Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Spectral processing for algae monitoring and mapping (SPAMM): remote sensing methodologies for river ecology(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2024) Logan, Riley Donovan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Joseph A. Shaw; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Inland water quality is a growing concern to public health, riparian ecosystems, and recreational uses of our waterways. Many modern water quality programs include measures of the presence and abundance of harmful and nuisance algae. In southwestern Montana, large blooms of the nuisance algae, Cladophora glomerata, have become common in the Upper Clark Fork River due to a combination of warming water temperatures, naturally high phosphorus levels, and an influx of contaminants through wastewater and anthropogenic activity along its banks. To improve understanding of bloom dynamics, such as algal biomass and percent algae cover, and their effects on water quality, a UAV-based hyperspectral imaging system was used to monitor several locations along the Upper Clark Fork River. Image data were collected across the spectral range of 400 - 1000 nm with 2.1 nm spectral resolution during field sampling campaigns across the entirety of the project, beginning in 2019 and ending in 2023. In this dissertation, methodologies for monitoring water quality were developed. These methods include estimating benthic algal pigment abundance using spectral band ratios achieving R 2 values of up to 0.62 for chlorophyll alpha and 0.96 for phycocyanin; creating spatial algae distribution maps and estimating percent algae cover using machine learning classification algorithms with accuracies greater than 99%; combining spatial algae distribution maps and improved pigment estimation using machine learning regression algorithms for creating chlorophyll alpha abundance maps, achieving an R 2 of 0.873, while also comparing abundance values to Montana water quality thresholds; and identifying salient wavelengths for monitoring and mapping algae to inform the design of a low-cost and compact multispectral imager. Throughout all field campaigns, significant spatial variations in algal growth within each river reach and frequent violations of current water quality standards were observed, demonstrating the need for high-spatial resolution monitoring techniques to be incorporated in current water quality monitoring programs.Item Calibration and characterization of a VNIR hyperspectral imager for produce monitoring(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2020) Logan, Riley Donovan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Joseph A. Shaw; Joseph A. Shaw was a co-author of the article, 'Measuring the polarization response of a VNIR hyperspectral imager' in the journal 'SPIE proceedings' which is contained within this thesis.; Bryan Scherrer, Jacob Senecal, Neil S. Walton, Amy Peerlinck, John W. Sheppard, and Joseph A. Shaw were co-authors of the article, 'Hyperspectral imaging and machine learning for monitoring produce ripeness' in the journal 'SPIE proceedings' which is contained within this thesis.Hyperspectral imaging is a powerful remote sensing tool capable of capturing rich spectral and spatial information. Although the origins of hyperspectral imaging are in terrestrial remote sensing, new applications are emerging rapidly. Owing to its non-destructive nature, hyperspectral imaging has become a useful tool for monitoring produce ripeness. This paper describes the process of characterizing and calibrating a visible near-infrared (VNIR) hyperspectral imager for obtaining accurate images of produce to be used in machine learning algorithms for analysis. In this work, many calibrations and characterization are outlined, including: a radiance calibration, the process of calculating reflectance, pixel uniformity and image stability testing, spectral characterization, illumination source analysis, and measurement of the polarization response. The images obtained by the calibrated hyperspectral imager were converted to reflectance across a spectral range of 387.12 nm to 1023.5 nm, with a spectral resolution of 2.12 nm. A convolutional neural network was used to perform age classification for Yukon Gold potatoes, bananas, and green peppers. Additionally, a genetic algorithm was used to determine the wavelengths carrying the most useful information for age classification. Experiments were run using red green blue (RGB) images, full-spectrum hyperspectral images, and the wavelengths selected by the genetic algorithm feature selection method. Preliminary data from these analyses show promising results at accurately classifying produce age. The genetic algorithm feature selection method is being used to develop a low-cost multispectral imager for use in monitoring produce in grocery stores.