The Height Pole: Measuring plot height using a single‐point LiDAR sensor

Abstract

Plant canopy height is an essential trait for phenomics and plant breeding. Despite its importance, height is still largely measured by manual means with a ruler and notepad. Here, we present the Height Pole, a novel single‐point LiDAR (SPL)‐based instrument to measure and record plant and canopy height in the field quickly, reliably, and accurately. An SPL was mounted on the top of a pole and aimed downwards at an adjustable paddle that was positioned at the desired height. A custom app, written for Android OS, saved the plant height data from the SPL to a tablet. The Height Pole was tested against a ruler in the lab, in a field trial setting, and by multiple operators. Indoor and outdoor testing found no significant differences between a ruler and the Height Pole measurements. A test with five operators revealed that measuring, recording, transcribing, and digitizing were on average 20 s per plot slower with a ruler than with the Height Pole. The Height Pole required only one operator to measure and record data, reduced operator fatigue, and by directly writing the data to a .CSV file eliminated transcription errors. These improvements make it easier to collect crop height data on large experiments rapidly and accurately with low input costs.