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Detection and classification of oil palm trees

using aerial multispectral images

M. A. Gamboa, D. I. Lopez

Abstract: This paper shows the preliminary results of image processing on aerial multispectral
images taken from a hexacopter UAV over oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations in San Alberto,
Cesar, Colombia. Image segmentation techniques such as opening and closing-by-reconstruction
segmentation were implemented using MATLAB Image Processing Toolbox to detect oil palm canopies
preserving shape and classify individuals using grayscale shades which represent NDVI vegetation
index in pre-processed multispectral images. It is also shown the implementation of an algorithm
based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for critical areas detection in the NDVI maps, where the
particles are spread randomly and are guided towards maximum local intensity values.

Index Terms: Detection, Image segmentation, PSO, multispectral images, oil palm, NDVI.

1. Introduction
Aerial images for crops inspection have become very popular in the recent decades. such images
came initially from in-orbit satellites around the Earth. Nonetheless, advances in optical tech-
nologies for digital image capture have made possible the development of cameras and sensors
which work in non-visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, taking advantage of methods
for detection and assessment of areas covered which vegetation. Among the most used aerial
assessment tools multispectral images can be cited, which contain reflectance data from captured
objects, sensed in visible and non-visible bands. For the development of this project, 3-channel
images are used, which have data from NIR (near infrared) band, VIS (visible red) band and
green band. Through data available in the multispectral image files it is possible to compute
a vegetation index called NDVI (normalized difference vegetion index), which has been used
in several researches and assessment of areas covered with vegetation from the times of the
first multispectral satellital images. Specifically, the project aims to develop a computer program
for detecting and classify oil palm trees using as classification criteria the NDVI levels of each
individuals canopy implementing image processing and artificial intelligence techniques.
In precision agriculture has become popular in recent decades the use of aerial images for
the checking and value of crop, These images initially came from satellite orbiting the earth,
nevertheless, the optic technologies advances for digital imaging have allowed the development
of cameras and operating in spectrum outside the visible range of light, before, these were only
available in satellite, taking advantage of the popular methods in order to inspect the areas
populated by vegetation. Between the more popular inspection tools its found the multispectral
images, which contain reflectance information of the objects that are registered in visible and non-
visible bands. For the development of this project we use images of three channels, these contain
data of the NIR bands (Near infrared), VIS bands (Visible red) and GREEN bands. Through
the information of this multispectral image it is possible get one vegetation index named NDVI
(normalized difference vegetation index), by which have been realized studies of vegetation areas
since the appearing of the first satellite multispectral images. Specifically, the project is looking
for developing a methodology for the selection of individuals in an area cultivated with oil palm

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(Elaeis quineensis) in San Alberto, Cesar, Colombia, using as selection standard the value of
NVDI of every individual using processing images techniques and artificial intelligence technics.
Preliminarily we show results of preprocessing of images in a grey scale of the crops that represent
the NDVI values in each pixel

2. State of the Art


2.1. A New Segmentation Method Based on Particle Swarm Optimization
In this paper, a segmentation method based in particle swarm optimization is proposed. The
method is produced through combining PSO with one of region-based image segmentation meth-
ods, which is named Seed Region Growing(SRG) [1].
2.2. Identification of oil palm plantation in IKONOS images using radially averaged power
spectrum values,
This study tried to classify oil palm plantations from satellite imagery using texture characteristics
with their spatial and frequency parameters[2].
2.3. Segmentation of oil palm area based on GLCM-SVM and NDVI”
This paper presents application of texture analysis using gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM)
for segmentation of oil palm area based on WorldView-2 imagery data. Different parameters
of GLCM consisting of five distance spacing and three directions will be calculated, where eight
texture features will be extracted. Based on land-use categories determined in WorldView-2 image,
the features for oil palm and non-oil palm will be trained and classified using support vector
machine (SVM)[3].
2.4. Overview of image processing approach for nutrient deficiencies detection in Elaeis
Guineensis
This paper is to focus on an innovative method based on image processing technique for clas-
sifying the lack of nutritional disease occurred in oil palm leaves by analyzing the leave surface
only[4].
2.5. UK-DMC 2 satellite data for deriving biophysical parameters of oil palm trees in
Malaysia,
This is the first study to estimate LAI and fPAR of oil palm ecosystem in Malaysia using remote
sensing techniques. An empirical model relating radiance from band 1 (near infra red) of UK-
DMC 2 remotely sensed data and LAI computed from hemispherical photos (oil palm LAI= -0.156
radiance of band 1+16.95, R2=0.78) was developed in this study[5].
2.6. Analysing variety of vegetation indices values using different methods for mapping
oil palm closed-canopy composition in southern Riau Province, Indonesia,
This study discusses the vegetation indices values characteristics for mapping oil palm closed-
canopy composition using six different methods[6].
2.7. Estimation of above ground biomass of oil palm trees by PALSAR,
The main objective of this paper is to show the potential use of L-Band SAR polarimetry. The au-
thors used SAR images to estimate the above ground biomass (AGB) of an oil palm plantation[7].
2.8. Monitoring of oil palm plantations and growth variations with a dense vegetation
model,
In this paper, a multilayer model based on the radiative transfer theory for a dense vegetation
medium is developed where the coherence effects and near field interaction effects of closely
spaced leaves and branches are considered by incorporating the Dense Medium Phase and
Amplitude Correction Theory (DM-PACT) and Fresnel Phase Corrections[8].

