UAStools

UAStools generates ESRI polygon shapefiles from experimental design and geolocation inputs to enable plot-level data extraction from UAS (drone) remote-sensing imagery in small-plot agricultural phenotyping and crop monitoring experiments.

Key Features:

• plotshpcreate R function: Creates ESRI polygon shapefiles tailored to individual plot dimensions and configurations.
• Input-driven polygon placement: Uses experimental design, field orientation, and plot dimensions to position polygons.
• Geolocation anchoring: Aligns polygons based on a provided front-left field geolocation to minimize manual alignment in GIS.
• Multi-polygon generation: Produces a comprehensive multi-polygon shapefile representing entire small-plot experiments.
• Plot-level linkage: Outputs shapefiles that support extraction of plot-level remote-sensing data and mapping to unique experimental plot IDs.

Scientific Applications:

• Small-plot remote sensing: Enables generation of plot polygons for extraction of data from UAS/drone imagery.
• Field phenotyping: Facilitates linking remote-sensing measurements to individual plots for phenotypic trait analysis.
• Crop monitoring: Supports spatially resolved monitoring of crop conditions at the plot scale using remote-sensing datasets.
• Experimental data integration: Allows integration of plot-level remote-sensing outputs with experimental design and plot IDs for downstream analysis.

Methodology:

The R function takes experimental design, field orientation, plot dimensions, and a front-left field geolocation and generates a positioned multi-polygon ESRI shapefile for overlay in GIS to enable plot-level data extraction and linkage to plot IDs.