Development of a flexible phenomic field platform for high-throughput phenotyping in Palouse region of Washington State

Abstract. High-throughput phenotyping is one of the fastest growing research areas in agriculture. Today, a wide range of complicated platforms in terms of design and functionality are available, often customized for regional crops. With the diversity of crops grown in Washington State and multiple breeding programs, there is a need for a more flexible platform that can be utilized for different cropping systems. In addition, variable field terrain conditions in the Palouse region of Washington State pose specific challenges in platform design. In this effort, we developed a proximal sensing phenomic platform for high-throughput field phenotyping with adjustable height and width. The platform is made up of four mountain-bike wheels, and aluminum pipes and fittings with an overall weight of less than 35 kg. This design also allows for an easy storage, transportation, and assembling in the field. This feature is greatly desired as breeding programs have plots at multiple locations to accommodate the variability in weather and soil conditions. In the field season of 2017, RGB camera, and multispectral camera were mounted on the cart and used to acquire data from wheat breeding program plots in Spillman Farm of Washington State University. The performance of the platform was evaluated in terms of flexibility under various field conditions and slopes, plot design, and plant height. A brief summary of features and benefits, and economic analysis is provided.