A method for determining a quality condition of an agricultural product comprises: receiving a received light at a light detector, the received light comprising reflected, scattered, refracted, and/or deflected light from the agricultural product; transmitting the received light to a spectrometer; producing agricultural product (AP) spectral data of the received light using the spectrometer; with a computer in electrical communication with the spectrometer, comparing the AP spectral data to reference spectral data to determine whether the agricultural product has the quality condition, the reference spectral data corresponding to known quality conditions of the agricultural product; and with the computer, generating an output signal corresponding to the quality condition of the agricultural product.

Solar spectral irradiance (SSI) measurements are important for solar collector/photovoltaic panel efficiency and solar energy resource assessment as well as being important for scientific meteorological/climate observations and material testing research. To date such measurements have exploited modified diffraction grating based scientific instruments which are bulky, expensive, and with low mechanical integrity for generalized deployment. A compact and cost-effective tool for accurately determining the global solar spectra as well as the global horizontal or tilted irradiances as part of on-site solar resource assessments and module performance characterization studies would be beneficial. An instrument with no moving parts for mechanical and environment stability in open field, non-controlled deployments could exploit software to resolve the global, direct and diffuse solar spectra from its measurements within the 280-4000 nm spectral range, in addition to major atmospheric processes, such as air mass, Rayleigh scattering, aerosol extinction, ozone and water vapor absorptions.

A method for estimating soil properties within a field using hyperspectral remotely sensed data is provided. In an embodiment, estimating soil properties may be accomplished using a server computer system that receives, via a network, soil spectrum data records that are used to predict soil properties for a specific geo-location. Within the server computer system a soil preprocessing module receives one or more soil spectrum data records that represent a mean soil spectrum of a specific geo-location of a specified area of land. The soil preprocessing module then removes interference signals from the soil spectrum data, creating a set of one or more spectral bands. By removing interference signals, the spectral bands are not erroneously skewed from effects such as baseline drift, particle deviation, and surface heterogeneity. A soil regression module inputs the one or more soil spectral bands and predicts soil property datasets. The soil property datasets include specific soil properties relevant to determining fertility of the soil or soil property levels that may influence soil management at a specific geo-location. The soil regression module then takes the multiple soil property datasets and selects multiple specific soil property datasets that best represent the existing soil properties. Included in the soil property datasets are the multiple soil properties predicted and the spectral band data used to determine the specific soil properties. The soil regression module sends this predicted data to a soil model database.

Solar spectral irradiance (SSI) measurements are important for solar collector/photovoltaic panel efficiency and solar energy resource assessment as well as being important for scientific meteorological/climate observations and material testing research. To date such measurements have exploited modified diffraction grating based scientific instruments which are bulky, expensive, and with low mechanical integrity for generalized deployment. A compact and cost-effective tool for accurately determining the global solar spectra as well as the global horizontal or tilted irradiances as part of on-site solar resource assessments and module performance characterization studies would be beneficial. An instrument with no moving parts for mechanical and environment stability in open field, non-controlled deployments could exploit software to resolve the global, direct and diffuse solar spectra from its measurements within the 280-4000 nm spectral range, in addition to major atmospheric processes, such as air mass, Rayleigh scattering, aerosol extinction, ozone and water vapour absorptions.

Systems and methods spectrally and radiometrically calibrate an optical spectrum detected with a color-image sensor of an optical spectrometer. When the color-image sensor includes a Bayer filter, the red-peaked, green-peaked, and blue-peaked spectral responses of the color filters forming the Bayer filter may be used to identify unique spectral signatures in the red, green, and blue color channels. These spectral signatures may be used to associate calibration wavelengths to the pixel locations of the color-image sensor where the spectral signatures are observed. A fitted model may then be used to associate a wavelength to each pixel location of the color-image sensor. These systems and methods account for translational shifts of the optical spectrum on the color-image sensor induced by optical image stabilization, and thus may aid optical spectrometry utilizing a digital camera in a smartphone or tablet computer.

