Abstract
Analysis of forest canopy hemisphere images is one of the most important methods for measuring forest canopy structure parameters. In this study, our main focus was on using circular image region segmentation, which is the basis of forest canopy hemispherical photography. The boundary of a forest canopy hemisphere image was analyzed via histogram, rectangle, and Fourier descriptors. The image boundary characteristics were defined and obtained based on the following: (1) an edge model that contains three parts, i.e., step, ramp, and roof; (2) boundary points of discontinuity; (3) an edge that has a linear distribution of scattering points. On this basis, we proposed a segmentation method for the circular region in a forest canopy hemisphere image, fitting the circular boundary and computing the center and radius by the least squares method. The method was unrelated to the parameters of the image acquisition device. Hence, this study lays a foundation for automatically adjusting the parameters of high-performance image acquisition devices used in forest canopy hemispherical photography.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmad, A., Xavier, J., Santos-Victor, J., et al., 2014. 3D to 2D bijection for spherical objects under equidistant fisheye projection. Comput. Vis. Image Understand., 125:172–183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cviu.2014.04.004
Ahn, S.J., Rauh, W., Warnecke, H.J., 2001. Least-squares orthogonal distances fitting of circle, sphere, ellipse, hyperbola, and parabola. Patt. Recogn., 34(12):2283–2303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0031-3203(00)00152-7
Bai, X., 2015. Morphological infrared image enhancement based on multi-scale sequential toggle operator using opening and closing as primitives. Infrared Phys. Technol., 68:143–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infrared.2014.11.015
Brusa, A., Bunker, D.E., 2014. Increasing the precision of canopy closure estimates from hemispherical photography: blue channel analysis and under-exposure. Agr. Forest Meteorol., 195-196:102–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.05.001
Chaudhuri, D., 2010. A simple least squares method for fitting of ellipses and circles depends on border points of a two-tone image and their 3-D extensions. Patt. Recogn. Lett., 31(9):818–829. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patrec.2010.01.009
de Marco, T., Cazzato, D., Leo, M., et al., 2015. Randomized circle detection with isophotes curvature analysis. Patt. Recogn., 48(2):411–421. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patcog.2014.08.007
Gonsamo, A., Pellikka, P., 2009. The computation of foliage clumping index using hemispherical photography. Agr. Forest Meteorol., 149(10):1781–1787. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2009.06.001
Huesca, M., García, M., Roth, K.L., et al., 2016. Canopy structural attributes derived from AVIRIS imaging spectroscopy data in a mixed broadleaf/conifer forest. Remote Sens. Environ., 182:208–226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.04.020
Kanatani, K., Rangarajan, P., 2011. Hyper least squares fitting of circles and ellipses. Comput. Stat. Data Anal., 55(6):2197–2208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csda.2010.12.012
Kwak, K., Yoon, U., Lee, D.K., et al., 2013. Fully-automated approach to hippocampus segmentation using a graphcuts algorithm combined with atlas-based segmentation and morphological opening. Magn. Reson. Imag., 31(7):1190–1196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2013.04.008
Lan, J., Zeng, Y., 2013. Multi-threshold image segmentation using maximum fuzzy entropy based on a new 2D histogram. Optik Int. J. Light Electon Opt., 124(18):3756–3760. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2012.11.023
Liu, C., Kang, S., Li, F., et al., 2013. Canopy leaf area index for apple tree using hemispherical photography in arid region. Sci. Horticult., 164:610–615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2013.10.009
Liu, Z., Wang, C., Chen, J.M., et al., 2015. Empirical models for tracing seasonal changes in leaf area index in deciduous broadleaf forests by digital hemispherical photography. Forest Ecol. Manag., 351:67–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.05.005
Mailly, D., Turbis, S., Chazdon, R.L., 2013. SOLARCALC 7.0: an enhanced version of a program for the analysis of hemispherical canopy photographs. Comput. Electron. Agr., 97:15–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2013.06.004
Nafis, U.K., Arya, K.V., Pattanaik, M., 2013. Histogram statistics based variance controlled adaptive threshold in anisotropic diffusion for low contrast image enhancement. Signal Process., 93(6):1684–1693. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2012.09.009
Neumann, H.H., den Hartog, G., 1989. Leaf area measurements based on hemispheric photographs and leaf-litter collection in a deciduous forest during autumn leaf-fall. Agr. Forest Meteorol., 45(3–4):325–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1923(89)90052-X
Schneider, D., Schwalbe, E., Maas, H.G., 2009. Validation of geometric models for fisheye lenses. ISPRS J. Photogr. Remote Sens., 64(3):259–266. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2009.01.001
Scitovski, R., Marošević, T., 2015. Multiple circle detection based on center-based clustering. Patt. Recogn. Lett., 52:9–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patrec.2014.09.010
Sharma, R.C., Kajiwara, K., Honda, Y., 2013. Estimation of forest canopy structural parameters using kerneldriven bi-directional reflectance model based multiangular vegetation indices. ISPRS J. Photogr. Remote Sens., 78:50–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2012.12.006
Woodgate, W., Armston, J.D., Disney, M., et al., 2016. Quantifying the impact of woody material on leaf area index estimation from hemispherical photography using 3D canopy simulations. Agr. Forest Meteorol., 226-227:1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2016.05.009
Yao, Z., Yi, W., 2016. Curvature aided Hough transform for circle detection. Exp. Syst. Appl., 51:26–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2015.12.019
Yuan, B., Liu, M., 2015. Power histogram for circle detection on images. Patt. Recogn., 48(10):3268–3280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patcog.2015.01.003
Zhang, H., Wiklund, K., Andersson, M., 2016. A fast and robust circle detection method using isosceles triangles sampling. Patt. Recogn., 54:218–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patcog.2015.12.004
Zhao, D., Lv, M., Wang, P., et al., 2014. Can the plant area index of a submerged vegetation canopy be estimated using digital hemispherical photography? Agr. Forest Meteorol., 192–193:69–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.03.008
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Project supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (No. 2572014BB04), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31370710), and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20110062110002)
ORCID: Wen-long SONG, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9729-7602
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Song, Jy., Song, Wl., Huang, Jp. et al. Segmentation and focus-point location based on boundary analysis in forest canopy hemispherical photography. Frontiers Inf Technol Electronic Eng 17, 741–749 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.1601169
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.1601169
Keywords
- Fisheye lens
- Least squares method
- Image segmentation
- Ecology in image processing
- Hemispherical photography