The climate crisis poses challenges to global agriculture. Persistent drought, severe local storms or flooding have a negative impact on the development of cereal crops and jeopardise yields - a major risk for food security. The PETAL project consortium is creating correction and analysis models for functional imaging data so that stress-related changes in wheat can be detected quickly. VRVis is cooperating here with a group of research and company partners: Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo - Neuromed SRL, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, Ghent University, Maastricht University, University of Teramo, The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (University of Oxford), Bollino IT S.p.A. and IBF Servizi S.p.A.
Applying PET analysis to agriculture
The newly developed models allow a quantitative interpretation of images coming from positron emission tomography (PET). PET is an imaging technique used to visualise metabolic activities in the tissue of living organisms. The PETAL team is compiling a comprehensive, unique data set from images of wheat plants, morphological and proteomic data (data on all existing proteins) and CT images of roots. This will form the basis for defining measurable parameters on which stress has an influence during early plant development.
Establishing expertise in imaging methods strengthens food security
Based on this data set, the PETAL consortium will establish a platform that provides services for early growth analyses of wheat crops. The project partners bring in broad expertise from various disciplines, including physics, technology, biology, agronomy, ecology, computer science and the field of software systems.
Researchers involved in the platform are working on validating PET as an imaging method for plants and developing technologies for PET data analysis. Training courses provide knowledge on data analysis, implementation of algorithms and experimental techniques in agriculture. In this way, the PETAL consortium aims to anchor expertise and skills in the use of functional imaging in the agricultural sector.
Scientific Director | Head of Biomedical Image Informatics Group, Biomedical Image Informatics
buehler(at)vrvis.at +43 1 908 98 92 401Start: 10.2021
End: 05.2026
VRVis has been part of the project since the beginning of 2024, the consortium has broadened over time.
Project partner
Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo - Neuromed SRL, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, Ghent University, Maastricht University, University of Teramo, The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (University of Oxford), Bollino IT S.p.A., IBF Servizi S.p.A.
Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange)
Due to climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and new pests are establishing in agriculture. Together with three project partners, VRVis is developing a digital imaging system for plants that combines information from magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography and detects stress symptoms in plants at an early stage.
VRVis a founding member of the Austrian BioImaging/CMI, which is a professional consortium of multiple Austrian science institutions and the official Austrian Euro-BioImaging initiative.
Within the framework of “AI for Green”-funded research project develops AI-based solutions aimed at optimizing free satellite data for monitoring agricultural areas of all sizes.