Patent ID: 11915366
Assignee: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  A | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A method, comprising:
creating 3D models of an orchard with multiple plants in the form of a densified point cloud using oblique aerial RGB imaging and photogrammetry;
identifying and segmenting individual plants of the orchard from the 3D models;
simulating sunlight radiation of each plant in the 3D models;
determining a shading effect of branches and neighboring plants on each individual plant at any time of the day;
determining canopy light interception of each plant;
extracting and analyzing canopy profile features of each plant in the 3D models;
forecasting potential yield of each plant based on the measured canopy light interception;
calculating nitrogen and water requirements of each plant based on the potential yield and other predetermined field, environmental and climate factors; and
providing a measured actual yield for each plant to validate yield forecasting by canopy light interception data.