Methodology of measurement of the opening and coverage of the canopy implementing artificial vision techniques

The Spherical Densiometer is a method of measuring the luminosity present inside the forest ecosystem. This information is essential to know the probability of survival and growth of seedlings; it also allows the estimation of the establishment and development of plants in the understory. This indirect measurement method is considered to be of acceptable efficiency; however, it presents complexity of operability in its application, generating an exposure of the researcher to long periods of solar radiation, physical wear and risks of interaction with wildlife, besides maintaining avariability due to subjectivity and overestimation due to the wide angle of vision and interpretation of the user. In order to obtain samples, it is necessary to have a guidance system, stabilization indicator and a system for recording the results. In the development of this research, a methodology is proposed for the measurement of the opening and coverage of the light environment under the forest canopy, using artificial vision techniques such as image processing in mobile devices. At the same time, the sensors integrated in the device are used to guarantee stabilization and orientation, including the persistent storage of data. As a result of the comparison between the two methods, the proposed methodology demonstrates a 73.49% reduction in canopy measurement times, reducing user exposure to the extreme conditions present in the ecosystem, eliminating subjectivity and overestimation of the results obtained.