USDA-ARS Phenocart RGB Imagery Collected in Brookings, SD in 2021

Abstract

Data were collected from an experimental field in 2021 at the Eastern South Dakota Soil and Water Research Farm in Brookings, SD, USA (44.351 N, 96.805 W). The experiment consisted of a number of oat (Avena sativa L.) variety-by-seeding-rate treatments that were further divided into medium red clover planting treatments in a strip-block design with four replicates and a plot size of 6 m by 6 m. Oat treatments crossed variety (Reins, Natty, Sumo) and target oat population (140, 220, and 320 plants m-2) in 19 cm, drilled rows; red clover showed no responses to these oat treatments. Red clover treatments compared clover planted concurrently with oats (“underseeded”) on April 28, 2021; planted after oat harvest (“post-harvest”) on August 12, 2021; or no clover (“fallow”). Red clover was drilled at 1.25 cm depth at a rate of 8.2 kg ha-1 at a row spacing of 19 cm. An herbicide application of 210 g ha-1 sethoxydim (Poast, BASF Crop Protection, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA), which selectively targets monocots, was applied on August 20, 2021, to control volunteer oats. A total of 720 RGB JPEG images were collected over six dates. The dates span the emergence of the post-harvest red clover planting to the first killing frost: August 21st, September 9th, September 29th, October 5th, October 15th, and October 25th. Images were collected by a Canon PowerShot ELPH 190 IS at a height of 2.5 m in the center of each plot using a phenotyping cart (White & Conley, 2013). To mirror the simplest use by researchers and practitioners, the camera was configured in full default, automatic mode, including ISO (a standard setting for controlling image darkness) and white balance and a 74-degree horizontal field of view. One image was taken from a representative location per plot on each date.