Feasibility of efficient and accurate estimation of cranberry crop yield using microwave sensing

We present an experimental and computational study to investigate the feasibility of microwave radar for non-invasively and accurately estimating fruit yields in cranberry beds prior to harvesting and within agricultural research plots. Dielectric measurements of the fruit and leaves show a significant contrast in the 0.5–7.5 GHz range. Full-wave computational electromagnetics simulations of microwave scattering from random distributions of cranberries show a monotonic increase in cross-polarized backscatter signal strength as a function of fractional cranberry volume. The results provide evidence of the potential of microwave reflectometry for accurate and rapid estimation and spatial mapping of cranberry crop yields.