3d Surface Modelling of Tomato Plants Using Close-range Photogrammetry

The production of agricultural cultivates under intensive systems requires of big quantities of pesticides for fitosanitary control. Pesticides application is a major component of tomato production costs under greenhouse in Almería, Spain, and the excess in their applications have a great negative impact on the environment. A pesticide application is ideal if the spraying coverage is presented as evenly distributed over the whole crop canopy and, if the product application is correctly adjusted for minimizing the losses towards the soil or the environment. It is proved that for a certain crop stage, there is an optimal volume of application. This ideal volume is related by the canopy Leaf Area Index (LAI), which is the ratio of total upper leaf surface of a crop divided by the surface area of the land on which the crop grows. Our research group is working for the generation of a predictive and empiric model regarding non destructive estimation of LAI. This model will be based on the volume and density of tomato plants. This work seeks, as its main goal, the obtention of a Three-Dimensional (3D) accurate model of tomato plant canopies using close-range photogrammetry and 3D modelling tools. The ‘real’ volume of the plants can be measured accurately from the 3D model. Since the tomato volume can be measured by means of a simpler manual methodology, using plant measurements of width and height (e.g., Tree Row Volume or Unit Canopy Row), it is expected in the near future to outline a manual method for measuring tomato bush volume which presents a better fitting to the ‘real’ volume.