Weatherization Study of Botanical Cotton Trash with Fluorescence Imaging

In addition to lint fibers, seed cotton contains various types of trash components originating from botanical and non-botanical sources removed from the field during harvesting. Subsequent to harvesting, seed cotton is transported to the ginning facilities where it is subject to decontamination. Samples of ginned cotton are extracted from bales and they undergo quality assessment by human classers and the grading instruments, resulting in grades which determine their marketability and monetary value. Grading by human classers is subjective, while more accurate quality grades are assigned by instruments like the HVI. The instruments provide a number of quality parameters but cannot differentiate and classify different categories of cotton trash. To investigate the possibility of using fluorescent imaging to acquire images of cotton trash, images of cotton trash were processed through a sequence of image processing steps and their respective channels used to provide essential information regarding cotton trash. The study presents the effects of aging on cotton trash samples extracted from cotton plants, and the ability of the imaging system to perform depth imaging of trash particles.