Process for normalizing images or other data layers

A method of processing vegetation pixel data, the method comprising:

• masking selected pixels from consideration;
• identifying unselected pixels relating to an agricultural field representative of areas of predetermined development patterns of vegetation in the field, the predetermined development patterns comprising a higher vegetation area of weedy patches;
• segregating said areas of predetermined development patterns with said weedy patches thereby defining segregated areas by overlaying a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with a color infrared layer to select pixels with a geometric pattern or spatial distribution indicative of the weedy patches, other areas in the field being non-segregated areas;
• normalizing said image data within said non-segregated area using a best crop area as a reference crop area that has sufficient nitrogen to identify a reference pixel within the reference crop area such that the other pixel data in the non-segregated crop area has normalized pixel values with reference to the reference pixel;
• and
• prescribing application rates of an agricultural compound to said non-segregated areas dependent on a crop canopy color determined from said other pixels based on the NDVI.