Patent Publication Number: US-2018042190-A1

Title: Water irrigation restriction violation system and associated methods

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of water irrigation, and more particularly, to a water irrigation restriction violation system to determine when water irrigation restrictions are violated, and related methods. 
     BACKGROUND 
     One of the main purposes of water irrigation is to grow crops. Unlike some states in the Midwest, certain geographic regions in California, for example, do not receive enough rain during the summer. This makes water irrigation a necessity. 
     Agricultural irrigation districts in California utilize local rivers, and store the water in reservoirs. The irrigation season usually runs from approximately March 15 to October 15, depending on the weather and water supplies. 
     Even in geographical regions other than in California, severe drought is causing local governmental jurisdictions to issue water irrigation restrictions. Water irrigation restrictions are typically in the form of allowed or not allowed watering days of the week, and/or times of the day. 
     Discovery of water irrigation restriction violations is difficult due to the large land areas involved and the transient nature of “wet” soil. One approach is for local authorities to use drones to patrol the geographical regions subjected to water irrigation restrictions. A drawback of using drones is that it is cost prohibitive to provide around the clock aerial coverage due to manpower and equipment costs. 
     Another aerial approach is to use satellites. Even though the use of satellites may be economically viable, a drawback is that the same geographical region is not observed often enough. Soil surfaces may dry between satellite passes, for example. In addition, the spatial resolution of the satellites is typically too coarse. 
     Consequently, there is a need to help governmental jurisdictions to discourage local agribusinesses from violating water irrigation restrictions. 
     SUMMARY 
     A water irrigation restriction violation system includes at least one geostationary satellite configured to collect soil surface moisture data and rain data a plurality of times in a given day for a geographic region. The water irrigation restriction violation system may further include a processor and a memory coupled thereto and configured to store water irrigation restrictions for a plurality of governmental jurisdictions for the geographic region, and receive the soil surface moisture data and rain data from the at least one geostationary satellite. A water irrigation restriction violation may then be determined based upon the stored water irrigation restrictions and the received soil surface moisture data and rain data. A violation notification may be sent to a corresponding governmental jurisdiction for the determined water irrigation restriction violation. 
     The soil surface moisture data and rain data may be based on images obtained by the geostationary satellite. The images may have a spatial resolution of 0.5 to 2 km, for example. The geostationary satellite may comprise at least one infrared image sensor and at least one visible light image sensor to collect the soil surface moisture data and rain data. The geostationary satellite may collect the soil surface moisture data at least every 15 minutes. 
     Areas of the geographic region subjected to water irrigation restrictions may now be viewed by the geostationary satellite on a routine basis with short time periods between each viewing, and with good spatial resolution, so that wet soil can advantageously be observed before the top layer dries out. The violation notifications received by governmental jurisdictions may be used to discourage local agribusinesses from violating water irrigation restrictions. 
     The processor may determine the water irrigation restriction violation by at least determining an exceedance of the soil surface moisture data relative to a soil surface moisture threshold; determining, based upon the rain data, when irrigation, not rain, caused the exceedance; determining a day of the exceedance caused by irrigation and not rain; and comparing the day of the exceedance to the water irrigation restrictions. The soil surface moisture threshold may be qualitative or quantitative. 
     The processor may further determine the water irrigation restriction violation by at least determining a time-of-day of the exceedance caused by irrigation and not rain; and comparing the time-of-day of the exceedance to the water irrigation restrictions. 
     The violation notification may include an image of the geographical region where the determined water irrigation restriction violations occurred. The violation notification may further includes a data and a time-of-day associated with the image. 
     The water irrigation restrictions may be based on dates and times-of-day. The geostationary satellite may comprise a geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES). More particularly, the geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES) may comprise an R series geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES-R). 
