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Drones and Remote Imaging

Photogrammetry

I used drone-based photogrammetry to develop a protocol to build 3D models of individual trees. These models will be used to monitor tree growth over time as part of the Tree Observatory at The Morton Arboretum.

Try clicking around the model on the right! This is a 3D model of a large White Oak in the Morton Arboretum constructed from drone images.​

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This work was published in Trees:

Scher, C.L., Griffoul, E. and Cannon, C.H., 2019. Drone-based photogrammetry for the construction of high-resolution models of individual trees. Trees, 33(5), pp.1385-1397.

prairie2-2_edited.jpg

Multispectral Imaging

We used a drone-based multispectral sensor to analyze productivity in a prairie restoration experiment at The Morton Arboretum. We assessed the ability to estimate biomass and cover using remotely sensed metrics, including vegetation indices and volume calculated from a photogrammetric model. Biomass was the best of the remotely-sensed metrics at predicting biomass. We also evaluated the heritability of traits associated with productivity and found that those most correlated with productivity were the least heritable.

Read more about this project here.

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This work was published in Applications in Plant Sciences:

Scher, C.L., Karimi, N., Glasenhardt, M.C., Tuffin, A., Cannon, C.H., Scharenbroch, B.C. and Hipp, A.L., 2020. Application of remote sensing technology to estimate productivity and assess phylogenetic heritability. Applications in plant sciences, p.e11401.

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