial thermal image by superimposing the aerial thermal image on a geographical map of the field to obtain a georeferenced aerial thermal image;

means for overlaying the aerial image on the geographical map;

an unmanned aerial vehicle having a camera for providing a live camera view of the field;

a user interface having means for displaying the georeferenced aerial thermal image, means for indicating the location to be inspected on the georeferenced aerial thermal image, means for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly over the location in the field while providing to the user interface the live camera view of the field and an indication on the georeferenced aerial thermal image of where the unmanned aerial vehicle is over the field as the live camera view is acquired.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the aerial thermal image is a first aerial thermal image, the system further comprising:

means for acquiring a second aerial thermal image of the portion of the field that is indicative of the thermal energy emitted by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field at a time after the first aerial thermal image is acquired;

means for processing the second aerial thermal image to assess variations in temperatures among the plants; and

means for comparing the first aerial thermal image with the second aerial thermal image to assess the health or growth of the plants over a time period between when the first aerial thermal image was acquired and the time when the second aerial thermal image was acquired.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the variations in temperatures among the plants are assessed to detect disease in the plants.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the variations in temperatures among the plants are assessed to detect insect infestation in the plants.

17. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a soil moisture probe at a location within the portion of the field corresponding to a location on the aerial thermal image and assigned to one of the pixels of the aerial thermal image, the soil moisture probe sensing a moisture content at the location; and

software that compares a temperature associated with the one pixel to temperatures of others of the pixels in the thermal image to assign each of the others of the pixels with a moisture content relative to the moisture content sensed by the soil moisture probe at the location assigned to the one pixel, and determines moisture content across the field based on the moisture content sensed by the soil moisture probe and the moisture contents assigned to the others of the pixels.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the portion of the field further comprises bare soil having substantially no vegetation, the aerial thermal image is indicative of thermal energy emitted by the bare soil within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, the aerial digital visual image is indicative of the light reflected by the bare soil within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, and the means for processing the aerial thermal image assesses the relative variations in the temperatures of the bare soil, the system further comprising:

means for processing the aerial digital visual image to assess relative variations in light reflectance of near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums of the light in the aerial digital visual image and assign an intensity value to each of the pixels of the aerial digital visual image across the field; and

means for analyzing the relative variations in the temperatures across the field and the relative variations in the light reflectance across the field to identify soil types within the portion of the field.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the aerial digital visual image is indicative of light reflected by the plants within the portion of the field while the aircraft is in flight over the field, the aerial digital visual image captures light in near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums, and the system further comprises means for processing the aerial digital visual image to assess relative variations in the near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums of light reflectance among the plants.

20. The system of claim 19, the system further comprising:

means for comparing the relative variations in the near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums of the light reflectance among the plants and the relative variations in the temperatures among the plants to assess stress factors among the plants.