Crop Traits That Can Be Extracted from Drone Imagery
A wide range of crop traits can be extracted and analyzed in Solvi to assess crop performance, field variability, and treatment effects.
Some traits are measured directly using specialized tools such as PlantAI (for plant counts, size, gaps, and weed detection) or Plant Focus (for canopy cover and vegetation masking).
Others are derived indirectly through vegetation indices and calculated per plot using the Zonal Statistics tool.
By combining these tools, users can quantify everything from early emergence and canopy development to plant vigor, uniformity, and senescence — all from high-resolution drone imagery.
Crop Traits Overview
| Trait / Crop Characteristic | Description | How It Can Be Measured in Solvi |
|---|---|---|
| Stand Count / Plant Density | Number of plants per plot or per square meter. Indicates emergence rate and early establishment quality. | Generated automatically with PlantAI. Results can be summarized at the plot level using Zonal Statistics. |
| Canopy Cover | Fraction of the plot area covered by vegetation. Used to monitor growth dynamics and early vigor. | Created using Plant Focus to generate a vegetation mask, then summarized per plot in Zonal Statistics. |
| Weed Pressure / Weed Cover | Proportion of area covered by weeds or non-crop vegetation. Used to assess weed control performance. | Detected and quantified with PlantAI and Plant Focus (by classifying crop vs. weed vegetation). |
| Gap Length | Length of empty spaces within rows indicating missing or damaged plants. | Detected automatically by PlantAI, with results showing row continuity and gap distances. |
| Average Plant Size and Health | Mean area and vigor of individual plants within a plot. Reflects uniformity and crop performance. | Calculated by PlantAI at the individual plant level and aggregated per plot using Zonal Statistics. |
| Canopy Height | Average or maximum height of vegetation per plot. Reflects biomass and growth potential. | Calculated from the Digital Surface Model (DSM) or Canopy Height Model (CHM) within Zonal Statistics. |
| Plant Vigor / Vegetation Index | Measure of greenness or photosynthetic activity, indicating plant health. | Calculated from vegetation indices (e.g., NDVI, NDRE, GNDVI) within Zonal Statistics. |
| Phenology / Growth Stage Tracking | Monitoring of crop development phases throughout the season. | Achieved by tracking vegetation index changes across multiple Uploads and comparing per-plot metrics. |
| Flowering Intensity / Color Change | Identification of color shifts associated with flowering (yellowing or anthesis). | Measured from visible spectrum changes in RGB imagery using color-based indices (e.g., Yellow Index). |
| Weed-to-Crop Ratio | Balance between crop and weed presence in a given plot, indicating competition or herbicide efficiency. | Derived from PlantAI weed and crop segmentation combined with Zonal Statistics summaries. |
Notes
- PlantAI detects and classifies individual plants to provide per-plant data such as size, spacing, gaps, and weed occurrence.
- Plant Focus generates vegetation masks and canopy cover metrics to support early growth and vigor analysis.
- Zonal Statistics aggregates and compares metrics across plots, fields, and flights for statistical and temporal analysis.
Combined, these tools offer a comprehensive overview of crop performance — from individual plants to full field trials.