The UPSC Tree Phenotyping Platform is a unique facility to automatically monitor and record growth parameters of trees. The trees are moved around on a conveyor belt and are automatically photographed, watered and fertilized once a day.
A collection of aspen trees from different latitudes in Sweden after 8 weeks of growth on the Tree phenotyping platform (Photo: Ioana Gaboreanu)
The Tree Phenotyping Platform automatically monitors and records the growth parameters of trees. A custom conveyor belt system is used for plant delivery from growth area to the imaging cabinets and watering stations. Plants are weighed and irrigated to a predefined target weight or with a fixed volume of water. The system allows the controlled application of fertilizers.
The height of the plants is recorded automatically when passing through a measuring light curtain.
All the measurement data is stored on the server and it is accesible in the database interface PIPPA.
The imaging cabinets accomodates two camera systems. The first one consist of three RGB cameras capturing side images from different angles, a top image and a detailed image of the lower stem. The stem width is recorded as the number of pixels on a selected area of the stem in the image.
The second imaging cabinet has a thermal infrared camera that captures the top image of the plant to determine leaf termperature, a proxy for perceived water stress.
Left: Side image of a hybrid aspen tree T89 aquired by the WIWAM system; Middle Top: Top image of a hybrid aspen tree T89 acquired by the WIWAM system; Middle Bottom: Thermal infrared image of a hybrid aspen T89 acquired by the WIWAM system; Right: Image analysis on the detailed image of the tree stem aquired by the WIWAM system (Photos: Ioana Gaboreanu)Images can be analyzed by user defined processing scripts in order to extract further growth-related data as well as leaf temperature and water consumption data.
The total capacity of the platform is 728 smaller trees, but it is routinely used for growing 364 tall trees up to 2.5 meters height.
The platform is exclusively lightened by artificial LED lights and allows, to a certain extent, the adjustments of photoperiod, light intensity and light quality as well as temperature and humidity.
The platform was built within the project “UPSC Forest Biology and Biotechnology”, granted 2016 by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation and was officially commissioned and inaugurated in October 2019.
Booking procedure for the phenotyping platform
The tree phenotyping platform is only available for people working at UPSC or having collaborations with groups at UPSC.
For space availablility inquiries please contact Ioana Gaboreanu at
More information can be found in the form which should be filled in and submitted once you have been allocated a growth space on the platform. The form can be found here 
Form_Phenotyping_platform.doc
Possible type of experiments
- Growth assesment;
- Drought stress;
- Short days;
- Nutrient uptake (one type of solution only).
Services provided
- Experiment design and pot labeling;
- Help with planting and harvesting;
- Cutting corners of bags and bags removal;
- Treatment with nematodes;
- Removal of lower leaves and lateral shoots;
- Adding supporting sticks to the trees;
- Provide the user with the raw images at the end of the experiment.
Technical specifications
Equipment
WIWAM 16-0498 - Weighing, Imaging and Watering machines for scientific Research – SMO&VIB Ghent, Belgium
Database server
Typical greenhouse conditions
Light source:
LED (Fionia FL300 Sunlight) supplemented with Far-Red lamps Senmatic FL 100 special build (725-735 nm)
Irradiance: 160-230 µmol/m²s
Temperature:
Day: 22 degrees Celsius
Night: 18 degrees Celsius
Humidity:
approx 70%
More details can be found in this PDF document: 
General_Information.pdf
List of publications where the Tree phenotyping platform was used for tree growing
- Aspen growth is not limited by starch reserves. Wang, W., Talide, L., Viljamaa, S., & Niittylä, T.Current Biology, 32(16): 3619–3627.e4. August 2022. First description – should be used when referring to the use of the platform.
- Flexure wood formation via growth reprogramming in hybrid aspen involves jasmonates and polyamines and transcriptional changes resembling tension wood development. Urbancsok, J., Donev, E. N., Sivan, P., van Zalen, E., Barbut, F. R., Derba-Maceluch, M., Šimura, J., Yassin, Z., Gandla, M. L., Karady, M., Ljung, K., Winestrand, S., Jönsson, L. J., Scheepers, G., Delhomme, N., Street, N. R., & Mellerowicz, E. J.New Phytologist. October 2023.
- Integrity of xylan backbone affects plant responses to drought. Barbut, F. R., Cavel, E., Donev, E. N., Gaboreanu, I., Urbancsok, J., Pandey, G., Demailly, H., Jiao, D., Yassin, Z., Derba-Maceluch, M., Master, E. R., Scheepers, G., Gutierrez, L., & Mellerowicz, E. J.Frontiers in Plant Science, 15. June 2024.
Access to and rules at the phenotyping platform
As the phenotyping platform is physically connected to the Wallenberg Greenhouse, the access and safety requirements follow the requirements of the Wallenberg Greenhouse. Please find more information under the following links:
Access to the Wallenberg Lab and Greenhouse
Rules and Safety Regulation for accessing the Wallenberg Greenhouse
For more information concerning rules and regulations in the Wallenberg Greenhouse, please contact:
Contact
For further information please contact:
Ove Nilsson:
Ioana Gaboreanu:
Personnel: