Determining in-season crop status in an agricultural crop and alerting users

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.

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, 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 category-specific sub-categories corresponding to data received from at least one of the plurality of data sources;   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 one or more 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; and 
   outputting, by the computer, an alert to at least one of a user and a designated party in response to determining that the overall score satisfies a threshold value.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert is provided within a time period that enables at least one of the user and the designated party to take corrective action to improve the nutrient status of at least the portion of the field of plants. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the designated party is one of an agricultural product supplier, an agricultural service provider, an agricultural product buyer, and a landlord. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing the alert in a database.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert indicates a level of distress to plants within at least the portion of the field of plants. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert indicates a location of distressed plants within at least the portion of the field of plants. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a recommendation responsively to determining that the overall score satisfies the threshold value, the recommendation providing one or more actions that may be taken to address subject matter of the alert.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 tailoring the alert according to at least one of a user characteristic, a user preference, a type of alert, an amount by which the overall score exceeds the threshold value, and a type of the overall score.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert includes at least one of the overall score, a visual representation of a location of plants that do not satisfy the threshold value, a visual representation of a trend of a status of the field of plants over a period of time, a chart showing one or more trends of a status of the field of plants, a visual display of locations of the field of plants excluded from status determinations, and a visually enhanced display of one or more portions of the received data as selected by a user. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert includes received data for at least the portion of the field of plants received at different times. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of receiving the data associated with at least the portion of the field of plants and outputting the alert is executed via a social networking service. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the computer, an indication of one or more user-excluded geographic areas within at least the portion of the field of plants;   wherein determining the overall score for the received data comprises excluding data corresponding to the one or more user-excluded geographic areas.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 updating at least one of the received data and the overall score in response to receiving the indication of the one or more user-excluded geographic areas.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a recommendation responsively to determining that the overall score satisfies the threshold value, the recommendation providing one or more actions that may be taken to address subject matter of the alert.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the recommendation providing the one or more actions is proportionate to an amount that the overall score deviates from the threshold value. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crop stress category is associated with at least a near-infrared (NIR) imagery sub-category. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the added fertility category is associated with at least a frequency of nitrogen application sub-category. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the soils category is associated with at least a soil texture category. 
     
     
         19 . A system comprising:
 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 one or more_sub-categories; 
 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 one or more 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 to at least one of a user and a designated party in response to determining that the overall score is not included within the range of acceptable overall scores. 
   
     
     
         20 . A method comprising:
 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;   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 deviates from a threshold value, the alert including a recommendation for corrective action to be taken that corresponds to an amount that the overall score deviates from the threshold value.