LIDAR and non-LIDAR-based canopy parameters to estimate the leaf area in fruit trees and vineyard

The starting point of the third objective is to obtain the projected surfaces, frontal and top, without using a LIDAR sensor. These surfaces are not as precise as those obtained with LIDAR and for this reason they are referred to as “estimated” projected surfaces. To calculate the estimated PTRS without a LIDAR sensor, the height and depth of the vegetation are measured with a tape measure. It is also necessary to make a visual estimation of the frontal gap-fraction. For this, a training method with known gap-fraction pictograms is proposed. The final results with this non-LIDAR method are very similar to those obtained with LIDAR. This method, although it needs human intervention, is simple, easy, economical and precise for in situ LA estimation.