I-Corps: An integrated tool for crop ecosystem monitoring, analysis, and prediction

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一个软件系统，该系统使用卫星光学数据、天气信息和算法来支持作物和草的精确监测、报告和产量预测。 这项技术可以帮助种植者管理他们的作物，以应对气候变化和极端事件，如干旱，热浪和洪水。 拟议的系统可以帮助甘蔗和玉米行业最大限度地提高其生物燃料原料生产。 农业零售商和保险公司也可以从使用该软件工具减少损失和增加销售中受益。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发一个用于作物生态系统监测、分析和预测的综合软件工具，该工具可用于评估、诊断和预测作物状况、产量、用水和土壤健康。 由于农作物生产受多种因素影响，农作物种植者和各种农作物相关业务往往面临中等至高风险的作物产量低或失败。所提出的技术结合了卫星图像、气候数据、建模和机器学习算法以及原位数据，以提供关于作物类型、作物生长条件（例如，绿度、叶面积指数和生物量）、碳和水通量、谷物产量和高空间分辨率（0.025英亩）下的单个作物田的土壤健康。所提出的软件工具已在多个尺度从个别作物领域县，州和区域领域进行了评估。该奖项旨在确定参与农作物产品生产、加工、贸易和消费以及农作物生态系统保护和可持续性的商业合作伙伴和客户。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a software system that uses satellite optical data, weather information, and algorithms to support the precise monitoring, reporting, and yield forecasting of crops and grasses. The proposed technology may help growers to manage their crops in response to climate variation and extreme events such as drought, heatwaves, and flooding. The proposed system may help sugarcane and corn industries to maximize their biofuel feedstock production. Agricultural retailers and insurance companies also may benefit from using this software tool to reduce losses and increase sales. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an integrated software tool for crop ecosystem monitoring, analysis, and prediction, which may be used to assess, diagnose, and predict crop condition, yield, water use, and soil health. As crop production is affected by many factors, crop growers and various crop-related business often face moderate- to high-risk of low crop yield or failure. The proposed technology combines satellite images, climate data, modeling, and machine learning algorithms as well as in situ data to provide data and information on crop types, crop growth conditions (e.g., greenness, leaf area index, and biomass), carbon and water fluxes, grain yield, and soil health over individual crop fields at high spatial resolution (0.025 acre). The proposed software tool has been evaluated across multiple scales from individual crop fields to county, state, and regional fields. The goal is to identify business partners and customers who are involved in the production, processing, trade, and consumption of crop products as well as crop ecosystem conservation and sustainability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.