COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR PROVIDING AT LEAST ONE MIGRATION RISK INDEX

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for providing at least one migration risk index, comprising the steps: providing soil data for a location, comprising at least information on the soil composition at that location (S10); providing weather data for said location, comprising at least historical precipitation data for said location (S20); providing a soil mobility model for a product, wherein the soil mobility model is configured to calculate migration data of the product at said location depending on the soil data and the weather data (S30); and determining at least one migration risk index based on the migration data and being representative of a risk that said product migrates down to a lower soil layer at said location (S40).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing at least one migration risk index, comprising: providing soil data for a location, comprising at least information on the soil composition at that location (S10); providing weather data for said location, comprising at least historical precipitation data for said location (S20); providing a soil mobility model for a product, wherein the soil mobility model is configured to calculate migration data of the product at said location depending on the soil data and the weather data (S30); and determining at least one migration risk index based on the migration data and being representative of a risk that said product migrates down to a lower soil layer at said location (S40).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the migration data comprises at least soil mobility data of the product.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the soil mobility model is based on physical-chemical interaction of the product with the soil and/or degradation characteristics of the product.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the weather data further comprises future precipitation (i.e. precipitation levels over given period) for said location.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the location is part of a field and wherein the field comprises preferably more than one location and/or the location is defined by geographic data, preferably size, shape, geographic coordinates.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the migration risk index comprises at least two stages (e.g. low and high risk).

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining an application rate of the product for the location based on the migration risk index.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the product comprises agrochemicals, preferably pesticides, fungicides, and/or fertilizers.

9. Use of migration risk indexes determined according to the method of claim 1 for generating a migration risk map of a field.

10. Use of migration risk indexes determined according to the method of claim 1 for providing control data for controlling an agricultural equipment, wherein the agricultural equipment is preferably a sprayer vehicle.

11. A system for providing at least one migration risk index, comprising: at least one receiving interface for receiving soil data for a location, comprising at least information on the soil composition at that location; at least one receiving interface for receiving weather data for said location, comprising at least historical precipitation data for said location; at least one processing unit configured to execute a soil mobility model for a product, wherein said soil mobility model is configured to determine migration data of the product at said location depending on the soil data and the weather data; and at least one processing unit configured to determine at least one migration risk index based on the migration data and being representative of a risk that said product migrates down to a lower soil layer.

12. A method for providing a migration risk map of a field, comprising: determining migration risk indexes for locations of a field according to the method of claim 1; and generating a migration risk map based on the determined migration risk indexes (S50).

13. The method according claim 12, further comprising: determining an application rate of said product for the locations of the field; and generating an application rate map of said product for the field based on the determined application rates (S60).

14. Agricultural equipment configured to be controlled by control data generated based on a migration risk map provided by a method according to claim 12.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to carry out the method according claim 12.

16. A method for applying a product onto an agricultural field, comprising: providing control data generated based on a migration risk map provided by the method according to claim 12; and applying a product onto the field using agricultural equipment controlled by the control data.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In the following, the present disclosure is described exemplarily with reference to the enclosed figure, in which

[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic overview of the steps of a method according to the present disclosure; and

[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a sprayer which may be used as agricultural equipment according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a method according to the present disclosure. In the following, an exemplary order of the steps according to the present disclosure is explained. However, the provided order is not mandatory, i.e. all or several steps may be performed in a different order or simultaneously.

[0025] The method described below can be summarized as follows. In a first step soil data for a field are provided. In a next step weather data for the field are provided. In a further step a soil mobility model for a product (e.g. a special herbicide), which shall be applied to the field is provided and wherein the soil mobility model is used to determine migration data of the product (e.g. soil mobility of the product in the soil) based on the soil data and the weather data. In a further step a migration risk index is determined based on the migration data. In a further step a migration risk map is generated based on the determined migration risk indexes. In a further step an application rate map is generated.

[0026] In a step S10, soil data for one or more locations of a field are provided. The soil data may comprise all data which relates to a soil, such as density, soil composition, soil type, soil layer height, number of layers, roughness, diffusion coefficients, humidity, stone content, adhesions forces, humidity storage capacity etc. The soil composition may comprise the different contents of soil types, stones, or other materials, spatial distribution of the contents etc. The soil data may be provided from a data base (e.g. data base of ministry of agriculture) or may be provided from the farmer.

