System and method for residue detection and implement control

A method to detect residue and control an agricultural implement having one or more ground engaging tools, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a controller, environmental data having an indication of environmental factors;
• receiving, by the controller, image data having an imaged area of a field containing residue coverage on a ground surface, wherein the image data of the field comprises forward image data of the field in front of the agricultural implement and aft image data of the field behind the agricultural implement;
• selecting, by a controller, one or more of a plurality of image processing methods for processing the image data based on the environmental data;
• determining, by the controller, an environmental contrast based on the environmental data, and wherein the selecting of the one or more of the plurality of image processing methods is based on the environmental contrast;
• processing, by the controller, the image data based on the selected one or more of the plurality of image processing methods, wherein the processing comprises comparing the forward and aft image data;
• determining, by the controller, a value corresponding to residue coverage on the ground surface in the imaged area of the field based on the processing, wherein the value comprises the change in value of residue coverage between the forward and aft image data based on the comparing;
• and
• performing, by the controller, at least one of:
• generating one or more control signals to adjust the agricultural implement having one or more ground engaging tools based on the value to reduce the value of residue coverage;
• displaying an indication of the value on a hand-held interface device;
• and
• displaying an indication of the value on a computer console in an agricultural vehicle.

A system for residue detection and implement control, the system comprising:

• a source of environmental data having an indication of environmental factors, the environmental data including at least a crop type associated with a field and a geographical location;
• a sensor that captures image data having an imaged area of the field containing residue coverage on a ground surface;
• a data store containing a plurality of image processing instruction sets;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the source of environmental data and to the sensor and the data store, the controller processing the image data according to one or more of the plurality of image processing instruction sets;
• wherein the controller that:
• determines of a ground type based on the geographical location;
• determines an environmental contrast based on the crop type and the ground type;
• selects one or more of the plurality of image processing instruction sets based at least in part on the environmental contrast;
• analyzes the image data using the selected one or more of the plurality of image processing instruction sets to determine a value corresponding to residue coverage on the ground surface in the imaged area of the field;
• and
• generates a command to adjust a configuration of an agricultural implement having one or more ground engaging tools to reduce the value of residue coverage, wherein the sensor comprises a first sensor configured to obtain forward image data of the field in front of the agricultural implement and a second sensor configured to obtain aft image data of the field behind the agricultural implement, and the controller is configured to compare the forward and aft image data to determine the change in value of residue coverage between the forward and aft image data.