On the Usage of Deep Learning Techniques for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Citrus Crop Health Assessment

Abstract

This work proposes an end-to-end solution for leaf segmentation, disease detection, and damage quantification, specifically focusing on citrus crops. The primary motivation behind this research is to enable the early detection of phytosanitary problems, which directly impact the productivity and profitability of Spanish and Portuguese agricultural developments, while ensuring environmentally safe management practices. It integrates an onboard computing module for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using a Raspberry Pi 4 with Global Positioning System (GPS) and camera modules, allowing the real-time geolocation of images in citrus croplands. To address the lack of public data, a comprehensive database was created and manually labelled at the pixel level to provide accurate training data for a deep learning approach. To reduce annotation effort, we developed a custom automation algorithm for pixel-wise labelling in complex natural backgrounds. A SegNet architecture with a Visual Geometry Group 16 (VGG16) backbone was trained for the semantic, pixel-wise segmentation of citrus foliage. The model was successfully integrated as a modular component within a broader system architecture and was tested with UAV-acquired images, demonstrating accurate disease detection and quantification, even under varied conditions. The developed system provides a robust tool for the efficient monitoring of citrus crops in precision agriculture.

Plant phenotyping relevance

柑橘葉のセグメンテーション、病害検出・被害量定を行う画像解析とUAV搭載システムを開発・評価しており、植物の病害状態を直接推定する方法が研究の中心である。

Code and data availability

The paper describes a newly created citrus foliage dataset and a SegNet/VGG16 segmentation model, but no public deposit, availability statement, or authors' URL for the dataset, images, annotations, code, or trained model is provided. All dataset URLs in the references (Mendeley, Kaggle, Roboflow) are cited prior/third

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