Real-time approaches for characterization of fully and partially scanned canopies in groves

Abstract

Efficient information management in orchard characterization leads to more efficient agricultural processes. In this brief, a set of computational geometry methods are presented and evaluated for orchard characterization; in particular, for the estimation of canopy volume and shape in groves and orchards using a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensor mounted on an agricultural service unit. The proposed approaches were evaluated and validated in the field, showing they are convergent in the estimation process and that they are able to estimate the crown volume for fully scanned canopies in real time; for partially observed tree crowns, accuracy decreases up to 30% (the worst case). The latter is the major contribution of this brief since it implies that the automated service unit does not need to cover all alley-ways for an accurate modeling of the orchard, thus saving valuable resources.

The authors would like to thank to CONICYT (Chile): FONDECYT Grant 1140575 and Basal Grant FB0008. Also, this research was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the European Union through the FEDER funds (projects Optidosa-AGL2007-66093-C04-03 and Safespray-AGL2010-22304-C04-03).