Imagine All the Plants: Evaluation of a Light-Field Camera for On-Site Crop Growth Monitoring

Robert Schima,Ines Merbach,Görres Grenzdörffer,Angela Lausch,Jan Bumberger,Peter Dietrich,Hannes Mollenhauer

doi:10.3390/rs8100823

Robert Schima, Ines Merbach + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8100823

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Abstract

The desire to obtain a better understanding of ecosystems and process dynamics in nature accentuates the need for observing these processes in higher temporal and spatial resolutions. Linked to this, the measurement of changes in the external structure and phytomorphology of plants is of particular interest. In the fields of environmental research and agriculture, an inexpensive and field-applicable on-site imaging technique to derive three-dimensional information about plants and vegetation would represent a considerable improvement upon existing monitoring strategies. This is particularly true for the monitoring of plant growth dynamics, due to the often cited lack of morphological information. To this end, an innovative low-cost light-field camera, the Lytro LF (Light-Field), was evaluated in a long-term field experiment. The experiment showed that the camera is suitable for monitoring plant growth dynamics and plant traits while being immune to ambient conditions. This represents a decisive contribution for a variety of monitoring and modeling applications, as well as for the validation of remote sensing data. This strongly confirms and endorses the assumption that the light-field camera presented in this study has the potential to be a light-weight and easy to use measurement tool for on-site environmental monitoring and remote sensing purposes.

Highlights

Global warming, a growing world population and a rising demand for food and energy means that new management strategies, not the least of which in the field of precision agriculture and environmental research, are required [1]
Canopy measurements based on RGB cameras are common, here, it should be noted that the images acquired by the Lytro LF are processed and computed using internal algorithms
Laboratory tests with a calibration grid have pointed out that images acquired by the Lytro LF show negligible lens distortion and can be compared to rectified images, which is advantageous for photogrammetry or machine vision purposes

Summary

Introduction

A growing world population and a rising demand for food and energy means that new management strategies, not the least of which in the field of precision agriculture and environmental research, are required [1]. In order to provide recommendations for action and political guidance in a changing world, it is necessary to assess the impacts of climate change and process dynamics in nature with the best possible accuracy and with respect to the inhomogeneity of ecosystems. This especially concerns plant growth and harvest yields in agriculture or adaption strategies for different types of land utilization under changing climate conditions [3]. 2016, 8, 823 predominantly simulated and measured in small laboratory or pilot-scaled experiments, such as in isolated chambers or greenhouse tests Examples of such extensive surveys are provided by [4,5]

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