Methods for estimating photosynthetic characteristics in plant canopies and systems and apparatus related thereto

A method of estimating photosynthesis in a plurality of plants in a plant canopy, comprising:

• capturing a plurality of images of said plants with one or more sensors, wherein said plant canopy is located in a chamber configured to simulate various weather conditions;
• generating a three-dimensional model comprising plant parts of said plants from the plurality of images, wherein the three-dimensional model comprises one or more geometric parameters;
• measuring fluorescence of the plant parts;
• and
• deriving a characteristic of photosynthesis of the plant parts using the measured fluorescence of the plant parts and the three-dimensional model comprising the plant parts.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium with instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed operable to cause a computerized system to:

• capture a plurality of images of a plurality of plants via one or more sensors in a plant canopy located in a chamber configured to simulate various weather conditions;
• generate a three-dimensional model comprising plant parts from the plurality of images;
• measure fluorescence of the plant parts;
• and
• derive a characteristic of photosynthesis of said plants using the measured fluorescence of the plant parts and the three-dimensional model comprising the plant parts.

A system comprising:

• a controller;
• and
• a plant photosynthesis characterization apparatus in communication with the controller, wherein the apparatus comprises:
• one or more sensors configured to capture a plurality of images of a plurality of plants in a plant canopy located in a chamber configured to simulate various weather conditions;
• and
• a computerized system coupled to receive the one or more images of said plants from said sensors, the computerized system configured to generate a three-dimensional model of the plant parts from the received plurality of images, to measure fluorescence of the plant parts, and to derive a characteristic of photosynthesis of said plants using the measured fluorescence of the plant parts and the three-dimensional model comprising the plant parts.

A plant photosynthesis characterization apparatus, comprising:

• one or more sensors configured to capture a plurality of images of a plurality of plants;
• a chamber for said sensors, one or more light sources and one or more environmental controls, such that said sensors, said light sources, and said environmental controls are configured to control one or more temperature, humidity, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and wind in the chamber;
• one or more instruments configured to measure time of flight from the instrument to the plant parts of said plants;
• and
• a computerized system coupled to receive the plurality of images of said plants from said sensors, wherein the computerized system is configured to generate a three-dimensional model of the plant parts from the received plurality of images, to measure fluorescence of the plant parts, and to derive a characteristic pf photosynthesis of said plants using the measured fluorescence of the plant part and the three-dimensional model of the plant parts, wherein the computerized system is further configured to compensate for multiple layers of leaves in said plants by deriving a characteristic of photosynthesis of said plants.