GRA.LE.D. (GRApevine LEaf Digitalization) Software for the Detection and Graphic Reconstruction of Ampelometric Differences Between Vitis Leaves

Raster graphic ampelometric software was not exclusively developed for the estimation of leaf area,but also for the characterization of grapevine (Viti vinifera L.) leaves. The software was written in C++programming language, using the C++ Builder 2007 for Windows 95-XP and Linux operation systems. Ithandles desktop-scanned images. On the image analysed with the GRA.LE.D., the user has to determine11 points. These points are then connected and the distances between them calculated. The GRA.LE.D.software supports standard ampelometric measurements such as leaf area, angles between the veins andlengths of the veins. These measurements are recorded by the software and exported into plain ASCII textfiles for single or multiple samples. Twenty-two biometric data points of each leaf are identified by theGRA.LE.D. It presents the opportunity to statistically analyse experimental data, allows comparison ofcultivars and enables graphic reconstruction of leaves using the Microsoft Excel Chart Wizard. The GRA.LE.D. was thoroughly calibrated and compared to other widely used instruments and methods such asphoto-gravimetry, LiCor Li3100, WinDIAS2.0 and ImageTool. By comparison, the GRA.LE.D. presentedthe most accurate measurements of leaf area, but the LiCor Li3100 and the WinDIAS2.0 were faster, whilethe photo-gravimetric method proved to be the most time-consuming. The WinDIAS2.0 instrument wasthe least reliable. The GRA.LE.D. is uncomplicated, user-friendly, accurate, consistent, reliable and haswide practical application