Weed Mapping Using Digital Images

P. H. Sansao
1 , Mario

Joao
C. da Silva Jr.1 , Leonardo A. Mozelli1 ,
Francisco A. C. Pinto2 and Daniel M. Queiroz2
1 Department

of Telecommunication and Mechatronics Engineering

Joao
Del-Rei - UFSJ
Federal University of Sao
Rod. MG 443, km 7 - 36420-000 - Campus Alto Paraopeba - Ouro Branco - MG - Brazil
2 Department

of Agricultural Engineering
Federal University of Vicosa - UFV

Avenida Peter Henry Rolfs - 36570-000 - Campus Universitario

- Vicosa - MG - Brazil

corresponding author: joao@ufsj.edu.br

Abstract
This study proposes a system to determine the weed coverage percentage in no-till field of common
bean using image processing, acquired in a regular grid pattern. Images are initially converted
in an excess green index (ExG) image, then segmented by threshold to indicate the vegetation
areas. Since crop lines appear in regular lines, and weed in a more scattered pattern, this feature
can be used to discriminate crop regions. This is done by estimating local orientation using an
average squared gradient method. The crop areas detection is enhanced by filtering the ExG image
using Gabor filters. Using the estimated vegetation and crop areas, a weed percentage value was
assigned to each image. Since these images were georeferenced, it was possible to construct
weed coverage maps by means of a linear interpolation method. The validation was performed by
comparing interpolated values of weed coverage generated by the automatic system with random
georeferenced higher resolution images. Comparison between the reference and the automatically
generated maps reveals the capability to coherently distinguish high from low weed infestation in
similar regions.
keywords: machine vision, gabor filter, directional field, weed mapping

1. Introduction
Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are grown throughout Brazil. Rice and beans are fundamental
parts of the staple diet and it has been shown that can be protective against adult obesity (Sichieri,
2002) and are a low cost source of protein.
Brazil is the largest producer and consumer of common beans worldwide (Oliveira et al., 2011).

However the productivity of this crop has been declining in some regions in recent years (Aragao
et al., 2002; Oliveira et al., 2011) reaching an average of only 850 kg ha1 . Common beans are
typically grown by small producers and in this case poor agronomic practices may be pointed out
as a major factor for low-yield. Several large producers have also grown the crop since the mechanical harvests availability using advanced technology. In this case the presence of weeds in crop
fields is an important productivity constraint in tropical regions and an obstacle to the cultivation and
harvesting of P. vulgaris.
Herbicide usage is a key method for weed control (Carpenter and Gianessi, 2000), however there
are potential damages to the environment, to microbial activity in the soil (Santos et al., 2006) and
to other living organisms if its volume is excessive. Herbicides are usually applied uniformly over
the entire field even though it is well known that they spatial distribution is non-uniform. Therefore

the herbicide volume can be considerably reduced using with precision farming approaches. In this
context, weed mapping which identifies infestations throughout a production area, has been pointed
as one of the tools for the site-specific application of herbicides. Besides fewer environmental risks,
there are great byproducts in reducing such chemicals: clearly, costs reduction (Timmermann et al.,
2003); and also an increase in productivity (Silva Junior
et al., 2012).

This paper proposes a new automatic procedure to estimate the weed coverage percentage in no-till
field of common bean using image processing. Over the last decade some studies have focused
on the subject of weed detection via machine vision techniques. Some approaches concentrate on

geometrical features, such as shape, aspect ratio, and morphological structures as in Perez
et al.
(2000); Manh et al. (2001). On the other hand, there are techniques relying on spectral reflectance
and signatures of plants to distinguish among different species Brown and Noble (2005).
Alternatively, this paper is based on similar premises as those proposed in Tellaeche et al. (2008) or
in Silva Junior
et al. (2012): in cereals plantation the crop grows along the furrows, forming crop lines.

Thus plants growing between lines can be classified as weeds. By regarding to standard techniques
of image processing it is possible to detect all plants, distinguishing them from background. Then
binary images with ridge-valley patterns are generated, due to the alignment of the crop lines.
The novelty of this paper is that unlike Tellaeche et al. (2008); Silva Junior
et al. (2012) not only the

weeds that grow between crop lines can be detected. Assuming that there is an inherent coherence
for the crop due planting, the plants that are incoherent are categorized as weeds trough the use of
Gabor filtering and directional fields orientation. Therefore it is possible to account for weeds mixture
into the crops. This automatic procedure allows to assign a percentage of weed coverage for several
georeferenced images that serve as samples of the cropped area. Then it is possible to build weed
coverage maps by means of a linear interpolation method.

