Satake Corporation

Nobuhiko Nakamura

Satoru Satake

Yukio Hosaka

Hideharu Maruyama

Nobuharu Yagishita

A method of diagnosing nutritious condition of crop in a plant field is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: locating a camera equipped with a plurality of image elements in a predetermined central depression angle with respect to the plant field; obtaining an amount of reflection light of a crop leaf for each image element by image-taking the field; obtaining an image-taken area for each unit image element by an area function constituted by a conversion variable including a ground clearance, an image element depression angle, the number of image elements and a field angle of the camera; making an area compensation of the amount of reflection light for each image element by the image-taken area; making a depression angle compensation of the amount of reflection light by a depression angle coefficient predetermined for compensating differences of amounts of reflection light correspondingly with image element depression angles; measuring an amount of light incident on the crop leaf; obtaining reflectance from the amount of the reflection light compensated and the measured amount of incident light; obtaining first crop information in a predetermined area based on the reflectance and a first crop related formula predetermined for obtaining crop information from reflectance, and storing the first crop information; and determining a nutritious condition of the crop in the plant field based on the first crop information. Instead of the grand clearance of the camera, a distance of field of view of the camera may well be used.

Method of diagnosing nutritious condition of crop in plant field

From the crop of a predetermined area in a plant field under exposure to natural light, a reflectivity of the light having relation to crop information such as nitrogen content rate is measured by a camera; the crop information as first crop information is obtained from the first crop related formula established in advance for obtaining the crop information from the reflectivity; light is irradiated on crop leaf blades in the same area as the predetermined area and an amount of the light is measured; the crop information as second crop information is obtained from the second crop related formula established in advance for obtaining the crop information from the amount of the light; differences are calculated from the first crop information and the second crop information; the first crop information is obtained from the unknown crop in the predetermined area within the crop field of the same area; the first crop information is corrected based on the differences; and the nutritious diagnosis of the crop in the field is conducted by the corrected first crop information. In conducting diagnosis of crop by measuring the reflection light amount from the crop, since compensation or correction is performed, no great errors occur caused by differences in the measurement locations and the planting densities, and the diagnosis of the crop is simple and easy and, more over, the precision in the measuring is enhanced.

A method and an apparatus for determining an amount of fertilizer to be applied to grain crops are disclosed. A fertilizer application related formula for obtaining the necessary amount of fertilizer to be applied is established by analyzing growth information including leaf blade information, fertilizer application information and quality information, all the above information being obtained in advance from a number of grains or grain crops. The formula thus established is stored in the memory. The necessary amount of fertilizer to be applied for each specific period for grain crops which are presently under growth is calculated by applying to the above formula, growth information of the grain crops presently under growth and target quality information. The growth information includes leaf blade information in relation to a specific period. The results of the calculation are displayed or printed out. A method and an apparatus for estimating a quality or yield of grains prior to the harvesting is also disclosed. In this case, a quality or yield related formula is established in advance and stored in the memory.

Method for determining amount of fertilizer application for grain crops, method for estimating quality and yield of grains and apparatus for providing grain production information

A method and an apparatus are provided for estimating a quality of grains to be harvested from a grain plant in the future, during a growth period prior to the harvesting. The method comprises the step for establishing a quality conversion coefficient for estimating a specific quality of grains after the harvesting based on absorbencies relating to the specific quality of the grains obtained by irradiating light having predetermined wavelength regions on a leaf of a grain plant in growth at a predetermined time during the growth period of the grain plant and the specific quality obtained from the same grains after the harvesting, and the step for estimating the quality of the grains to be harvested in the future based on said quality conversion coefficient and absorbencies relating to said specific quality obtained from a leaf of the grain plant presently growing at the predetermined time. The measurement for estimating the quality of the grains can be carried out in an easy and simple manner during the growth of grain plants.

Method and apparatus for estimating quality of grains

A content measuring apparatus has a light source for irradiating near infrared light on a leaf, a light intensity detecting device for receiving transmitted light from the leaf, an operation means for calculating the light absorbance of the leaf from the intensity of transmitted light and computing a content percent of the leaf based on a content percent estimation equation. The light source includes light emitting elements which are disposed so as to have predetermined angles with respect to a diffuse reflectance plate coated with mat paint, a light reflection path which shades direct light from the light emitting elements, is arranged in a vertical direction at a substantial center of the diffuse reflectance plate and conducts the reflected light from the diffuse reflectance plate, light reflection path also being coated with mat paint, and a diffuse transmittance plate which is provided at a light radiating side of the reflected light path for making the reflected light uniform whereby the radiation light from the diffuse transmittance plate is irradiated on the leaf. In fabricating the device, the mechanical process for forming a sphere surface as required in an integration sphere can be dispensed with so that the cost for fabrication is low, and the variations in the light intensity are no larger than those in the integration sphere.

Growing community of inventors

Hiroshima, Japan

Nobuhiko Nakamura