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Soil survey device and system for precision agriculture

  • US 6,608,672 B1
  • Filed: 04/12/2001
  • Issued: 08/19/2003
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/15/1999
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An optical soil survey device for precision field management to survey the optical characteristics of a given soil by creating a survey chamber at a selected depth under the ground and surveying the spectrum of light reflected off the soil in the chamber continuously and in real time, said optical soil survey device comprising:

  • a casing which encloses at least an upper survey surface of the chamber;

    a shank connected to said casing which is narrower than said casing and which cuts open the soil and declined slightly backwardly;

    a soil excavation unit having a first penetration unit which is a conical shaped piece with a tapered front end, and a second penetration unit with a gradual increase in diameter which extends away from said first penetration unit, so as to form a space between the ground and said second penetration unit, said soil excavation unit being mounted in front of said casing and held in horizontal direction; and

    a position detecting means to detect a position of the soil which is to be the subject of the survey; and

    a spectrum of light surveying means to survey the spectrum of light reflected off the soil at the position detected by said position detecting means, thereby producing survey data of the spectrum of light corresponding to each position data.

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