Continuous monitoring of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) topology based on partial 4D point clouds

Abstract

Since phenomics constitutes a bottleneck in yield improvements, there is a growing need to develop new, automated phenotyping tools. To study plant topological phenotype, the focus was set on three dimensional measurements with the help of a low cost laser range sensor : the Intel RealSense SR300. The use of functional-structural plant modeling was introduced and used to represent plant architecture in a graphical way. The experiment was conducted on basil in a hydroponic system with controlled environment, with the design of a high-throughput phenotyping platform in mind. Such systems are often automated and deliver large quantities of data and results, thus highlighting key-elements of plant physiology easier than ever before. The performance of the phenotyping platform was deemed encouraging. The automated use of the SR300 was explored and opens the way to better performing phenotyping experiments. A calibration method was proposed and measurement quality was not perfect but shows promise, given a few refinements. A plant modeling tool with graphical representation capabilities is introduced, with longterm possibilities for model implementation. This study opens many perspectives in terms of phenotyping applications with the validation of a low-cost 3D sensor and the proposal of a functional structural modeling tool.