Methods, apparatus, and systems for determining in-season crop status in an agricultural crop and alerting users
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- receiving, by a computer from a plurality of data sources, data associated with at least a portion of a field of plants, the data received from each of the plurality of data sources corresponding to a different one of a plurality of categories regarding a status of at least the portion of the field of plants, the plurality of categories including at least a crop stress category, an added fertility category, and a soils category, each of the plurality of categories associated with a plurality of category-specific sub-categories corresponding to data received from at least one of the plurality of data sources, wherein the crop stress category is associated with at least a near-infrared (NIR) imagery sub-category, wherein the added fertility category is associated with at least a frequency of nitrogen application sub-category, and wherein the soils category is associated with at least a soil texture category;
determining, by the computer, an overall score for the received data that indicates a nutrient status of at least the portion of the field of plants, whereindetermining the overall score comprises;
determining a sub-category score for each of the plurality of sub-categories;
applying a weighting factor to each sub-category score to determine a plurality of weighted sub-category scores;
determining a sub-score for each category by aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-category scores corresponding to the respective category, each sub-score corresponding to a category-specific nutrient status of at least the portion of the field of plants;
applying a weighting factor to each of the sub-scores to determine a plurality of weighted sub-scores; and
aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-scores to determine the overall score;
determining, by the computer, that the overall score satisfies a threshold value; and
outputting, by the computer, an alert in response to determining that the overall score satisfies the threshold value.
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Abstract
A crop'"'"'s status may be determined from analysis of information regarding the crop received from, for example, a user, an in-season data gathering source, a database, a data feed, an aerial sensor, a UAV, and/or a remote sensor via a communication network. The received data may be compared to, for example, a benchmark, a parameter, a previously determined crop status, and/or a baseline associated with the crop and the comparison may be scored. When the score exceeds a predetermined threshold, an alert may be generated and provided to a user via the communication network.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a computer from a plurality of data sources, data associated with at least a portion of a field of plants, the data received from each of the plurality of data sources corresponding to a different one of a plurality of categories regarding a status of at least the portion of the field of plants, the plurality of categories including at least a crop stress category, an added fertility category, and a soils category, each of the plurality of categories associated with a plurality of category-specific sub-categories corresponding to data received from at least one of the plurality of data sources, wherein the crop stress category is associated with at least a near-infrared (NIR) imagery sub-category, wherein the added fertility category is associated with at least a frequency of nitrogen application sub-category, and wherein the soils category is associated with at least a soil texture category; determining, by the computer, an overall score for the received data that indicates a nutrient status of at least the portion of the field of plants, wherein determining the overall score comprises; determining a sub-category score for each of the plurality of sub-categories; applying a weighting factor to each sub-category score to determine a plurality of weighted sub-category scores; determining a sub-score for each category by aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-category scores corresponding to the respective category, each sub-score corresponding to a category-specific nutrient status of at least the portion of the field of plants; applying a weighting factor to each of the sub-scores to determine a plurality of weighted sub-scores; and aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-scores to determine the overall score; determining, by the computer, that the overall score satisfies a threshold value; and outputting, by the computer, an alert in response to determining that the overall score satisfies the threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A device comprising:
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one or more processors; and at least one storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to; determine an overall score for data received from a plurality of data sources and associated with at least a portion of a group of crops, each of the plurality of data sources corresponding to a different one of a plurality of categories regarding a status of at least the portion of the group of crops, the plurality of categories including at least a crop stress category, an added fertility category, and a soils category, each of the plurality of categories associated with a plurality of sub-categories, wherein the crop stress category is associated with at least a near-infrared (NIR) imagery sub-category, wherein the added fertility category is associated with at least a frequency of nitrogen application sub-category, wherein the soils category is associated with at least a soil texture category, and wherein determining the overall score comprises; determining a sub-category score for each of the plurality of sub-categories; applying a weighting factor to each sub-category score to determine a plurality of weighted sub-category scores; determining a sub-score for each category by aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-category scores corresponding to the respective category, each sub-score corresponding to a category-specific status of at least the portion of the group of crops; applying a weighting factor to each of the sub-scores to determine a plurality of weighted sub-scores; and aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-scores to determine the overall score; and output an alert in response to determining that the overall score satisfies a threshold value.
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27. A system comprising:
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at least one computer; an image sensor; and a Crop Status Analyzer and Alert Generator executable by the at least one computer and configured to; receive, from a plurality of data sources that includes the image sensor, data for at least a portion of a field of crops, the data received from each of the plurality of data sources corresponding to one of a plurality of categories regarding a status of at least the portion of the field of crops, the plurality of categories including at least a crop stress category, an added fertility category, and a soils category, each of the plurality of categories associated with a plurality of sub-categories, wherein the crop stress category is associated with at least a near-infrared (NIR) imagery sub-category, wherein the added fertility category is associated with at least a frequency of nitrogen application sub-category, and wherein the soils category is associated with at least a soil texture category; determine, based on the received data, an overall score corresponding to a nutrient status of at least the portion of the field of crops by at least determining a sub-category score for each of the plurality of sub-categories, applying a weighting factor to each sub-category score to determine a plurality of weighted sub-category scores, aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-category scores corresponding to the respective category to determine a sub-score for each category, applying a weighting factor to each of the sub-scores to determine a plurality of weighted sub-scores, and aggregating the plurality of weighted sub-scores to determine the overall score; determine that the overall score is not included within a range of acceptable overall scores; and output an alert in response to determining that the overall score is not included within a range of acceptable overall scores.
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28. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a computer from a plurality of data sources, data corresponding to crops, the data received from each of the plurality of data sources corresponding to a different one of a plurality of categories, the plurality of categories including at least a crop stress category, an added fertility category, and a soils category, each of the plurality of categories associated with one or more sub-categories, wherein the crop stress category is associated with at least a near-infrared (NIR) imagery sub-category, wherein the added fertility category is associated with at least a frequency of nitrogen application sub-category, and wherein the soils category is associated with at least a soil texture category; determining, by the computer, a category score for each category based on an aggregation of weighted sub-category scores corresponding to each sub-category associated with a respective category; applying, by the computer, a weight to each category score; aggregating, by the computer, the weighted category scores to determine a crop status score; and outputting, by the computer, an alert in response to determining that the crop status score satisfies a threshold value.
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Specification