Field Scanalyzer
The Maricopa Field Scanner at the University of Arizona is the world’s most advanced phenotyping platform, offering unparalleled resolution and imaging modalities for plant phenotyping. This fully automated system is capable of measuring crop growth and development efficiently, accurately, and quantitatively across the growing season. Data is acquired through a suite of high-resolution cameras and sensors housed in a weatherproof cabinet that moves over the field supported by a 30-ton robotic gantry. The system can generate 2–6 terabytes of data per day.
Coupling data, from cutting-edge sensors with newly developed data processing pipelines, is allowing traits such as ground cover, canopy height, plant geometry, growth and biomass, counting features, growth stages, vegetation indices, canopy composition, photosystem performance, and more to be quantifiably described and recorded. The field gantry also offers a state-of-the-art platform for sensor development and testing.
- Two acres of field space
- Six imaging systems
- Raw data from the Field Scanner sensors is transmitted over 10GbE fiber to a network room in the Maricopa Agricultural Center, with 70TB of temporary storage.
- Data is transmitted via Internet2 to CyVerse at the University of Arizona, to NCSA at the University of Illinois, or any other institutional or cloud provider.
- A full suite of data management and analysis options are available.
- Flexible project design to accommodate your needs
| Sensor | Sensor Name | Description | Field of View (m) | Pixel Size (mm) | Examples of Potential Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3D laser scanner | 3D Fraunhofer | Laser scanner (810 nm). Paired at 30° angle from opposite (E-W) sides | 0.8 | 1.0 x 0.6 | Plant architecture: height, leaf area and surface normal angle |
| Thermal IR | FLIR SC615 | Thermal infrared (LW). 640 x 480 px | 1.5 | 2.6 x 2.6 | Transpiration, heat stress, leaf senescence |
| Stereo-RGB | Prosilica GT3300C | Paired color (RGB) cameras | 1.35 (overlap) | 0.3 x 0.3 | Phenology, architecture |
| Visual-Near IR (VNIR) | Headwall Inspector | Visible and near-infrared scanning imager, 380-1000 nm, ~ 0.9 nm bandwidth | 1 | 0.6 x 0.6 | Vegetation indices, leaf structure, lignin/flavonoid contents, leaf senescence. Chlorophyll fluorescence |
| Shortwave IR (SWIR) | Headwall Inspector | Short-wave infrared scanning imager, 900-2500 nm, ~ 7.5 nm bandwidth | 0.75 | 1.4 x 1.0 | Water, lignin, cellulose contents, fluorescence |
| PSII (fluorescence) | PSII Camera LemnaTec | Fluorescence response of dark-adapted canopy | 0.8 | 1.4 x 1.4 | Status of photosystem II, especially for heat or drought stress |