A swathe (; rhymes with "bathe") or swath (; rhymes with "cloth") is the width of a

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agriculture, agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It is historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely ...

stroke or a mowing-machine blade, the path of this width made in mowing or the mown grass or grain lying on such a path. The mower with a scythe moves along the mowing-edge with the uncut grass to the right and the cut grass laid in a neat row to the left, on the previously mown land. The swathe width depends on the blade length, the nature of the crop and the mower but is usually about 1.5 metres wide. Mowing may be done by a team of mowers, usually starting at the edges of a

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

then proceeding clockwise leaving a series of staggered swathes and finishing in the middle. The mower swings the scythe steadily in long, left handed arcs ending in front of the mower and depositing the cut grass neatly to the left. The mower takes a small step forward and repeats the motion, proceeding with a steady rhythm, stopping at frequent intervals to hone the blade. The correct technique has a slicing action on the grass, cutting a narrow strip, leaving a uniform stubble on the ground and forming a regular

windrow A windrow is a row of cut (mown) hay or small grain crop. It is allowed to dry before being baled, combined, or rolled. For hay, the windrow is often formed by a hay rake, which rakes hay that has been cut by a mowing machine or by scythe into ...

on the left. The scythe has generally been replaced by machinery such as the

swather A swather (North America), or windrower (Australia and rest of world), is a farm implement that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a windrow for drying. They may be self-propelled with an engine, or drawn by a tractor and ...

pictured, or

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations— reaping, threshing, gathering, and win ...

which still leaves a swathe to its left but is very much wider than the scythe. Early in the introduction of machinery, it was still necessary for mowers with scythes to open up a swathe wide enough to take the machine before it could start.

Swath width

By analogy, Swath width also refers to the width of any repetitively cut or treated strip. For example, the strip of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

’s surface from which geographic data are collected by a moving vehicle such as a

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

, aircraft or ship in the course of swath mapping. The

longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...

extent of the swath is defined by the motion of the vehicle with respect to the surface, whereas the swath width is measured perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of the swath. Swath width is also cited in the context of

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

specifications. It is measured and represented in metres or kilometres. Rardiagdrp

References

Agricultural terminology Geologic maps Remote sensing {{Measurement-stub