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Article history: Facilitating non-contact measurement, a computer-imaging system was devised and evalu-
Received 8 May 2017 ated to predict the chlorophyll content in potato leaves. A charge-coupled device (CCD) cam-
Received in revised form era paired with two optical filters and light chamber was used to acquire green (550 ± 40 nm)
11 July 2017 and red band (700 ± 40 nm) images from the same leaf. Potato leaves from 15 plants differing
Accepted 18 July 2017 in coloration (green to yellow) and age were selected for this study. Histogram based image
Available online 28 July 2017 features, such as mean and variances of green and red band images, were extracted from
the histogram. Regression analyses demonstrated that the variations in SPAD meter reading
Keywords: could be explained by the mean gray and variances of gray scale values. The fitted least square
Computer imaging models based on the mean gray scale levels were inversely related to the chlorophyll content
Chlorophyll of the potato leaf with a R2 of 0.87 using a green band image and with an R2 of 0.79 using a red
SPAD meter band image. With the extracted four image features, the developed multiple linear regression
Regression model predicted the chlorophyll content with a high R2 of 0.88). The multiple regression
Prediction accuracy model (using all features) provided an average prediction accuracy of 85.08% and a maximum
accuracy of 99.8%. The prediction model using only mean gray value of red band showed an
average accuracy of 81.6% with a maximum accuracy of 99.14%.
Ó 2017 China Agricultural University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
nd/4.0/).
crop yield, techniques for monitoring the nutritional status of and corn, and other crops [10,16]. Its use for characterizing
crop plants, which involve the routine collection of foliar tis- the senescence of whole canopies is limited by operator bias
sue and chemical analysis (solvent extraction method), have particularly in selecting leaves for SPAD measurements [9].
been developed. Such monitoring techniques are relatively On the other hand, repeated measurements on the same leaf
expensive and time consuming. Thus, easier and more effi- over time may affect its physiological status [9]. Piekielek and
cient methods of rapid screening would be useful to farmers. Fox [17] found that chlorophyll meters detect N deficiency in
The SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter (Spectrum Technologies corn as early as the V6 growth stage by measurement on
Inc., Plainfield, IL), is a rapid, non-destructive, and hand held the fifth leaf.
spectral device that is widely used for in-situ measurement of The SPAD meters cannot be used for on-the-go measure-
N deficiency in the laboratory and in the field [5–8]. Plant ments of nitrogen due to their configurations and working
greenness can be measured non-destructively using a SPAD- principle that needs physical contact with leaves [18]. In con-
502 meter. This meter, which is sensitive to photosynthetic trast, portable handheld radiometers measure reflected light
green pigment of individual leaf, is suitable for small plot remotely without making any contact, and the same area
areas. The SPAD meter reading is related to the amount of can be measured without any damage to the plants or leaves.
chlorophyll present in the leaf. These meter readings are In this technique, many plants are averaged in a single mea-
related to leaf greenness by transmitting light from light emit- surement, avoiding point sampling problems with the SPAD
ting diode through a leaf at wavelengths 650 and 940 nm. The meter. Use of a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera to cap-
650 nm light corresponds to a peak chlorophyll attenuation of ture images offers an additional method for assessing green-
red light. The infrared (IR) 940 nm signal is not absorbed by ness of crops as well as the parameters that can be sensed
chlorophyll. The signal from the silicon photo diodes used remotely. Dymond and Trotter [19] used a CCD camera to
to detect the transmitted light is received by a microproces- obtain color images of forest and posture targets from air-
sor, which linearizes the signal and calculates a unit-less craft. Clarke [20] used a pair of black and white cameras with
SPAD value [9]: filters in paired with a thermal imaging system in an aircraft
to estimate water stress in muskmelon. All these systems
RC IRC
SPAD ¼ A log10 log10 þB ð1Þ demonstrated that a CCD camera could produce data that
RC IRC
can be used to assess the status of the plants in the field.
where A and B are constants; RC and IRC are current Therefore, the overall goal of this research was to determine
(amperes) from red and infrared (IR) detectors, respectively, the suitability of a computer imaging technique (using black
with the sample in place; RC and IRC are currents from the and white CCD camera) to predict chlorophyll content of
red and IR detectors, respectively, without a sample [10]. A potato plants. The objective of this paper was to evaluate
SPAD or chlorophyll meter reading is calculated by a micro- the capability of a monochrome computer imaging technique
processor and is determined from the difference in light for predicting SPAD meter readings while acquiring pictures
attenuation. on potato leaves.
