University of Florida Research Foundation Inc

United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Joaquin Jesus Casanova

Richard Alan Yost

Steven R Evett

Jared Boock

Brian Smith

Scott Knudson Anderson

Susan A O'Shaughnessy

Paul D Colaizzi

Robert C Schwartz

Atmospheric pressure ion guides are provided. The atmospheric pressure ion guides can include a multi-ring electrode structure connecting a larger opening to a smaller opening and having a series of ring electrodes with decreasing diameter and voltage going from the larger opening to the smaller opening. The electrodes can be made from stainless steel or other suitable conductive material. The multi-ring electrode structure can be contained in a housing, such as a housing made from polyetheretherketone or other suitable thermosetting polymer. The atmospheric pressure ion guide can focus ions from an ion source for use with ion detection devices such as an ion mobility spectrometer or a mass spectrometer. Methods of using the atmospheric pressure ion guides are provided, for example to focus a plurality of ions to be injected into an ion detection device. The atmospheric pressure ion guides can increase the signal intensity of the ion detection device.

Atmospheric pressure ion guide

Plant canopy images and temperature are acquired with a wireless computer vision instrument, and the temperature data are qualified and pixels within the image are classified. The instrument includes sensors for measuring plant radiation due to canopy temperature and an imaging sensor which collects data over four bands, a microprocessor to receive and store and process measured data from the sensors, and a wireless transmitter for transmitting data from the microprocessor to a remote receiver. The data are used to detect plant stress and canopy cover percentage and to qualify temperature data accordingly. The data from the sensors provide information for decision support algorithms related to the initiation of automatic irrigation scheduling as a function of crop canopy cover and water stress, the qualification of temperature data used in automatic irrigation scheduling algorithms, and the detection of diseased crops for the purpose of withholding irrigations when yield potential is compromised.

Computer vision qualified infrared temperature sensor

Soil water content and bulk electrical conductivity may be determined by time domain reflectometry at multiple depths in the soil such that the entire soil profile from the surface to a user-selected depth may be characterized. A short rise-time pulse is passed into an electrode and the reflected pulse is captured at multiple times. A waveform of reflection coefficient versus time is determined, which may be used to determine the pulse travel time, effective frequency and reflection coefficients at times necessary for the determination of the soil water content and bulk electrical conductivity.

Soil water and conductivity sensing system

Growing community of inventors

Gainesville, FL, United States of America

Joaquin Jesus Casanova