Towards autonomous phytopathology: Outcomes and challenges of citrus greening disease detection through close-range remote sensing

Suproteem K. Sarkar, Jnaneshwar Das, Reza Ehsani, Vijay Kumar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to significantly impact early detection and monitoring of plant diseases. In this paper, we present preliminary work in developing a UAV-mounted sensor suite for detection of citrus greening disease, a major threat to Florida citrus production. We propose a depth-invariant sensing methodology for measuring reflectance of polarized amber light, a metric which has been found to measure starch accumulation in greening-infected leaves. We describe the implications of adding depth information to this method, including the use of machine learning models to discriminate between healthy and infected leaves with validation accuracies up to 93%. Additionally, we discuss stipulations and challenges of use of the system with UAV platforms. This sensing system has the potential to allow for rapid scanning of groves to determine the spread of the disease, especially in areas where infection is still in early stages, including citrus farms in California. Although presented in the context of citrus greening disease, the methods can be applied to a variety of plant pathology studies, enabling timely monitoring of plant health-impacting scientists, growers, and policymakers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2016
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages5143-5148
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781467380263
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 8 2016
Externally publishedYes
Event2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2016 - Stockholm, Sweden
Duration: May 16 2016May 21 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Volume2016-June
ISSN (Print)1050-4729

Other

Other2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2016
Country/TerritorySweden
CityStockholm
Period5/16/165/21/16

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Control and Systems Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Towards autonomous phytopathology: Outcomes and challenges of citrus greening disease detection through close-range remote sensing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this