Scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service have patented a way to transform commercial digital cameras to produce color infrared aerial photos that can measure the extent of vegetative cover.
USDA has jointly patented the technology that can take an ordinary 12-megapixel camera sold without an internal filter that blocks near-infrared (NIR) light and then add a custom-made lens filter to block red light and transmit NIR.
The patented method allows photographing with light in the NIR, green and blue bands, which are used to measure the “greenness” of vegetation and extent of crop canopy cover. There is no need for further processing, so the images are available immediately upon landing. The cameras are also lighter and more compact than the traditional larger format cameras used for aerial infrared photography.
It’s that time of year again and growers are beginning to pull combines out of the shed to begin preparing for harvest. Making sure your yield monitor is ready should be a step in this important process as yield data is essential to precision agriculture; the data can be used to create variable rate prescriptions, identify spots where tiling may be beneficial, or to make management decisions for the next growing season. Remember, you are not just harvesting your crops anymore – you are also harvesting data.
When farmers want to increase their yields – and what farmer doesn’t? – they really need a systems based approach to maximizing what they get from every acre, and that is what 