     Another aspect is directed to a water irrigation restriction violation system comprising an interface configured to receive from at least one geostationary satellite soil surface moisture data and rain data a plurality of times in a given day for a geographic region. The water irrigation restriction violation processing system may also comprise a processor and a memory coupled thereto and configured to perform the steps as described above. 
     Yet another aspect is directed to a method for operating the water irrigation restriction violation system as discussed above. The method comprises collecting soil surface moisture data and rain data from at least one geostationary satellite a plurality of times in a given day for a geographic region. The method may further include storing water irrigation restrictions for a plurality of governmental jurisdictions for the geographic region, and receiving the soil surface moisture data and rain data from the at least one geostationary satellite. A water irrigation restriction violation may be determined based upon the stored water irrigation restrictions and the received soil surface moisture data and rain data. A violation notification is sent to a corresponding governmental jurisdiction for the determined water irrigation restriction violation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of a water irrigation restriction violation system for a geographic region in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIGS. 2-4  are schematic perspective views illustrating different conditions of the geographic region in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating operation of the water irrigation restriction violation system in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed flowchart illustrating operation of the processor in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and prime notation is used to indicate similar elements. 
     Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , a water irrigation restriction violation system  20  will be discussed. The water irrigation restriction violation system  20  includes at least one geostationary satellite  30  to regularly collect soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58  throughout a given day for a geographic region  40 , and a ground-based water irrigation restriction violation system  50  for processing the collected soil surface moisture data and rain data. 
     The ground-based water irrigation restriction violation system  50  includes a processor  52  and a memory  54  coupled to the processor. The processor  52  and memory  54  are configured to store water irrigation restrictions  56  for a number of different governmental jurisdictions  60  for the geographic region  40 , receive the soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58  from the geostationary satellite  30 , determine a water irrigation restriction violation based upon the stored water irrigation restrictions  56  and the received soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58 , and send a violation notification  62  to a corresponding governmental jurisdiction  60  for the determined water irrigation restriction violation. 
     The illustrated geostationary satellite  30  collects the soil surface moisture data and rain data  58  least every 15 minutes, for example, and at a spatial resolution of 0.5 to 2 km, for example. The geostationary satellite  30  includes at least one infrared image sensor  32  and at least one visible light image sensor  34  to provide images of the geographical region  40 . 
     Areas of the geographic region  40  subjected to water irrigation restrictions may now be viewed by the geostationary satellite  30  on a routine basis with short time periods between each viewing, and with good spatial resolution, so that wet soil can advantageously be observed before the top layer dries out. The violation notifications  62  received by governmental jurisdictions  60  may be used to discourage local agribusinesses from violating water irrigation restrictions. 
     The illustrated geostationary satellite  30  may be a geostationary operational environmental satellite-R series (GOES-R) spacecraft, which is scheduled to be launched in 2016. The GOES spacecraft is for imaging earth&#39;s weather, oceans and environment. The GOES-R spacecraft provides three times more spectral information, four times the spatial resolution, and more than five times faster temporal coverage than the current GOES spacecraft. In addition, other series of GOES spacecraft are scheduled to be launched into orbit. An S series is scheduled to be launched in 2017, a T series is scheduled to be launched in 2019, and a U series is scheduled to be launched in 2025. Other spacecraft, now in the planning stages, may also include hyperspectral information with hundreds of times more spectral information than the current imagers. 
     The water irrigation restriction violation system  20  is not limited to the GOES series spacecraft. Other environmental satellites providing similar temporal resolution and spatial resolution may be used, as readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. 
     The GOES-R spacecraft includes an advanced baseline imager (ABI) to view the earth with  16  different spectral bands. The  16  different spectral bands include 2 visible channels, 4 near-infrared channels, and 10 infrared channels. 
     More particularly, the ABI is a passive imaging radiometer designed to observe the western hemisphere and provide variable area imagery and radiometric information of the earth&#39;s surface, atmosphere and cloud cover. The ABI will be used for a wide range of applications related to weather, oceans, lands, climate and hazards. 
