System and method for determining residue coverage of a field

A system for determining residue coverage of a field, the system comprising:

• a ground-engaging tool configured to engage soil within the field as an agricultural implement travels across the field;
• a LIDAR sensor configured to emit light-based output signals for reflection off of a field surface of a portion of the field and detect reflections of the light-based output signals as return signals;
• a soil moisture sensor configured to generate soil moisture sensor data indicative of a soil moisture content of the portion of the field;
• and
• a computing system communicatively coupled to the LiDAR sensor and the soil moisture sensor, the computing system configured to:
• receive LiDAR sensor data associated with the return signals detected by the LiDAR sensor;
• determine a soil moisture value for the portion of the field based on the soil moisture sensor data;
• determine a residue coverage value of the portion of the field based on the determined soil moisture value and the LiDAR sensor data;
• control an operation of the ground-engaging tool based on the determined residue coverage value;
• and
• compare the determined residue coverage value to a range, and if the determined residue coverage value falls outside of the range, initiate a control action comprising adjusting a penetration depth of the ground-engaging tool.

A method for determining residue coverage of a field, the method comprising:

• receiving, with a computing system, LiDAR sensor data associated with return signals detected by a LiDAR sensor configured to emit light-based output signals for reflection off of a field surface of a portion of the field and detect reflections of the light-based output signals as the return signals;
• receiving, with the computing system, soil moisture sensor data indicative of a soil moisture content of the portion of the field;
• determining, with the computing system, a soil moisture value for the portion of the field based on the received soil moisture sensor data;
• determining, with the computing system, a residue coverage value of the portion of the field based on the determined soil moisture value and the received LiDAR sensor data;
• and
• controlling, with the computing system, an operation of a ground-engaging tool of an agricultural implement based on the determined residue coverage value;
• and
• comparing, with the computing system, the determined residue coverage value to a range, and if the determined residue coverage value falls outside of the range, initiating, with the computing system, a control action comprising adjusting a penetration depth of the ground-engaging tool.