Mapping Orchard Trees from Uav Imagery Through One Growing Season: A Comparison Between Obia-Based and Three CNN-Based Object Detection Methods

Extracting the irregular and complex shapes of individual tree crowns from high-resolution imagery can play a crucial role in many applications, including precision agriculture. We evaluated three CNN models - MASK R-CNN, YOLOv3, and SAM - and compared their tree crown results with OBIA-based reference datasets from UAV imagery for seven dates across one growing season. We found that YOLOv3 performed poorly across all dates; both MASK R-CNN and SAM performed well in May, June, September, and November (Precision, Recall and F1 scores over 0.79). All models struggled in the early season imagery (e.g., March). MASK R-CNN outperformed other models in August (when there was smoke haze) and December (showing end of season red leaf senescence). SAM was the fastest model, and as it required no training, it could cover more area in less time; MASK R-CNN was very accurate and customizable. In this paper, we aimed to contribute insight into which CNN model offers the best balance of accuracy and ease of implementation for orchard management tasks. We also evaluated their applicability within one software ecosystem, ESRI ArcGIS Pro, and showed how such an approach offers users a streamlined, efficient way to detect objects in high resolution UAV imagery.