The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 28, 2010
Filed:
Dec. 07, 2007
Kenneth L. Cummins, Tucson, AZ (US);
Kenneth L. Cummins, Tucson, AZ (US);
Vaisala OYJ, Helsinki, FI;
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide estimates of soil moisture by measuring the change in electrical conductivity near the surface of the earth using surface-propagated electromagnetic fields. A method is provided for estimating near-surface soil moisture, including measuring signals from an electromagnetic ground wave propagating between one or more receiving element locations, determining a transfer characteristic proportional to an average electrical conductivity between pairs of locations; and determining estimated soil moisture in one or more regions derived from analyzing the determined electrical conductivity between pairs of locations and a predetermined regional relationship between electrical conductivity and soil moisture.