Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds

Phenotypic characterization of Camellia oleifera seedlings is crucial for cultivation management, variety breeding, and germplasm conservation. However, existing point clouds segmentation studies on this species are predominantly focused on canopy and fruit segmentation, which has constrained in-dep...

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Main Authors: Yang Zhou, Yongbin Wang, Wei Long, Tonggui Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Smart Agricultural Technology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525004538
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author Yang Zhou
Yongbin Wang
Wei Long
Tonggui Wu
author_facet Yang Zhou
Yongbin Wang
Wei Long
Tonggui Wu
author_sort Yang Zhou
collection DOAJ
description Phenotypic characterization of Camellia oleifera seedlings is crucial for cultivation management, variety breeding, and germplasm conservation. However, existing point clouds segmentation studies on this species are predominantly focused on canopy and fruit segmentation, which has constrained in-depth phenotypic analysis. To bridge this gap, an automated, non-destructive algorithm was developed for extracting phenotypic parameters of C. oleifera seedlings with heights ranging from 35 cm to 60 cm. The proposed hierarchical segmentation algorithm was integrated with skeletonization and implemented a cyclic segmentation strategy, whereby seedling point clouds were partitioned into multiple regions. In each iteration, independent morphological analysis and skeletonization were conducted on a specific region, thereby enhancing the traditional clustering algorithm's sensitivity to local morphological feature variations. By extracting only the main stem or specific branches in each iteration, the integrity of the overall segmentation result was maintained, enabling the transition from canopy segmentation to precise stem-leaf segmentation. When compared to canopy segmentation that point clouds clustering, canopy height model, and layer stack fitting methods, the algorithm demonstrated improvements of 2.5 %, 7.5 %, and 11.5 % in segmentation accuracy, respectively. Subsequently, five key phenotypic parameters—plant height, stem diameter, leaf width, leaf length, and leaf area—were quantified using bounding boxes, improved Delaunay triangulation, and a novel slice projection algorithm. The measurement accuracies were determined to be 96.7 %, 93.4 %, 93.2 %, 90.1 %, and 88.4 % for each parameter, respectively. These results are indicative of a substantial advancement in non-destructive phenotyping methodologies for C. oleifera seedlings.
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spelling doaj-art-ca58d58ae92b43c9b0e95b268bcac7302025-08-20T02:47:49ZengElsevierSmart Agricultural Technology2772-37552025-12-011210122210.1016/j.atech.2025.101222Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point cloudsYang Zhou0Yongbin Wang1Wei Long2Tonggui Wu3School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China; School of Artificial Intelligence and Information Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China; Corresponding author.School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, ChinaResearch Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, ChinaResearch Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, ChinaPhenotypic characterization of Camellia oleifera seedlings is crucial for cultivation management, variety breeding, and germplasm conservation. However, existing point clouds segmentation studies on this species are predominantly focused on canopy and fruit segmentation, which has constrained in-depth phenotypic analysis. To bridge this gap, an automated, non-destructive algorithm was developed for extracting phenotypic parameters of C. oleifera seedlings with heights ranging from 35 cm to 60 cm. The proposed hierarchical segmentation algorithm was integrated with skeletonization and implemented a cyclic segmentation strategy, whereby seedling point clouds were partitioned into multiple regions. In each iteration, independent morphological analysis and skeletonization were conducted on a specific region, thereby enhancing the traditional clustering algorithm's sensitivity to local morphological feature variations. By extracting only the main stem or specific branches in each iteration, the integrity of the overall segmentation result was maintained, enabling the transition from canopy segmentation to precise stem-leaf segmentation. When compared to canopy segmentation that point clouds clustering, canopy height model, and layer stack fitting methods, the algorithm demonstrated improvements of 2.5 %, 7.5 %, and 11.5 % in segmentation accuracy, respectively. Subsequently, five key phenotypic parameters—plant height, stem diameter, leaf width, leaf length, and leaf area—were quantified using bounding boxes, improved Delaunay triangulation, and a novel slice projection algorithm. The measurement accuracies were determined to be 96.7 %, 93.4 %, 93.2 %, 90.1 %, and 88.4 % for each parameter, respectively. These results are indicative of a substantial advancement in non-destructive phenotyping methodologies for C. oleifera seedlings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S27723755250045383D point cloudsCamellia oleiferaStem-leaf segmentationHierarchical segmentationPhenotypic
spellingShingle Yang Zhou
Yongbin Wang
Wei Long
Tonggui Wu
Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds
Smart Agricultural Technology
3D point clouds
Camellia oleifera
Stem-leaf segmentation
Hierarchical segmentation
Phenotypic
title Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds
title_full Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds
title_fullStr Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds
title_full_unstemmed Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds
title_short Automated non-destructive phenotyping of Camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3D point clouds
title_sort automated non destructive phenotyping of camellia oleifera seedlings based on 3d point clouds
topic 3D point clouds
Camellia oleifera
Stem-leaf segmentation
Hierarchical segmentation
Phenotypic
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525004538
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