Research Technician Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Disclosure: Disclosure information not submitted.
The collection of phenomic trait data from field-based trials presents many challenges in terms of sensor optimization, soil compaction, and temporal differences in target traits. The PlotCam is a handheld phenomics platform equipped with infrared and RGB cameras, and sensors for incoming light, ambient temperature and canopy height . A single PlotCam unit can collect data on 200 plots an hour. To increase the rate of data collection a second unit was deployed in the summer of 2019. An RCBD field trial with 4 replications was designed to ground truth image data collected using the PlotCam. Manual growth analysis was used to measure biomass collected from 2 soybean varieties over 10 sampling dates. Data was collected with two PlotCams in this trial to test for sensor error between the two units. The RGB images were segmented to remove background pixels and estimate the VC (Vegetative Cover). There were no significant differences in VC between the two PlotCam units (p >0.05). The Estimated Green Biomass (EGB) was calculated from VC and plot height (in mm). There was a linear relationship between EGB and actual biomass, with EGB being consistently higher. Similar results were obtained using a single PlotCam unit in wheat. These relationships will be used to develop equations for predicting biomass in soybean and wheat.
