Life sciences imaging: Infrared cameras help analyze water absorption in crops

Plant phenotyping company LemnaTec has developed a system called the Scanlyzer 3D, which featuresvisible and infrared cameras to provide researchers with unavailable data on plant growth, root development, water absorption and drying, and photosynthesis.

Scanalyzer3D is anautomated system that provides quantitative, nondestructive measurements on cultivated crops in greenhouses that provides images on how plants use water. In the system, plants pass through a series of optical measuring spaces in which they are imaged using various wavelengths. Each plant put through the system passes through a system of measurement stations and the series is repeated at various stages of the plant’s growth cycle, so that researchers can collect data over time.

The system consists of five separate measuring stations, each of which performs distinct functions:

Station one

At the first measurement station, temperature differences among individual plants or within a single plant (e.g. from one leaf to another), are measured with a Pearleye P-030 LWIR camera from Allied Vision. This infrared camera features a 640 x 480 amorphous silicon uncooled microbolometer focal plane array with a 25 µm pixel size that can achieve frame rates of 24 fps.

Station two

At the second measurement station, a Prosilica GT6600 camera images from different angles, documenting their size, growth, and development over time. This GigE camera features a 29 MPixel ON Semiconductor KAI-29050 CCD image sensor with a 5.5 µm pixel size and can achieve a frame rates of 4 fps.

Stations three and four

At the third station, a Goldeye infrared camera from Allied Vision captures images of rooted in the shortwave, near-infrared range, documenting moisture and absorption, along with the root system’s efficiency. Previously, LemnaTec had used a Goldeye model P-032 SWIR with VGA resolution, but LemnaTec has since upgraded.

"We’re currently testing the integration of the new Goldeye in the Scanalyzer3D," said Dirk Vandenhirtz, Managing Director of LemnaTec. "Allied Vision made sample cameras available to us for this purpose."

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