A new approach to retrieve leaf normal distribution using terrestrial laser scanners

Leaf normal distribution is an important structural characteristic of the forest canopy. Although terrestrial laser scanners（TLS） have potential for estimating canopy structural parameters, distinguishing between leaves and nonphotosynthetic structures to retrieve the leaf normal has been challenging. We used here an approach to accurately retrieve the leaf normals of camphorwood（Cinnamomum camphora） using TLS point cloud data.First, nonphotosynthetic structures were filtered by using the curvature threshold of each point. Then, the point cloud data were segmented by a voxel method and clustered by a Gaussian mixture model in each voxel. Finally, the normal vector of each cluster was computed by principal component analysis to obtain the leaf normal distribution. We collected leaf inclination angles and estimated the distribution, which we compared with the retrieved leaf normal distribution. The correlation coefficient between measurements and obtained results was 0.96, indicating a good coincidence.

Flumetralin and dimethyl piperidinium chloride alter light distribution in cotton canopies by optimizing the spatial configuration of leaves and bolls

Plant growth regulators(PGRs)are frequently used to adjust cotton growth and development.The objectives of this study were to determine how PGRs affect plant morphology,light distribution and the spatial distribution of leaves and bolls within the cotton canopy.The field experiments were carried out at Shihezi(Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,China)in 2014 and 2015.The experiment included two PGR treatments:(i)flumetralin(active ingredient(a.i),N-N-ethy)-2,6-dinitro-4-aniline and(i)mepiquat chloride(ai,1-dimethyl-piperidiniuchloride)plus flumetralin.No PGR(manual topping)was applied in the control treatment.The chemically-topped plants were taller and had more main stem internodes than the manually-topped plants.Furthermore,the PGRs significantly reduced the length of fruiting branches in the upper canopy,resulting in a more compact canopy.The maximum leaf area index was signifcantly greater in the chemically-topped treatments than that in the control.In particular,the PGRs increased leaf area index by 25%in the upper canopy.The leaf area duration was also longer in the chemically-topped treatments than in the control.Compared with the control,the chemically-topped treatments increased canopy diffuse non-interceptance by 35.75%in the upper canopy layer,while reducing the fraction of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation by 14.45%in the upper canopy layer.Light transmittance in the upper and middle canopy layers was greater in the chemically-topped treatments than in the control,which increased boll numbers in both the upper canopy and the middle canopy.However,the chemically-topped treatments resulted in less light-leakage through the lower canopy layer during the late growth stages,which had a tendency to increase boll numbers in the whole canopy.In summary,the PGRs optimized canopy shape,light distribution and the spatial distribution of bolls and leaves.

Leaf pigment retrieval using the PROSAIL model: Influence of uncertainty in prior canopy-structure information

Leaf pigments are critical indicators of plant photosynthesis,stress,and physiological conditions.Inversion of radiative transfer models(RTMs)is a promising method for robustly retrieving leaf biochem-ical traits from canopy observations,and adding prior information has been effective in alleviating the“ill-posed”problem,a major challenge in model inversion.Canopy structure parameters,such as leaf area index(LAI)and average leaf inclination angle(ALA),can serve as prior information for leaf pigment retrie-val.Using canopy spectra simulated from the PROSAIL model,we estimated the effects of uncertainty in LAI and ALA used as prior information for lookup table-based inversions of leaf chlorophyll(C _(ab))and car-otenoid(C_(ar)).The retrieval accuracies of the two pigments were increased by use of the priors of LAI(RMSE of C_(ab) from 7.67 to 6.32μg cm^(-2),C_(ar) from 2.41 to 2.28μg cm^(-2))and ALA(RMSE of C_(ab) from 7.67 to 5.72μg cm^(-2),C_(ar) from 2.41 to 2.23μg cm^(-2)).However,this improvement deteriorated with an increase of additive and multiplicative uncertainties,and when 40% and 20% noise was added to LAI and ALA respectively,these priors ceased to increase retrieval accuracy.Validation using an experimental winter wheat dataset also showed that compared with C_(ar),the estimation accuracy of C_(ab) increased more or deteriorated less with uncertainty in prior canopy structure.This study demonstrates possible limita-tions of using prior information in RTM inversions for retrieval of leaf biochemistry,when large uncer-tainties are present.