2. Methods and Materials

The image database is composed by 82 samples and was acquired 25 days after emergence (DAE)
of the plants, under cloudy sky conditions. They were taken in a 0.8 ha experimental filed, localized
in the city of Coimbra, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which belongs to Federal University of Vicosa.
The field is divided in half and equally cultivated under no-till and conventional agricultural practices.
2.1. Experimental Setup
The image acquisition system is composed by a 1/3 CMOS colored camera controlled by a microcomputer via a 10 m cable and an image acquisition board (PCMCIA IEEE 1394). This system
is mounted in the center pivot used for irrigation. While the irrigation system runs its circular path
along the field images were taken. Therefore, the crop lines are not in the same angle thorough this
database. The camera acquired R (red), G (green), and B (blue) image bands, each one saved in a
bitmap (BMP) file with dimension 480 x 640 pixels. Each image covers an subarea measuring 4.9 x
6.5 m of the field.
For georeference purposes flag stakes were placed in a regular grid pattern along the field. The
stakes were arranged in circular sections and the distance between stakes in the same section was
approximately 6.5 m. Each one was georeferenced with a TrimbleTM Pathfinder Pro XRS DGPS. The
distance between sections was also 6.5 m. Whenever a stake came across the center of the camera
focus an image was acquired.
2.2. Image Processing
The algorithm is summarized in Figure 1. The steps are illustrated in Figure 2.
To enhance the contrast between the plants and the background, the methodology began with the
transformation of color images (Original RGB in Figure 2) into excess green index images (ExG in

Figure 2 and image I in Figure 1). To transform the RGB image into a one-dimensional grey level
(monochrome) image the following expression attributed to Woebbecke et al. (1995) is applied:

I=

2G R B
R+G+B

(1)

where R, G, and B are the values of each pixel of the color image in the red, green, and blue bands,
respectively.
Due to the ridge-valley like shape of the ExG image, fingerprint enhancement techniques were
employed (Hong et al., 1998; Kovesi, 2012). Three binary masks are needed: segmentation mask
(Ms in Figure 1); filter mask (MG ); and reliability mask (MR ).
The ExG images were then automatically segmented by the iterative method proposed by Yang et al.
(2001) in which a single-threshold classifies plants pixels (crops and weeds) and background pixels
(soil, straw, etc.). This leads to images such as the one show under the caption Segmentation mask
in Figure 2.
Since crop lines appear in regular lines, and weed in a more scattered pattern, this feature can be
used to discriminate crop regions. This is done by estimating local orientation using an average
squared gradient method (Bazen, 2002) resulting in: (i) orientation image which indicates the field
orientation for each image pixel and (ii) reliability image which indicates the coherence of the pixel
orientation relative to the neighbourhood pixels. The latter is then thresholded into a reliability mask,
MR , (see Figures 1 and 2).
The crop areas detection is enhanced by filtering the ExG image using Gabor filters (Daugman,
1985) . As orientation has already been estimated, frequency of crop lines in larger blocks is then
assessed for the filter tuning. After applying a zero threshold to the filtered image, a new binary
mask is generated (filter mask, MG ).
After retrieving the masks, the crop mask (MC ) can be identified by the following binary operations:

MC = MR MG MS

(2)

Therefore removing the areas contained in the crop mask from the segmentation mask results in the
estimated weed infestation areas (Mweed = MS MC ).

Segmentation

I
M

I
S

Crop lines orientation

and frequency estimation

ExG Image

Filtering

RGB Image

Weed
mask

,f
I

R,G,B

Figure 1. Block diagram

Mweed

Weed Coverage
Estimation

Original RGB

ExG

Segmentation mask

Orientation Image

Reliability

Reliability mask

Filter mask

Crop mask

Weed mask

Vegetation

Crop

Weed

Figure 2. Images illustrating the proposed method step by step.

3. Results and Conclusion

A weed percentage value was assigned to each image. Since these images were georeferenced, it
was possible to construct weed coverage maps by means of a linear interpolation method (Figure
3).
The validation was performed by comparing interpolated values of weed coverage generated by
the automatic system with random georeferenced higher resolution images. Besides, these images
were taken from a closer perspective. For each of these reference images an expert devised the
optimal segmentation separating crop from weed. These segmented images were then computer
evaluated to produce reference values of weed covarage.
Comparison between the reference and the automatically generated maps reveals the capability to
coherently distinguish high from low weed infestation in similar regions (Figure 3).
Although the results were satisfactory quantitatively the main idea was not to provide an accurate
result of weed coverage. The objective was to automatically distinguish levels of infestation, which
can serve as support for the professional create management zones. This qualitative information
is more important, given that the weed coverage percentage alone is not useful for determining the
necessary dosage or type of herbicide, requiring additional information, including stage of maturity
of crops and weeds, species of dominant weeds, and dangers posed by these species.
The weed mapping methods suggested may also help monitoring weed growth after the application

Figure 3. Coverage map

of pre-emergent herbicides. Thus, the effectiveness of herbicide applications could be reviewed and
specific sites where weed control is ineffective could be identified.

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