• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.387-397
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• 2023

Plant height is a growth parameter that provides visible insights into the plant's growth status and has a high correlation with yield, so it is widely used in crop breeding and cultivation research. Investigation of the growth characteristics of crops such as plant height has generally been conducted directly by humans using a ruler, but with the recent development of sensing and image analysis technology, research is being attempted to digitally convert growth measurement technology to efficiently investigate crop growth. In this study, the canopy height of rice grown at various nitrogen fertilization levels was measured using a laser scanner capable of precise measurement over a wide range, and a comparative analysis was performed with the actual plant height. As a result of comparing the point cloud data collected with a laser scanner and the actual plant height, it was confirmed that the estimated plant height measured based on the average height of the top 1% points showed the highest correlation with the actual plant height (R² = 0.93, RMSE = 2.73). Based on this, a linear regression equation was derived and used to convert the canopy height measured with a laser scanner to the actual plant height. The rice growth curve drawn by combining the actual and estimated plant height collected by various nitrogen fertilization conditions and growth period shows that the laser scanner-based canopy height measurement technology can be effectively utilized for assessing the plant height and growth of rice. In the future, 3D images derived from laser scanners are expected to be applicable to crop biomass estimation, plant shape analysis, etc., and can be used as a technology for digital conversion of conventional crop growth assessment methods.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2006

Regardless of the recent observed warmer winters in Korea, more freeze injuries and associated economic losses are reported in fruit industry than ever before. Existing freeze-frost forecasting systems employ only daily minimum temperature for judging the potential damage on dormant flowering buds but cannot accommodate potential biological responses such as short-term acclimation of plants to severe weather episodes as well as annual variation in climate. We introduce 'dormancy depth', in addition to daily minimum temperature, as a complementary criterion for judging the potential damage of freezing temperatures on dormant flowering buds of grape vines. Dormancy depth can be estimated by a phonology model driven by daily maximum and minimum temperature and is expected to make a reasonable proxy for physiological tolerance of buds to low temperature. Dormancy depth at a selected site was estimated for a climatological normal year by this model, and we found a close similarity in time course change pattern between the estimated dormancy depth and the known cold tolerance of fruit trees. Inter-annual and spatial variation in dormancy depth were identified by this method, showing the feasibility of using dormancy depth as a proxy indicator for tolerance to low temperature during the winter season. The model was applied to 10 vineyards which were recently damaged by a cold spell, and a temperature-dormancy depth-freeze injury relationship was formulated into an exponential-saturation model which can be used for judging freeze risk under a given set of temperature and dormancy depth. Based on this model and the expected lowest temperature with a 10-year recurrence interval, a freeze risk probability map was produced for Hwaseong County, Korea. The results seemed to explain why the vineyards in the warmer part of Hwaseong County have been hit by more freeBe damage than those in the cooler part of the county. A dormancy depth-minimum temperature dual engine freeze warning system was designed for vineyards in major production counties in Korea by combining the site-specific dormancy depth and minimum temperature forecasts with the freeze risk model. In this system, daily accumulation of thermal time since last fall leads to the dormancy state (depth) for today. The regional minimum temperature forecast for tomorrow by the Korea Meteorological Administration is converted to the site specific forecast at a 30m resolution. These data are input to the freeze risk model and the percent damage probability is calculated for each grid cell and mapped for the entire county. Similar approaches may be used to develop freeze warning systems for other deciduous fruit trees.