LiDAR technology for monitoring sugarcane production

Laser sensor applications associated with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology on aerial or terrestrial platforms allow the evaluation of crop and forest biomass in a non-invasive way. This study presents the development of a measurement system based on LiDAR technology aimed at the proposed assessment of biomass in a sugarcane production environment during the pre-harvest period. A laser sensor, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver, and an inertial unit compose the measurement system. The equipment was integrated with a computer for data acquisition and installed on an agricultural tractor platform. The GNSS receiver with a Real Time Kinematic signal was synchronized to the laser sensor to obtain the point cloud and to the inertial unit to evaluate the intensity of the vibration from platform oscillation. Data acquisition was carried about 10 days before the sugarcane harvest. The developed steps of acquisition and processing of LiDAR data enabled the generation of point clouds with a density of 3,000 points m-² and the extraction of metrics related to the height of sugarcane vegetation. The influence of vibration in the dataset was more significant in one of the experimental fields due to the spectral power of up to 1,280 dB, requiring the application of stabilizing filters in future studies.