iPAR support

General Usage

How do I start using iPAR?

How do I take a different group of measurements?

How do I delete a Photo?

How do I retake a Photo?

How do I reposition the polygon?

How do I browse my photos?

How do I pull up the floating bar menu?

How do I share the results?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the green ring and the number on each image?

How accurate is the estimation of PAR or leaf area?

Why is taking the pictures at solar noon so important?

Known Issues

Sometimes my photos do not appear in the floating bar menu

Photos appear askew on the process images

 

 

General Usage.

How to use iPAR

 

How do I start using iPAR?

 

Choose section(s) of the orchard that are representative of average healthy trees and do not contain sick or missed trees. Take the photo facing north, in the north hemisphere, and south, in the south hemisphere. The photo should show the canopy shadow in the drive row.

 

Press the camera icon, it will take the picture and save it in a new “History” entry.

 

Take as many pictures as you want.

 

When you are ready to process the pictures simply touch the lower part of the screen and a floating bar will appear.

 

Select one of the photos, place the polygon at the base of the trunks, and press “Next” on the lower right of the screen.

 

Enter the number of tree spacings that you have covered with the polygon. You will enter tree and row spacing, and crop (almond or walnut) and name the location. To continue processing press “Done” on the upper right of your screen.

 

The Photo will be processed and the next photo will appear. Repeat these steps until you complete all the photos. Then the application will ask you if you want to check the results and validate them.

 

To check your results you can select the “Results” button on the right side of the floating bar menu. A summary report will appear on your screen.

 

How do I take a different group of measurements?

 

If more than ten minutes elapses between two consecutives photos, the app will ask you if you want to save the last photo in a new history record or keep it in the same record.

 

When you take photos that are more than 12 hours apart, the new photo will be saved in a new “History” record.

 

 

How do I delete a Photo?

To delete a photo, select the photo in the floating bar menu at the bottom of the screen.

 

And then swipe up on the photo that you want to delete. The application will ask you for a confirmation.

 

How do I retake a Photo?

 

To retake a photo, select the floating bar menu at the bottom of the screen.

 

Then press on the photo that you want to retake.

 

If the photo has not been processed, just go back take a picture and delete the one you want to retake.

 

If the photo is already processed, then swipe up or down until the original picture is in view without the polygon and touch in the middle of the screen. The app will ask for a confirmation and then it will show the camera view if you choose to retake the photo.

 

How do I reposition the polygon?

 

Select the photo you want to alter.

 

Then with the photo and polygon both in view touch in the middle of the screen.

 

The app will ask you if you want to modify the polygon then follow the normal step to process it.

 

Position the polygon.

Press “Next”.

Enter the number of tree spaces you have covered.

 

How do I browse my photos?

 

You have three options to browse the history and photos in each log.

 

1.- On the floating bar.

To browse through your photos pull up the floating bar by touching the bottom of the screen.

 

You can browse through the current logged photos swiping to your left or right directly on the bar.

 

2.- Through the History table view.

You can press the “History” button and choose another log measure, in a table view style.

 

On the History table view if you press a log it will show you those photos and by selecting any of them you can view the actual photo.

 

Depending upon whether the photo has been processed or not, it will show you the original image or the image with the polygon ready to place it.

 

3.- Directly from the images.

Select the floating bar menu and choose any of the photos, it will show that photo with the polygon ready to place if it is not processed, and the original photo if it is already processed.

 

Then to browse through the images just swipe up or down, the cycle of image is as follows,

 

Original image à original image plus polygon à processed image à threshold image with estimation value

 

If you swipe to the left or right you will change to the previous or next image from your measurements.

How do I pull up the floating bar menu?

 

In the camera view touch the bottom of the screen. A floating bar will appear with your photos and two buttons.

 

The “History” button is located on the left side, which will show you all your measurements. The “Result” button is located on the right side this will display a summary of the current log.

 

How do I share the results?

 

You can share the results via email. Two files will be attached. One PDF file with the photos and estimated PAR values, and a CSV file with only the values.

 

To send an email select the “Results” button on the right side of the floating bar menu. A summary report will appear on your screen.

 

At top of this view is a bar that contains the log name. A “Done” button will appear on the left, and a share icon on the right. When the button on the right is blue the app is ready to send an email.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to frequently asked questions

 

What are the green ring and the number on each image?

The green ring is a representation of the PAR or leaf area covered estimated within the area that the polygon covered.

 

The number over the ring has two meanings.

 

On the floating bar it represents the numeric order of this set of photos, and on the processed picture means the PAR or leaf area that was estimated.

 

How accurate is the estimation of PAR or leaf area?

 

The precision can be improved if the canopy shadow is not obscured by branches, leaf, or weeds. Precision will also increase when the pictures are taken in close proximity to solar noon.

 

Why is taking the pictures at solar noon so important?

 

At solar noon the contrast between the shaded and illuminated part of the floor are more acute, and PAR will be at the minimum daily value.

 

The value of PAR can be described as U shape during the day where the values during the morning and evening are higher than at solar noon. Also during solar noon and around the time of solar noon the PAR value remains constant.

 

The app is a great tool for following the development of an orchard, taking photos at the same solar time, solar angle and location, ensures that the data will be comparable.

 

  

Know Issues

 Issues

 

Sometimes my photos do not appear in the floating bar menu.

 

There is an issue when the floating bar is loading the photos. Sometimes the floating bar appears to not load the thumbnail images.

 

This is a known issue that our team hopes to solve ASAP. In the mean time, if you touch on the space where the thumbnails should be the application will show the correct photo.

Photos appear askew on the process images.

 

The images appear askew as a result of the perspective correction process. The app assumes that the orchard floor is flat.

 

This should only appear in orchards with berms or in instances where the orchard floor it is not flat.