     The ABI has 2 scan modes. One mode is the full disk (FD) scan mode which continuously takes an image of the western hemisphere every 5 to 15 minutes and at a spatial resolution of 0.5 to 2 km. Another mode is the flex mode, which will concurrently take a FD image every 15 minutes, an image of the continental U.S. every 5 minutes, and smaller, more detailed images of areas where storm activity is present, as often as every 30 seconds. The flex mode also has a spatial resolution of 0.5 to 2 km. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the geographic region  40  includes a water irrigation system  42 . The water irrigation system  42  includes a water irrigation pump  44  that provides water  48  to irrigation lines  46  coupled to the water irrigation pump. Operation of the water irrigation system  42  may be based on water irrigation restrictions  56  as determined by a government municipality or jurisdiction  60 . The water irrigation restrictions  56  are based on dates and times-of-day. The dates include allowed and not allowed watering days, and the times-of-day include allowed and not allowed watering times. 
     As noted above, the geostationary satellite  30  collects soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58  a number of times in a given day for the geographic region  40 . For a GOES-R spacecraft, the soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58  may be collected every 5 to 15 minutes and at a spatial resolution of 0.5 to 2 km. 
     The soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58  are based on images received by the geostationary satellite  30 . The visible light imager  34  carried by the geostationary satellite  30  provides black and white photographs of the geographic region  40 . Clouds  70  usually appear white, while land and water surfaces of the geographic region  40  appear in shades of gray and black. Pixel intensity values of the received images are used to provide the soil surface moisture data  57 , as readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. 
     The visible light imager  34  senses reflected solar radiation. Clouds, the earth&#39;s atmosphere, and the earth&#39;s surface all absorb and reflect incoming solar radiation. Since visible imagery is produced by reflected sunlight, it is only available during daylight. 
     One of the advantages of visible imagery is that it has a higher resolution (about 0.5 km) than infrared images (about 2 km), so smaller features can be distinguished. The pixel intensity values of the different shades of gray and black in the received images are used by the processor  52  to estimate the soil surface moisture data  57  for the geographic region  40 . The soil surface moisture threshold may be qualitative or quantitative. 
     The infrared imager  32  carried by the geostationary satellite  30  senses energy as heat. The earth&#39;s surface absorbs about half of the incoming solar energy. Clouds and the atmosphere absorb a much smaller amount. The earth&#39;s surface, clouds, and the atmosphere then re-emit part of this absorbed solar energy as heat. The infrared images provided by the infrared imager  32  are thus based on the re-emitted radiation. 
     As with the visible imagery, the pixel intensity values of the different shades of gray and black in the infrared imagery are used to estimate the soil surface moisture data  57 . One of the advantages of infrared imagery is that it is available at night as well as being available in the daylight. Consequently, the infrared imagery is available throughout the day and night. The pixel intensity values of different shades of gray and black of the individual bands in the received images as well as combinations of bands by the server  52  are used by the processor  52  to estimate the soil surface moisture data  57  (either qualitative or quantitative) for the geographic region  40 . 
     The rain data  58  for the geographic region  40  is separate from the soil surface moisture data  57 , and is based on the detection of clouds. The rain data  58  may be subdivided by cloud type, as indicated by selected brightness temperature differences, as readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. For example, there are water clouds, ice clouds, and cold-top convective clouds, each with their selected brightness temperature differences. 
     The rain data  58  may also account for differences in the relationship between cloud-top properties and rainfall rate. The amount of rain data  58  may be based on the number of pixels with non-zero rain rates. 
     For discussion purposes, the GOES-R spacecraft includes a rainfall rate algorithm based on a self-calibrating multivariate precipitation retrieval (SCaMPR). The rainfall rate algorithm calibrates predictors against rainfall rates and then applies the resulting relationships to the collected data to provide rainfall estimates that are continuously available but more accurate than estimates based on IR data with a fixed calibration. 
