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ARS Home » Plains Area » El Reno, Oklahoma » Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center » Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #364103
Research Project: Genetic Improvement of Peanut for Production in the Southwest United States Region

Location: Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit

Title: Use of aerial imagery and digital elevation models for deriving plant height of peanuts

Author
item SARKAR, SAYANTAN - Virginia Tech
item BALOTA, MARIA - Virginia Tech
item OAKES, JOSEPH - Virginia Tech
item BUROW, MARK - Texas Agrilife
item Bennett, Rebecca

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/30/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Peanut is an important food and oilseed crop in the United States with high net returns but also high input costs ($750 - $800 per acre) for the growers. To offset these costs, yield in excess of 4500 kg ha-1 is needed but, under frequent droughts and disease outbreaks, this is difficult to achieve every year. High yielding cultivars are currently available to farmers, but their constant development by the breeding programs is slow and expensive. Since peanut pods are underground, the only way to early detect biotic and abiotic stress is by observing the above ground biomass. This makes physiological characters like height, leaf color, and Leaf Area Index important observations in selection for better cultivars and crop management decisions. Studies have shown that plant height has been associated with drought tolerance, fungal disease resistance, and nutrient stress. Measurement of plant height on large acreages, especially in the Mid-Atlantic U.S., is time consuming and therefore impractical. With the advancement of technology, several methods have been proposed to estimate plant height using remote sensing. Among these, digital elevation models (DEM) from red-green-blue (RGB) images taken aerially using UAVs is being used to create plant height maps. The plant height maps are used to determine plant height by categorizing different plant heights with accuracy to the centimeter. We will present our data on plant height extraction from DSM using the Mini-Core peanut collection. Our long-term objective is to help farmers reduce production costs by precise management and breeders hasten yield gain by using plant height as a measure for growth and stress response.