The present invention relates to a system for in-situ measurement of an apparent spectrum of a water body. The system comprises a floating device, and an optical sensing and conduction device, an electronic measurement device, a control circuit and a power supply device which are loaded on the floating device. The floating device comprises a floating body ring and an optical probe mounting frame which is provided on the floating body ring in a direction perpendicular to a ring surface. The optical probe mounting frame comprises a vertical mounting assembly and a horizontal connecting assembly. The horizontal connecting assembly is provided radially along the ring shape of the floating body ring, one end of the horizontal connecting assembly being connected to the vertical mounting assembly, and the other end thereof being connected to the floating body ring, such that the vertical mounting assembly is overhung outside the ring surface of the floating body ring, and meanwhile a vertical projection of the vertical mounting assembly is located in the center of the ring surface. A ratio of an inner diameter to an outer diameter of the floating body ring is 0.80 to 0.85. The floating body ring is provided with a water-tight cavity which provides flotage for the whole floating device and used for loading a necessary electronic device and a necessary power supply assembly. An optical probe is vertically mounted on the optical probe mounting frame. The device for in-situ observation of the apparent spectrum of the water body disclosed by the present invention may be used for directly measuring a water-leaving radiance L.sub.w of the water body, and can furthest reduce the method defects, personal errors and device errors. The precision of a remote sensing reflectivity R.sub.rs finally observed of the water body is improved remarkably, and the operations are simple.

Solar spectral irradiance (SSI) measurements are important for solar collector/photovoltaic panel efficiency and solar energy resource assessment as well as being important for scientific meteorological/climate observations and material testing research. To date such measurements have exploited modified diffraction grating based scientific instruments which are bulky, expensive, and with low mechanical integrity for generalized deployment. A compact and cost-effective tool for accurately determining the global solar spectra as well as the global horizontal or tilted irradiances as part of on-site solar resource assessments and module performance characterization studies would be beneficial. An instrument with no moving parts for mechanical and environment stability in open field, non-controlled deployments could exploit software to resolve the global, direct and diffuse solar spectra from its measurements within the 280-4000 nm spectral range, in addition to major atmospheric processes, such as air mass, Rayleigh scattering, aerosol extinction, ozone and water vapor absorptions.

A method and apparatus for inspecting utility scale wind turbine generator blades from the ground includes a digital camera and an adjustable polarizing filter on a stable platform. The camera is used to record multiple digital images with varying polarization angles using an artificial polarized or polarized solar illumination to produce images with the same or similar registration but different polarization angles, followed by image processing using subtraction or absolute difference routines to yield high resolution, high contrast images with reduced glare and excellent surface definition over the field of view.

A chlorophyll fluorescence measuring system having at least one spectrometer coupled to a data logger. The data logger provides direct control of the spectrometer and includes on-board memory for storage of target and reference spectrum data obtained by the spectrometer. The data logger may be coupled to an external computer that receives and analyzes target and reference spectrum data to determine SIF using a spectral fitting algorithm. The system may include a spectrometer aiming system coupled to and controlled by the data logger. The system may also include one or more environmental sensors configured to measure environment variables. The environmental sensors may be coupled to the data logger for control and data storage. The environmental data may be communicated to the external computer for use in the spectral fitting algorithm. The data logger may be connected to a network for remote monitoring and control.

Solar spectral irradiance (SSI) measurements are important for solar collector/photovoltaic panel efficiency and solar energy resource assessment as well as being important for scientific meteorological/climate observations and material testing research. To date such measurements have exploited modified diffraction grating based scientific instruments which are bulky, expensive, and with low mechanical integrity for generalized deployment. A compact and cost-effective tool for accurately determining the global solar spectra as well as the global horizontal or tilted irradiances as part of on-site solar resource assessments and module performance characterization studies would be beneficial. An instrument with no moving parts for mechanical and environment stability in open field, non-controlled deployments could exploit software to resolve the global, direct and diffuse solar spectra from its measurements within the 280-4000 nm spectral range, in addition to major atmospheric processes, such as air mass, Rayleigh scattering, aerosol extinction, ozone and water vapour absorptions.