Systems and methods for plant phenotyping using mechanical manipulation are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for plant phenotyping includes: acquiring a first image of a plant with a first imaging modality operating in a first spectrum; and acquiring a second image of the plant with a second imaging modality operating in a second spectrum. The first spectrum and the second spectrum have different depths of penetration through the plant. The method also includes analyzing the first image and the second image to determine the properties of the plant.

The invention relates to a device for treating soil with electromagnetic radiation, comprising:a magnetron antenna (9) for generating microwave radiation with a relatively high frequency; a wave guide (16) connected to the output of the magnetron antenna (9); downward directed tubular members (18, 19) connected to the wave guide (16);a manifold (17) arranged between the two tubular members (18, 19) and the wave guide (16);a tuner unit (26) arranged on the wave guide (16); andcooling means (22, 22, 22) for cooling the electromagnetic radiation reflected by the soil. The invention also relates to a cable (24) provided with a single high-voltage cable and one or more low-voltage cables and/or a number of optical cables which are arranged in a shared cable. The invention finally relates to a method for disinfecting soil, wherein a magnetron (9) placed on a vehicle is moved over the soil, wherein the radiation reflected by the soil is minimized by tuning the wave guide (16) connected to the magnetron (9), and wherein the minimized reflected radiation is absorbed by a water load which is connected to one or two water tanks (22, 22) which are placed on the vehicle and which hold the temperature of the water within predetermined limits.

The invention relates to a device for treating soil with electromagnetic radiation, comprising:a magnetron antenna (9) for generating microwave radiation with a relatively high frequency; a wave guide (16) connected to the output of the magnetron antenna (9); downward directed tubular members (18, 19) connected to the wave guide (16);a manifold (17) arranged between the two tubular members (18, 19) and the wave guide (16);a tuner unit (26) arranged on the wave guide (16); andcooling means (22, 22, 22) for cooling the electromagnetic radiation reflected by the soil. The invention also relates to a cable (24) provided with a single high-voltage cable and one or more low-voltage cables and/or a number of optical cables which are arranged in a shared cable. The invention finally relates to a method for disinfecting soil, wherein a magnetron (9) placed on a vehicle is moved over the soil, wherein the radiation reflected by the soil is minimized by tuning the wave guide (16) connected to the magnetron (9), and wherein the minimized reflected radiation is absorbed by a water load which is connected to one or two water tanks (22, 22) which are placed on the vehicle and which hold the temperature of the water within predetermined limits.

A plant-soil battery includes a plant body, a soil layer in which the plant body is planted, an anode electrode disposed in the soil layer and including microorganisms that degrade glucose discharged from the plant body to generate electrons, and a cathode electrode disposed in the soil layer to receive the electrons. The plant-soil battery is capable of supplying energy for 24 hours a day, is harmless to the environment, can be easily moved and installed, and has an adjustable generating capacity.

An object is to provide a plant illumination apparatus that can output light having a high degree of circular polarization in the target wavelength range. This object is achieved by having a reflective-type polarizing plate having an effective wavelength range, a light-emitting device, and a reflective plate configured to reflect light emitted from the light-emitting device and satisfying:

1>2,2>3, and w>30 nm

wherein 1 is the center wavelength of the effective wavelength range of the reflective-type polarizing plate, 2 is the center wavelength of the light-emitting device, w is the full width at half maximum of the transmittance of the reflective-type polarizing plate, and 3 is the shorter wavelength of the wavelengths at the full width at half maximum.

Technologies for assessing a disease risk include receiving a geographical area of a geospatial unit defined by a user of the computing device, receiving input variables associated with the geospatial unit from one or more input sources of the computing device, determining a disease risk by performing a modeled disease risk assessment as a function of the input variables and a set of predefined variables, generating a visual representation that illustrates the disease risk of plants at the geospatial unit based on the modeled disease risk assessment, outputting the visual representation on the computing device, and transmitting, in response to determining that the disease risk exceeds a predefined threshold, a notification to a user of the computing device indicating that the geospatial unit is at risk.

Technologies for assessing a disease risk include receiving a geographical area of a geospatial unit defined by a user of the computing device, receiving input variables associated with the geospatial unit from one or more input sources of the computing device, determining a disease risk by performing a modeled disease risk assessment as a function of the input variables and a set of predefined variables, generating a visual representation that illustrates the disease risk of plants at the geospatial unit based on the modeled disease risk assessment, outputting the visual representation on the computing device, and transmitting, in response to determining that the disease risk exceeds a predefined threshold, a notification to a user of the computing device indicating that the geospatial unit is at risk.

A computer-implemented method comprises the steps of using a processor to calculate, for a current calendar date, an initial growing degree day (GDD) warmth value based at least in part upon a past GDD warmth value for a calendar date in a previous year corresponding to the current calendar date; calculate a present GDD warmth value; calculate a deviation value from at least the initial GDD warmth value and the present GDD warmth value; calculate for a future calendar date a future growing degree day (GDD) warmth value based at least in part upon a past GDD warmth value for a calendar date in a previous year corresponding to the future calendar date; and determine a predicted GDD warmth value for the future calendar date by applying the deviation value to the future GDD warmth value. An apparatus to perform the method is also disclosed.

A computer-implemented method comprises the steps of using a processor to calculate, for a current calendar date, an initial growing degree day (GDD) warmth value based at least in part upon a past GDD warmth value for a calendar date in a previous year corresponding to the current calendar date; calculate a present GDD warmth value; calculate a deviation value from at least the initial GDD warmth value and the present GDD warmth value; calculate for a future calendar date a future growing degree day (GDD) warmth value based at least in part upon a past GDD warmth value for a calendar date in a previous year corresponding to the future calendar date; and determine a predicted GDD warmth value for the future calendar date by applying the deviation value to the future GDD warmth value. An apparatus to perform the method is also disclosed.

A multi-sensor device comprises a housing containing multiple sensor modules for capturing and transmitting sensor data for plants in a crop. A control unit within the housing is operable to control the sensor modules, and a communications interface is connected to the control unit for transmitting data from said plurality of sensor modules. The sensor modules can include a physiological sensor, a surface analysis sensor, and chemical sensor. The multi-sensor device can be used as a hand-held device or mounted to a mobile platform for use in an automated crop monitoring system.