Using leaf area index(LAI) to assess vegetation response to drought in Yunnan province of China

Climatic extremes such as drought have becoming a severe climate-related problem in many regions all over the world that can induce anomalies in vegetation condition. Growth and CO2 uptake by plants are constrained to a large extent by drought.Therefore, it is important to understand the spatial and temporal responses of vegetation to drought across the various land cover types and different regions. Leaf area index(LAI) derived from Global Land Surface Satellite(GLASS) data was used to evaluate the response of vegetation to drought occurrence across Yunnan Province, China(2001-2010). The meteorological drought was assessed based on Standardized Precipitation Index(SPI)values. Pearson's correlation coefficients between LAI and SPI were examined across several timescales within six sub-regions of the Yunnan. Further, the drought-prone area was identified based on LAI anomaly values. Lag and cumulative effects of lack of precipitation on vegetation were evident, with significant correlations found using 3-, 6-, 9-and 12-month timescale. We found 9-month timescale has higher correlations compared to another timescale.Approximately 29.4% of Yunnan's area was classified as drought-prone area, based on the LAI anomaly values. Most of this drought-prone area was distributed in the mountainous region of Yunnan.From the research, it is evident that GLASS LAI can be effectively used as an indicator for assessing drought conditions and it provide valuable information for drought risk defense and preparedness.

Optimizing the application of a novel harvest aid to improve the quality of mechanically harvested cotton in the North China Plain

Defoliation is an indispensable step in cotton production with mechanical harvesting,especially in the North China Plain(NCP)where mechanical harvesting is limited by a large proportion of green leaves and unopened bolls at harvest time due to insufficient thermal resources.It is essential to quantify the optimal use of defoliation products while minimizing yield and quality loss in China.The objective of this study was to test the effect of a new defoliant Xinsaili(XSL,a compound of 10% thidiazuron and 40% ethephon)on the spatial distribution of cotton leaves and bolls,yield and quality in the NCP.There were four treatments:XSL 1800 m L ha^(-1),XSL 2700 m L ha^(-1),XSL splitted into two equal applications(1350 m L ha^(-1) for each),and XSL-free(water)control.Field experiments were conducted in Hebei,China in 2016-2017.All the defoliant treatments did not significantly affect cotton yield and fiber quality compared with the water control.At harvest time,the rate of open bolls under XSL 2700 m L ha^(-1) was 13.5% higher than that under XSL-free control,while the other two treatments showed no significant difference,across the two years.Defoliation percentage of the three XSL treatments showed no difference,but they were on average 42.2% higher than that of XSL-free control.The year-round effect of the defoliant XSL was significant,indicating that climate factors would affect its application.It was concluded that the optimal dose of XSL in the NCP was 2700 m L ha^(-1),and it was unnecessary to split it into two applications.These results would promote cotton mechanical harvesting and reduce the labor cost of cotton production in China.

Structural bionic design for high-speed machine tool working table based on distribution rules of leaf veins

High-speed machine tool working table restrains the machining accuracy and machining efficiency,so lightweight design of the table is an important issue.In nature,leaf has developed a plate structure that maximizes the surface-to-volume ratio.It can be seen as a plate structure stiffened by veins.Compared with a high-speed machine tool working table,leaf veins play a role of supporting part which is similar to that of stiffening ribs,and they can provide some new design ideas for lightweight design of the table.In this paper,distribution rules of leaf veins were investigated,and a structural bionic design for the table was achieved based on regulation of leaf veins.First,statistical analysis on geometric structure of leaf veins was carried out,and four distribution rules were obtained.Then,relevant mechanical models were developed and analyzed in finite element software.Based on the results from mechanical analysis on those relevant models,the four distribution rules were translated into the design rules and a structural bionic design for the working table was achieved.Both simulation and experimental verifications were carried out,and results showed that the average displacement of the working table was reduced by about 33.9%.

A Generalized Layered Radiative Transfer Model in the Vegetation Canopy

In this paper, a generalized layered model for radiation transfer in canopy with high vertical resolution is developed. Differing from the two-stream approximate radiation transfer model commonly used in the land surface models, the generalized model takes into account the effect of complicated canopy morphology and inhomogeneous optical properties of leaves on radiation transfer within the canopy. In the model, the total leaf area index （LAI） of the canopy is divided into many layers. At a given layer, the influences of diffuse radiation angle distributions and leaf angle distributions on radiation transfer within the canopy are considered. The derivation of equations serving the model are described in detail, and these can deal with various diffuse radiation transfers in quite broad categories of canopy with quite inhomogeneons vertical structures and uneven leaves with substantially different optical properties of adaxial and abaxial faces of the leaves. The model is used to simulate the radiation transfer for canopies with horizontal leaves to validate the generalized model. Results from the model are compared with those from the two-stream scheme, and differences between these two models are discussed.

Review of theoretical methods and research aspects for detecting leaf water content using terahertz spectroscopy and imaging

The water content in vegetative leaves is an important indicator to plant science.It reveals the physiological status of plants and provides valuable information in irrigation management.Terahertz(THz)as a state-of-the-art technology shows great potential in measuring and monitoring the water status in plant leaves.This paper reviewed the theoretical models for calculating water content in the plant leaves,the methods for eliminating the scattering loss caused by the surface roughness of leaf,the applications of THz spectroscopy and THz imaging for monitoring leaf water content and describing leaf water distribution.The survey of the researches presents the considerable advantages of this emerging and promising THz technology in agriculture.