Patent ID: 7742862

Claim:
A method for estimating an agricultural management parameter, the method comprising: collecting environmental data associated with at least one field for growing a crop in a particular location, where the collecting is accomplished via a removable weather module on an off-road vehicle in a mobile state while applying an agricultural input, planting, harvesting the crop, or performing another work task and via the removable weather module detached from the vehicle when the vehicle is in a rest state, the removable weather module having one or more sensors and the vehicle associated with a location-determining receiver; compensating for vehicle motion in estimating wind speed data as the collected environmental data in the mobile state; transmitting the collected environmental data to a data processing system; determining whether a sample size of the collected environmental data for a geographic area meets or exceeds a minimum threshold; responsive to a determination that the sample size is less than the minimum threshold, collecting additional environmental data associated with the at least one field for growing the crop in the particular location, transmitting the additional environmental data to the data processing system to form a new sample size, and determining whether the new sample size meets or exceeds a minimum threshold; responsive to a determination that at least one of the sample size and the new sample size meets or exceeds the minimum threshold, applying the collected environmental data to an agronomic model for estimating an agricultural management parameter for the geographic area, where the agronomic model comprises evapotranspiration for the crop; and making available a prescription for application of an agricultural input to a crop in the particular location consistent with the collected environmental data and the agronomic model.