Generally, the SPAD (chlorophyll) meter clamps on intact
leaves and instantly generates readings that ranged from 0
to 50. Those readings are merely the indication of greenness, 2. Materials and methods
not the chlorophyll concentration. Thus, it is necessary to find
2.1. Leaf sample collection and chlorophyll measurements
a numerical correlation between SPAD meter readings and
the foliar chlorophyll concentration to predict the chlorophyll
Potato leaves from one genotype of potato cultivar Russet Bur-
amount in plant leaves [6]. Relationship (R2) between SPAD-
bank (Solanum Tuberosum) were collected from an experimen-
502 meter readings and extractable total chlorophyll (fresh
tal field of North Dakota State university. Leaf from stage five
weight basis) in strawberry leaves was reported to be 0.92
(5th leaf), counted from the top of the potato plant and was
[11]. The regression between total chlorophyll contents and
collected 65 days after planting. Fifteen potato leaves differing
SPAD readings of wheat, rice, and soybean leave samples
in chlorophyll content (SPAD values in this research) were
extracted with dimethyl sulfoxide results a relationship (R2)
randomly selected from potato plants grown in an experi-
of 0.93 [12]. Similarly, a relationship (R2) of 0.98 was found
mental plot at North Dakota State University, ND, Fargo.
between fresh leave tissue chlorophyll determined using sol-
These leaves were selected based on the color (green to pale
vent extraction methods and SPAD meter readings [8]. They
yellow) and age difference. A Minolta brand chlorophyll meter
also reported that chlorophyll values were differed by 6%
(Model SPAD-502; Spectrum Technologies Inc. Plainfield, IL)
when SPAD values converted from radiometric to solvent
was used to measure the chlorophyll reading of each leaf
extracted chlorophyll units.
before its images were acquired. Mean of five readings from
Chlorophyll meter readings can be influenced by many
each leaf was recorded as SPAD value.
factors other than nitrogen (N) alone such as environmental
and crop leaves characteristics [2,13,14]. Anything that can
alter the color of plants (i.e., diseases, other nutrient deficien- 2.2. Image acquisition
cies, variety differences, etc.) can influence the chlorophyll
meter readings [15]. It is also recommended that growers Each leaf was placed on a smooth, black surface, directly
use a calibration curve specific for each crop variety. The under the vertically mounted camera (Fig. 1). The leaf was
SPAD meter has been used to estimate chlorophyll concentra- adjusted for better exposure of the entire leaf. Two tungsten
tions and infer the nitrogen status of single leaves of wheat halogen lamps with an input of 120 VAC were used for
Information Processing in Agriculture 4 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 2 7 5 –2 8 2 277
The captured images were stored as ‘tiff files’ in a microcom- A total of 15 leaves randomly selected varying in color and
puter. Histogram-based image features, such as mean gray thus chlorophyll content. Spectral images were acquired at
value and variance, were used to predict chlorophyll meter the 550 nm and 700 nm bands (center wavelength) from each
readings. In this study, whole leaflet was under the field of leaf sample (Fig. 3). Figs. 4 and 5 show the histograms of 15
view of the camera i.e. whole leaflet was pictured, thus images at the 550 nm and 700 nm bands, respectively.
Fig. 2 – Calculation of image features from histogram data from both green and red band images.
278 Information Processing in Agriculture 4 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 2 7 5 –2 8 2
Table 1 – Calculated image features from 15 leaf images (n = 15) differing in color.
Leaves Gray values of red band Images Gray values of green band Images SPAD readings
Mean Variance Mean Variance
Table 2 – Correlation coefficient of different image features with SPAD meter readings.
The multiple regression model (Model-5) used all 4 features observed R2 of Model-5 was very close to the R2 of Model-1
and it resulted in the highest coefficient of determination of (0.87). Table 3 compares the prediction accuracies and errors
0.88 (Fig. 10) compared to other previously developed regres- of different statistical models. Model-1 (GLMRB) performed
sion models. In this model (Model 5), account for 88% of the best of all regression models. The observed minimum, maxi-
total variations in the SPAD reading about their mean were mum, and average prediction accuracies were 20.49, 99.19,
explained using 4 image features together (Table 3). The and 82%, respectively. Subsequently, minimum, maximum,
280 Information Processing in Agriculture 4 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 2 7 5 –2 8 2
Fig. 7 – Linear regression of gray level mean and chlorophyll Fig. 9 – Linear regression of gray level variance and
content (represented by SPAD meter readings) at 550 nm chlorophyll content (represented by SPAD meter readings) at
band. 550 nm band.
and average absolute errors of prediction were found to be models. The maximum prediction accuracy was 99.8%.
0.28, 9.34, and 3.19, respectively. However, the observed minimum prediction accuracy using
Multiple regression model (Model-5) produced the highest Model-5 was only 50.8%. The observed maximum and average
average prediction accuracy (85%) and the lowest average absolute errors were found to be 0.065 and 9.78 respectively.
absolute error of prediction (2.97) among all regression Although the difference between Model 1 (with red mean only
Table 3 – Comparison of actual and predicted SPAD meter readings using different regression models.
four features) was 85%. The average prediction accuracy [8] Ling Q, Huang W, Jarvis P. Use of a SPAD-502 meter to
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