photo grid: a graphic tool to process aerial images for ...zzlab.net/grid/napb_2019_grid.pdf ·...

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[email protected] Photo GRID: A Graphic Tool to Process Aerial Images for High-Throughput Phenotyping Chunpeng James Chen and Zhiwu Zhang Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA Problems Aerial images have shown their great potential in high- throughput phenotyping, being able to save considerable manual work in the field investigation and accelerate the breeding process. However, to define the area of interest (AOI) from an image, it usually requires intensive time and effort from researchers. The existing analytical software either ask users to draw the area manually or request stringent-defined files before carrying out any further analyses. In this work, we're presenting a python package, GRID (GReenField Image Decoder), that is designed to alleviate above challenges in this type of analyses. Objectives Precision Define area of interest with less background noise including shaded areas. Efficiency Increase the efficiency by providing several built-in algorithms that are commonly used in image analyses. Interactive Wrap the workflow into an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). From this GUI, users can interactively preview the results given different settings in real-time. Acknowledgement This project was in part supported by USDA, DOE, NSF, Washington State University and Washington Grain Commission. Reference 1. Bradski, G. The OpenCV Library. Dr. Dobb’s journal of Software Tools. (2000) 2. Stéfan van der Walt, S. Chris Colbert and Gaël Varoquaux. The NumPy Array: A Structure for Efficient Numerical Computation, Computing in Science & Engineering, 13, 22-30 (2011) http://zzlab.net [email protected] Results / Conclusions To show the performance of GRID, we used number of AOI pixels as predictions on alfalfa biomass from an aerial image (fig. 1a). The AOI defined manually (in QGIS) took around 6 hours to finish and have mild accuracy (R 2 =0.47). Whereas one made by GRID only took seconds and produced much more accurate results (R 2 =0.7). Hence, GRID can not only save researchers’ time but achieve more convincing results. Methods/Interface Figure 1a. Raw image of alfalfa canopy; 1b. Pixel-wise clustering by k-mean clustering; 1c. Assign clusters as vegetation area based on the cluster centers; 1d. Remove background noise and shaded area by 2-d convolutional operations; 1e. Find all the local maxima by comparisons of neighboring values; 1f. Dynamically expand the boundaries from its local maximum point. Figure 2. Interface of GRID. Figure 3. Correlation between alfalfa biomass and prediction learned from manually-defined (Left) and GRID-defined AOI (Right).

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Page 1: Photo GRID: A Graphic Tool to Process Aerial Images for ...zzlab.net/GRID/napb_2019_GRID.pdf · Photo GRID: A Graphic Tool to Process Aerial Images for High-Throughput Phenotyping

[email protected]

Photo GRID: A Graphic Tool to Process Aerial Images for High-Throughput Phenotyping

Chunpeng James Chen and Zhiwu ZhangDepartment of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA

ProblemsAerial images have shown their great potential in high-throughput phenotyping, being able to saveconsiderable manual work in the field investigation andaccelerate the breeding process. However, to define thearea of interest (AOI) from an image, it usually requiresintensive time and effort from researchers. The existinganalytical software either ask users to draw the areamanually or request stringent-defined files beforecarrying out any further analyses. In this work, we'representing a python package,GRID (GReenField Image Decoder),that is designed to alleviate abovechallenges in this type of analyses.

ObjectivesPrecision

Define area of interest with less background noiseincluding shaded areas.

EfficiencyIncrease the efficiency by providing several built-inalgorithms that are commonly used in image analyses.

InteractiveWrap the workflow into an intuitive graphical userinterface (GUI). From this GUI, users can interactivelypreview the results given different settings in real-time.

AcknowledgementThis project was in part supported by USDA, DOE, NSF, Washington State University and Washington Grain Commission.

Reference1. Bradski, G. The OpenCV Library. Dr. Dobb’s journal of Software Tools. (2000)2. Stéfan van der Walt, S. Chris Colbert and Gaël Varoquaux. The NumPy Array: A

Structure for Efficient Numerical Computation, Computing in Science &Engineering, 13, 22-30 (2011)

http://[email protected]

Results / ConclusionsTo show the performance of GRID, we usednumber of AOI pixels as predictions on alfalfabiomass from an aerial image (fig. 1a). The AOIdefined manually (in QGIS) took around 6 hours tofinish and have mild accuracy (R2=0.47). Whereasone made by GRID only took seconds andproduced much more accurate results (R2=0.7).Hence, GRID can not only save researchers’ timebut achieve more convincing results.

Methods/Interface

Figure 1a. Raw image of alfalfa canopy; 1b. Pixel-wiseclustering by k-mean clustering; 1c. Assign clusters asvegetation area based on the cluster centers; 1d. Removebackground noise and shaded area by 2-d convolutionaloperations; 1e. Find all the local maxima by comparisonsof neighboring values; 1f. Dynamically expand theboundaries from its local maximum point.

Figure 2. Interface of GRID.

Figure 3. Correlation between alfalfa biomass and predictionlearned from manually-defined (Left) and GRID-defined AOI (Right).