Development of an automated pigmentation phenotyping and low- cost
multispectral imaging system
Abstract
Canopy imaging is a non-invasive phenotyping approach to quantify
parameters such as canopy size, stress symptoms, and pigment
concentrations. Unlike destructive measurements, canopy imaging is fast
and easy. However, analysis of the images can be time consuming. To
facilitate large-scale use of imaging, the cost of imaging systems needs
to be reduced and the analysis needs to be automated. We developed
low-cost imaging systems using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, equipped
with a monochrome camera and filter, at a total hardware cost of
~$500. The latest version of our imaging system takes
images under blue, green, red, and infra-red light, as well as images of
chlorophyll fluorescence. The system uses a Python-based program to
collect and analyze images automatically. The multi-spectral imaging
system separates plant from background using the chlorophyll
fluorescence image and generates normalized difference vegetation index
(NDVI) and anthocyanin content index (ACI) images and histograms,
providing quantitative, spatially-resolved information. We verified that
these indexes correlate strongly with leaf chlorophyll and anthocyanin
concentration. The low cost of the system can make this imaging
technology widely available.