Method for using remotely sensed data to provide agricultural information

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines the agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• receiving remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest;
• processing, using data related to an agricultural scene-object, said remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce reflectance factor data on the agricultural area of interest;
• and
• using said reflectance factor data on the agricultural area of interest to produce a green vegetation index (GVI) map for the agricultural area of interest according to the following:
• GVI=(RF4*−RF3*)(1+L)F/(RF4*+RF3*+L)
• where
• RF4*=RF4−b43;
• RF3*=s43 RF3;
• F is a scaling factor, and L is a soil adjustment coefficient.

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines an agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• receiving remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest;
• processing, using data related to an agricultural scene-object, said remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce reflectance factor data on the agricultural area of interest;
• and
• using said reflectance factor data on the agricultural area of interest to produce a soil zone index (SZI) map for the agricultural area of interest according to the following:
• SZI=x[sqrt((RF3*+L/2)2+(RF4*+L/2)2)−0.35]
• where
• RF4*=RF4−b43;
• RF3*=s43 RF3;
• L is a soil adjustment coefficient and x is a scaling constant.

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines an agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• first receiving first remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest for a first time;
• first calibrating, using data related to an agricultural scene-object, said first remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce first reflectance factor data for said first time;
• first using said first reflectance factor data to produce a first map according to a selected index;
• second receiving second remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest for a second time;
• second calibrating, using data related to an agricultural scene-object, said second remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce second reflectance factor data for said second time;
• second using said second reflectance factor data to produce a second map according to said selected index;
• and
• using said first map and said second map to produce a change map that shows the change in the index between said first time and said second time;
• wherein a reflectance factor for a band b is denoted as RFb, where RFb=(Lb−Lpb)mb and mb=π/(Ebtsb cos θ+Eb,sky) t0b.

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines an agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• receiving remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest;
• calibrating said remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce calibrated data;
• and
• using said calibrated data on the agricultural area of interest to produce a green vegetation index (GVI) map for the agricultural area of interest according to the following:
• GVI=(RF4*−RF3*)(1+L)F/(RF4*+RF3*+L)
• where
• RF4*=RF4−b43;
• RF3*=s43 RF3;
• F is a scaling factor, L is a soil adjustment coefficient, and RF stands for reflectance factor.

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines an agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• receiving remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest;
• and
• using said remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce a green vegetation index (GVI) map for the agricultural area of interest according to the following:
• GVI=(ID4*−ID3*)(1+L)F/(ID4*+ID3*+L)
• where
• ID4*=ID4−b43;
• ID3*=s43 ID3;
• F is a scaling factor, L is a soil adjustment coefficient, and ID values are raw image data or radiance values.

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines an agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• receiving remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest;
• calibrating said remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce calibrated data;
• and
• using said calibrated data on the agricultural area of interest to produce a soil zone index (SZI) map for the agricultural area of interest according to the following:
• SZI=x[sqrt((RF3*+L/2)2+(RF4*+L/2)2)−0.35]
• where
• RF4*=RF4−b43;
• RF3*=s43 RF3;
• L is a soil adjustment coefficient and x is a scaling constant.

A method for producing agricultural information on an area of interest comprising:

• receiving map information that defines an agricultural area of interest for which agricultural information is desired;
• receiving remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest;
• and
• using said remote imaging data on the agricultural area of interest to produce a soil zone index (SZI) map for the agricultural area of interest according to the following:
• SZI=x[sqrt((ID3*+L/2)2+(ID4*+L/2)2)−0.35]
• where
• ID4*=ID4−b43;
• ID3*=s43 ID3;
• L is a soil adjustment coefficient, x is a scaling constant, and ID values are raw image data or radiance values.