     The ground-based water irrigation restriction violation system  50  illustrated in  FIG. 1  includes an interface  80  to receive the images obtained by the geostationary satellite  30 . The interface  80  is coupled to the processor  52 . In one embodiment, the interface  80  is a satellite receiver coupled to a dish antenna  82 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Alternatively, the interface  80  may be coupled to the Internet or a telephone line, for example. 
     The processor  52  and the memory  54  form a server  84 . The collected soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58  are stored in the memory  54 . The water irrigation restrictions  56  for the different governmental jurisdictions of the geographic region  40  are also stored in the memory  54 . 
     The water irrigation restriction violation processing system  50  may further include a display  86  to display images received by the satellite receiver  80  and processed by the processor  52 . The processor  52  executes an algorithm  53  in real time to determine a water irrigation restriction violation based upon the stored water irrigation restrictions  56  and the collected soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data  58 . 
     A violation notification  62  is sent to a corresponding governmental jurisdiction  60  for the determined water irrigation restriction violation. More particularly, the illustrated violation notification  62  is received by a work station  61  at the corresponding governmental jurisdiction  60 . Each governmental jurisdiction  60  will have its own work station  61 . The violation notification  62  may further include images of the geographical region  40  where the determined water irrigation restriction violation occurred. The images may also have a date and a time-of-day associated therewith. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2-5 , a method for operating the water irrigation restriction violation system  20  as discussed above will be discussed. Operation of the water irrigation restriction violation system  20  takes into account different conditions of the geographic region  40 . Each of the different conditions effects the collected soil surface moisture data  57  and rain data for the geographic region  40 , as readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the water irrigation system  42  is on and no rain is present. Another condition for the geographic region  40 ′ is for the water irrigation system  42 ′ to be off and no rain is present, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Another condition for the geographic region  40 ″ is for the water irrigation system  42 ″ to be off and rain is present, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . Yet another condition for the geographic region  40 ′″ is for the water irrigation system  42 ′″ to be on and rain is present, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     Referring now to the flowchart  100  in  FIG. 5 , the method comprises, from the start (Block  102 ), determining an exceedance of the soil surface moisture data  57  relative to a soil surface moisture threshold at Block  104 . The method includes determining, based upon the rain data  58 , when irrigation, not rain, caused the exceedance at Block  106 . A day of the exceedance caused by irrigation and not rain is determined at Block  108 . The day of the exceedance is compared to the water irrigation restrictions  56  at Block  110 . The method may further include determining a time-of-day of the exceedance caused by irrigation and not rain at Block  112 . The time-of-day of the exceedance is compared to the water irrigation restrictions at Block  114 . The method ends at Block  116 . 
     A flowchart  200  directed to an algorithm  53  executed by the processor  52  to determine a water irrigation restriction violation will be discussed in reference to  FIG. 6 . From the start (Block  102 ), a determination is made at Block  204  if the soil surface moisture data  57  exceeds a soil surface moisture threshold. If the threshold is exceeded, then a determination is made if the rain data  58  caused exceedance of the soil surface moisture threshold. If the rain data  58  did not cause exceedance of the soil surface moisture threshold, then a day the soil surface moisture data  57  was collected is determined at Block  208 . 
     The day is compared at Block  210  to the water irrigation restrictions  56 , with the water irrigation restrictions being based on allowed and not allowed watering days. If the day is a not allowed watering day, then a violation notification  62  will be generated. Otherwise, if the day is an allowed watering day, then a time the soil surface moisture data  57  was collected is determined at Block  212 . 
     The time is compared to the water irrigation restrictions  56  at Block  214 , with the water irrigation restrictions being further based on allowed and not allowed watering times. If the time is not an allowed watering time, then a violation notification  62  will not be generated. Otherwise, if the time is an allowed watering time, then a violation notification  62  will not be generated. The process ends at Block  216 . 
     Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.