[0027] In a step S20, weather data for the field are provided. Weather data may comprise precipitation values, durations, timings, temperatures, wind flows, sun radiation values and durations and timings etc. The weather data may comprise historical, current and/or future weather data. However, it is preferred that the weather data only comprise historical weather data. The weather data may be provided from a commercial weather data base, national weather services or research institutes.

[0028] In a step S30, a soil mobility model for a product is provided. The soil mobility model calculates migration data of the product at said location depending on the soil data and the weather data. It receives the soil data and the weather data as input and determines an output, i.e. the migration data. The migration data comprises soil mobility and propagation distances of the product in the soil.

[0029] In a step S40 a migration risk index of the product for each location of the field is determined. The migration risk index is based on the migration data and provides a representative risk or probability that said product migrates down to a lower soil layer at said location. To determine the risk or probability for example soil mobility and soil layer height (i.e. distance to transmit in order to reach the ground water) are compared with the degradation time of the product. If the time for transmitting of the soil height is longer than the degradation time of the product, the risk is low otherwise high. Of course there are plenty of parameters which effect the soil mobility and propagation distances of a product and for that reason it should be clear that the above example serves merely for an improved understanding. The migration risk index of a product for a location of a field is an evaluation of the migration data in comparison with circumstances of the location of the field (i.e. soil data and weather data), which comprises interactions to each other.

[0030] In a step S50 a migration risk map of the field is generated. The migration risk map comprises the single migration risk index of the location shows a distribution of the migration risk index over the field. The migration risk map may be provided to a farmer as a basis for further analysis of field in combination with the product or in comparison with other products. The migration risk map may also be further processed to determine control data for agricultural equipment (e.g. a smart sprayer), wherein the control data may comprise limits of the application rates of said product.

[0031] In a step S60 an application rate map is generated. The application rate map comprises limits of the product and further required amounts of the product for the locations of the field. The application rate map serves as control input for agricultural equipment (e.g. a smart sprayer).

[0032] The smart sprayer may have different spray units, wherein different the spray units are independently controlled and apply different rates of the product on the locations of the field based on the current position and the application rate map. The application rate may be determined based on required amounts of the product (i.e. desired application rate), limits due to migration risk index and safety values. Safety values are in the present case distances of the application rate from the limits in order to reduce the risk of a product leaching in the ground water. The application rate map may also serve as analysis basis for the farmer and be displayed for example on a screen of an agricultural vehicle.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a sprayer 20 which may be used as agricultural equipment according to the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a tractor with the sprayer 20 for applying a pesticide such as a herbicide, a fungicide or an insecticide on a field 10 with plants 11. The sprayer 20 may be releasably attached or directly mounted to the tractor. The sprayer 20 comprises a boom with multiple nozzles 22 arranged along the boom of the sprayer 20. The nozzles 22 may be arranged fixed or movable along the boom in regular or irregular intervals. Each nozzle 22 includes a controllable valve to regulate fluid release from the nozzles 22 to the field.

[0035] One or more tank(s) 24 are in fluid connection with the nozzles 22 through pipes 26. Each tank 24 holds one or more component(s) of the fluid mixture to be distributed on the field 10. This may include chemically active or inactive components like a herbicide mixture, components of a herbicide mixture, a selective herbicide for specific weeds, a fungicide, a fungicide mixture, a fungicide and plant growth regulator mixture, a plant growth regulator, water, oil, or the like. Each tank 24 may further comprise a controllable valve to regulate fluid release from the tank 24 to the pipes 26. Such arrangement allows to control the mixture released to the field. A control 28 of the sprayer 20 controls the tank and/or nozzle valves 22 based on the application rate map and/or migration risk map.

[0036] The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with a preferred embodiment as examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims. Notably, in particular the steps S10 to S60 can be performed in any order, i.e. the present invention is not limited to a specific order of these steps. Moreover, it is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or at one place, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at a different place using different equipment/data processing units. In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0037] S10 providing soil data [0038] S20 providing weather data [0039] S30 providing a soil mobility model [0040] S40 determining at least one migration risk index [0041] S50 generating a migration risk map [0042] S60 generating an application rate map [0043] field [0044] 11 plant [0045] sprayer [0046] 22 nozzle [0047] 24 tank [0048] 26 pipe [0049] 28 control