Chromaticity-based technique for estimation of aboveground plant biomass.

TOMASEL, F; PARUELO, J. M.; ABRAS, G.; BALLARIN, V.; MOLLER, E.

APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2001 vol. 4 p. 207 - 212

1402-2001

This paper presents a new and simple technique toderive quantitative estimates of green or dry biomass usingcolour information from digital pictures. This pixel-countingtechnique is based on the association of particular plant materialwith a representative region on a two-dimensional colourspace, and applies to cases of non-overlapping canopies. Theefficacy of the method is demonstrated using sets of samplesobtained from both field and laboratory studies. It is shownthat application of the proposed approach results in a highlylinear relationship between pixel count and foliar area for bothgreen and non-green material [r = 0.99 (p < 0.001)]. Analysisof images from a short-grass steppe shows a high correlationbetween pixel count and measured values of green biomass[r = 0.95 (p < 0.001)]. The method outlined here allows for asubstantial improvement in the speed of sample evaluation toestimate biomass both in the field and in the laboratory. It alsoprovides a non-destructive alternative to monitor plant coverand biomass in open canopies.