Oscillations in Corn Seedling Growth as Measured by Optical Flow

Abstract

Growth of corn seedlings during the coleoptile stage was measured using optical flow. The measurement system was comprised of a digital camera, computer, and related software and measured growth in a continuous, noncontact manner. The use of optical flow to measure shoot elongation, i.e., image motion of the elongating seedling, was most easily computed when there were large spatiotemporal variations of the motion of the corn seedling against the background. The sensitivity of the measurement technique was in the micron per second range. Seedling growth did not occur in a smooth even manner, rather, growth was a series of varying bursts or waves of expansion that appeared to be affected by the physical growth or development of the leaves. Spectral analysis techniques were applied to extract the underlying signal from the observed time series of seedling growth rate and angle.