Using cameras for precise measurement of two-dimensional plant features: CASS
This provides a standardized protocol for plant phenotyping, allowing researchers to compare measurements across different setups, though it is incremental as it builds on existing imaging techniques.
The paper introduces CASS, a method for capturing precise two-dimensional measurements of plant parts using cameras and a calibration pattern, enabling data capture from various cameras and environments on the same physical scale.
Images are used frequently in plant phenotyping to capture measurements. This chapter offers a repeatable method for capturing two-dimensional measurements of plant parts in field or laboratory settings using a variety of camera styles (cellular phone, DSLR), with the addition of a printed calibration pattern. The method is based on calibrating the camera using information available from the EXIF tags from the image, as well as visual information from the pattern. Code is provided to implement the method, as well as a dataset for testing. We include steps to verify protocol correctness by imaging an artifact. The use of this protocol for two-dimensional plant phenotyping will allow data capture from different cameras and environments, with comparison on the same physical scale. We abbreviate this method as CASS, for CAmera aS Scanner. Code and data is available at http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3677473.