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3. Theoretical Framework
3.1. Detection with Particle swarm optimization (PSO)
PSO is a search method that is based on the behavior of some beings in nature as flocks of birds,
in this case is used for the detection of risk areas in crops, the algorithm starts with a group of
randomly dispersed particles on the image, then these search in the image high intensity values.
The motion direction of the particle is affected by the maximum intensity value found by it and by
the swarm, the next position of the particle is in which there is greater intensity value between
the current position and the result of adding the calculation of the rate at the current position, the
following equations show the process:
(
pi (t), if f (xi (t + 1)) ≤ f (pi (t))
pi (t + 1) =
xi (t + 1), if f (xi (t + 1)) > f (pi (t))

vi (t + 1) = wvi (t) + c1 r1 (pi (t) − xi (t)) + c2 r2 (gbest − xi (t)) (1)

If meets the condition of greater intensity the next position is:

xi (t + 1) = xi (t) + vi (t + 1) (2)

Where: Xi is the current position of the particle Pi is the best position found by the particle Vi
is the velocity of the particle gbest is the position of the best value found by the swarm .
W is a value of inertia, c1 and c2 are acceleration constants. Typically they have values between
zero and two and r1 and r2 are random values between zero and one [1]. Velocity values are
limited and in this case are between zero and five.

3.2. Image segmentation


The fundamental problem in image segmentation is to create partitions of an image called regions
that satisfy certain conditions[9].

Let R represent the entire spatial region occupied by an image. We may view image segmen-
tation as a process that partitions into R into n subregions, R1 , R2 ,...,Rn , such that
i+9
S
(a) Ri = R
i
(b) Ri is a connected set, i = 1, 2, ..., n.
(c) Ri ∩ Rj = Øfor all i and j, i 6= j
(d) Q(Ri ) =TRUE for i = 1, 2, ..., n.
(e) Q(Ri ∪ Rj ) = FALSE for any adjacent regions Ri and Rj .

3.3. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)


The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is a numerical indicator which requires the
visible and near-infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, and is used to analyze remote
sensing measurements with the assessment of whether the observed area contains living green
vegetation or not [10]. It is widely applied in vegetation studies being used to estimate crop
yields, pasture performance, among others. It’s often directly related to ground parameters such
as ground cover, photosynthetic activity of plants, surface water, leaf area index and biomass. NDVI
was first used in 1973 by Rouse et al. from the remote Sensing Centre of Texas A&M University
[10]. The NDVI index is a substraction of the red reflectance values from the near-infrared divided
by the sum of both quantities[10].

N DV I = (N IR − V IS)/(N IR + V IS) (3)

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4. Development
4.1. PSO detection
First on the initial map NDVI (an RGB NDVI image) the white border is removed, then the colors
that make up the image individually are separated on images in grayscale, interest channels are
the red and blue which are found the crop failures, then the original image shown and the steps
up to this point.

Fig. 1. Original image

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Fig. 2. Image with black border

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Fig. 3. Green channel image

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Fig. 4. Red channel image

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Fig. 5. Blue channel image

The red and blue channels together obtaining an image grayscale, samples of low intensity
are removed with an operation threshold and with morphological filter dispersed samples are
removed:

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Fig. 6. Merged channels image

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Fig. 7. Filtered image

On the preprocessed image algorithm PSO (particle swarm optimization) is applied, the pseu-
docode shown below:

f o r each p a r t i c l e
I n i t i a l i z e random p o s i t i o n
i n i t i a l i z e random v e l o c i t y
END

f o r each c y c l e
f o r each p a r t i c l e
Read f i t n e s s v a l u e ( p i x e l v a l u e )
I f t h e f i t n e s s v a l u e i s b e t t e r than t h e b e s t
f i t n e s s value Pi i n h i s t o r y
s e t c u r r e n t v a l u e as t h e new P i
End

Set t h e p a r t i c l e With t h e b e s t f i t n e s s v a l u e
o f a l l t h e p a r t i c l e s as t h e gbest

For each p a r t i c l e
Calculate p a r t i c l e v e l o c i t y Vi
Update p a r t i c l e p o s i t i o n
End

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4.2. Image segmentation
Several techniques were applied to a NDVI image shown in Figure 8 using MATLAB Image
Processing Toolbox. First, as shown in Figure 9 gradient magnitude was computed in an attempt
to highlight the limits of each canopy.
Opening process was applied to the image in order to reduce pixel variability as shown in Figure
10.
An opening-by-reconstruction was applied to the image in Figure 8 to highlight the maximum
reflectance areas trying not to lose shape and texture in the process, as can be seen in Figure
11.
Closing process was applied to the image in Figure 8 in order to reduce pixel variability as shown
in Figure 12, Increasing links between white regions.
An opening-by-reconsctruction followed by a closing-by-reconsctruction was applied to the image
in an attempt to fill dark isolated pixels and highlight canopy shape preserving predominant
reflectance (gray shade) inside the canopy area, as can be seen in 13.
An attempt to generate markers for watershed segmentation is shown in 14 using thresholding.
These markers allow watershed segmentation algorithm to guide the region filling process, giving
a reference for regions to be filled. A comparison of the marker area placement and the original
image is shown in Figure 15.

