BASF Agro Trademarks GmbH

The present invention relates to an apparatus for determining agricultural relevant information in an agricultural environment. It is described to provide ( 210 ) a processing unit with at least one image of an agricultural area. The at least one image was acquired by at least one satellite and/or at least one aerial vehicle such that the at least one image was acquired through a substantial depth of the Earth's atmosphere. The at least one image corresponds with at least one area of the agricultural area such that each image of the at least one image corresponds to a different area of the agricultural area. The at least one image comprises remotely acquired reflectance intensity data relating to a plurality of features on the ground. An image of the at least one image is of a first area of the agricultural environment. The processing unit is provided ( 220 ) with at least one sensor data relating to the first area of the agricultural environment. The at least one sensor data was acquired by at least one ground based and/or at least one near ground based sensor. The processing unit implements ( 230 ) a radiation propagation model of the atmosphere that utilizes at least one model parameter. The at least one model parameter comprises at least one atmospheric scattering coefficient. The processing unit determines ( 240 ) modified at least one model parameter. The determination comprising utilization of the radiation propagation model, the remotely acquired reflectance intensity data of the image of the first area and the at least one sensor data relating to the first area. The processing unit determines ( 250 ) at least one agricultural relevant information for an examination area of the at least one area. The determination utilizes the radiation propagation model, the modified at least one model parameter and an image of the at least one image that is of the examination area of the at least one area.

A method is presented for determining a weight of all of the grains of an ear of a grain stalk. The method comprises providing a digital image of the ear in a spindle step view of the ear, wherein the ear is located in front of a reference card as a background, and determining the length of the ear by means of a comparison with the reference card. Furthermore, the method comprises determining a number of spindle steps of the ear by means of a template matching method, determining a number of grains of the ear and determining of the weight of all of the grains of the ear.

The present application relates to the cultivation of crop plants using plant protection agents. Certain embodiments relate to methods, a system, and a computer program product for determining partial-area-specific requirements of a crop plant for plant protection agents.

A method for predicting the yield of a cornfield is presented. The method has the steps of positioning a digital camera at a defined distance above an average plane of ears of a cornfield, capturing a digital image of a section of the cornfield, determining the area of the captured cornfield section, determining the total area of the ears in the digital image compared to the total area of the digital image, and determining the yield of the field from the total area of the ears in the digital image compared to the total area of the digital image, the determined area of the captured cornfield section, the average grain weight of an ear, a total field area and a calibration factor.

A method for identifying of a type of weed in a natural environment may be provided. The method comprises receiving a digital image of the weed in an early growth stage together with related metadata, contouring areas of leaves and determining whether the weed is a monocotyledon or a dicotyledon. Furthermore, the method comprises determining a growth stage and determining the type of weed identified by a weed name and a probability of the correctness of the determination using at least one out of a plurality of the received metadata and a plurality of metadata determined during the contouring, during the determining whether the weed is a monocotyledon or a dicotyledon, and during the determination of the growth stage of the weeds as input parameters to a set of classifiers using a storage comprising names of types of weeds together with a plurality of sets of metadata per weed type.

The present disclosure is directed to a method for applying an agrochemical to an agricultural area of interest based on information generated from a remote sensing survey. A remote sensing survey is performed within or adjacent to the agricultural area of interest wherein the survey generates remotely sensed data. The remotely sensed data can be analyzed and/or interpreted to determine whether to apply an agrochemical based on an insect presence within or adjacent to the agricultural area of interest.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for spray management. It is described to provide (210) a processing unit with at least one image of a field and provide (220) the processing unit with historical details relating to spray application of a weed control liquid and/or a pest control liquid to the field. The processing unit analyses (230) the at least one image to determine at least one location within the field for activation of at least one weed control spray gun and/or activation of at least one pest control spray gun. The processing unit determines (240) a configuration of the at least one weed control spray gun for application at the at least one location and/or a configuration of the at least one pest control spray gun for application at the at least one location. The determination comprises utilization of the historical details. Information is out-put (250) that is useable to activate the at least one weed control spray gun and/or the at least one pest control spray gun at the at least one location.

The invention relates to a method for operating a harvesting machine for harvesting a crop in a field, at least one operating value for a working part of the harvesting machine being determined in dependence on at least one plant property of the crop. According to the invention, it is provided that the plant property is mapped in a plant growth model, the plant growth model modelling a development over time of the plant property and determining a predictive value or a predictive characteristic of the plant property for the time of the harvest.

The present invention relates to the technical field of controlling harmful organisms in the cultivation of cultivated plants. The present invention relates to a method for controlling harmful organisms, to a system for controlling harmful organisms and to the use of a digital application map for the application of one or more control agents against harmful organisms.

The present invention relates to the cultivation of crop plants using plant protection agents. Objects of the present invention are methods, a system and a computer program product for determining the partial-area-specific requirement of a crop plant for plant protection agents.