ExtSpecR: An R Package and Tool for Extracting Tree Spectra from UAV-Based Remote Sensing

Abstract

The development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing has been increasingly applied in forestry for high-throughput and rapid acquisition of tree phenomics traits for various research areas. However, the detection of individual trees and the extraction of their spectral data remain a challenge, often requiring manual annotation. Although several software-based solutions have been developed, they are far from being widely adopted. This paper presents ExtSpecR, an open-source tool for spectral extraction of a single tree in forestry with an easy-to-use interactive web application. ExtSpecR reduces the time required for single tree detection and annotation and simplifies the entire process of spectral and spatial feature extraction from UAV-based imagery. In addition, ExtSpecR provides several functionalities with interactive dashboards that allow users to maximize the quality of information extracted from UAV data. ExtSpecR can promote the practical use of UAV remote sensing data among forest ecology and tree breeding researchers and help them to further understand the relationships between tree growth and its physiological traits.