Fig. 8. Grayscale NDVI image

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Fig. 9. Magnitude of the gradient

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Fig. 10. Opening process

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Fig. 11. Opening-by-reconstruction process

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Fig. 12. Closing process

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Fig. 13. Opening-by-reconstruction followed by closing-by-reconstruction process

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Fig. 14. Watershed segmentation markers obtained using thresholding

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Fig. 15. Overlap of generated markers with the original idea

5. Results
5.1. PSO Detection
The final result for PSO detection on the test image ins the following (a dilation was applied to
the image to improve particles visibility).

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Fig. 16. Image search process first result

The initial image, the pre-processed and the final result of PSO images are shown below.

Fig. 17. Image search process

5.2. Image segmentation


Table I shows the performance results of each segmentation process applied according to key
target features.

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TABLE I
I MAGE S EGMENTATION M ETHOD P ERFORMANCE

Method Canopy detection Gray shade detection Noise reduction Regions delimitation

Magnitude of the gradient low low low low

opening medium medium medium medium

closing medium medium medium medium

opening-by-reconstruction high high medium medium

opening and closing-by-reconstruction high high high medium-high

Markers for watershed segmentation algorithm were not accurate and homogeneous enough
to be implemented.

6. Conclusions
Classical opening and closure techniques do not fit well to the problem of oil palm canopy
segmentation, opening and closure by reconstruction help to achieve better results in terms of
shape and texture detection.
Watershed segmentation requires an accurate definition for the markers, peak detection strate-
gies and typical geometrical patterns should be considered for further analysis to create marker
images.
PSO detection consisted in locating particles in the critical areas of cultivation, the algorithm
turns out to be effective for locating the particles without evidence of false positives and seems
to be more efficient than a pixel by pixel search as this case requires 32‘600.000 search cycles
and PSO 700.000 cycles.

References
[1] F. Mohsen, M. Hadhoud, K. Mostafa, and K. Amin, “A New Image Segmentation Method Based on Particle Swarm
Optimization,” in The International Arab Journal of Information Technology, vol. 5, no 5, 2002, pp. 487–492.
[2] Agustin, Soffiana, R.v. Hari Ginardi, and Handayani Tjandrasa. “Identification of Oil Palm Plantation in IKONOS
Images Using Radially Averaged Power Spectrum Values” in 2015 International Conference on Information and
Communication Technology and Systems (ICTS) (2015)
[3] Daliman, Shaparas, Syed Abdul Rahman, Syed Abu Bakar, and Ibrahim Busu. “Segmentation of Oil Palm Area Based
on GLCM-SVM and NDVI.” in 2014 Ieee Region 10 Symposium (2014).
[4] Hairuddin, Muhammad Asraf, Nooritawati Md Tahir, and Shah Rizam Shah Baki. “Overview of Image Processing
Approach for Nutrient Deficiencies Detection in Elaeis Guineensis.” in 2011 IEEE International Conference on System
Engineering and Technology (2011).
[5] Kanniah, Kasturi Devi, Kian Pang Tan, and Arthur Philip Cracknel. “UK-DMC 2 Satellite Data for Deriving Biophysical
Parameters of Oil Palm Trees in Malaysia” in 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium
(2012)
[6] Ramdani, Fatwa. “Analysing Variety of Vegetation Indices Values Using Different Methods for Mapping Oil Palm
Closed-canopy Composition in Southern Riau Province, Indonesia.” in 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and
Remote Sensing Symposium (2012).
[7] Shashikant, Veena, Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff, Laili Nordin, and Biswajeet Pradhan. “Estimation of above
Ground Biomass of Oil Palm Trees by PALSAR.” in 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering
(CHUSER) (2012)
[8] Teng, Khar-Chun, Jun-Yi Koay, Seng-Heng Tey, Hong-Tat Ewe, and Hean-Teik Chuah. “Monitoring of Oil Palm
Plantations and Growth Variations with a Dense Vegetation Model.” in 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Symposium (2014).
[9] R. Gonzalez and R. Woods, “Digital Image Processing,” Third Edition, 2007, Pearson Education.
[10] Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit - Somalia, “Understanding the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI),” http://www.fsnau.org/downloads/Understanding the Normalized Vegetation Index NDVI.pdf.

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