Rapid detection and quantification of sweet potato storage roots using ground penetrating radar

Sweet potato is a nutritionally valuable crop that contributes to food security, owing to its storage roots rich in starch, sugars, and antioxidants, while requiring minimal cultivation inputs. Estimating its yield based on visible above-ground traits remains challenging due to weak and inconsistent correlations between shoot biomass and storage root development. Therefore, direct assessment of underground biomass is essential. In this study, we demonstrate the field application of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for non-destructive detection and yield estimation of sweet potato. GPR is a geophysical technique that typically transmits ultra high frequency radio waves into the soil and records reflections from subsurface objects. Electromagnetic wave simulations within the soil–root system revealed GPR signals that strongly correlate with root length, forming the basis for yield quantification. We developed an image-processing pipeline comprising static correction, gain adjustment, noise filtering, and hyperbola segmentation via the Hough transform to enable semi-automated storage root detection from GPR data. By integrating detection and quantification approaches, a linear regression model predicting sweet potato yield from GPR signals achieved moderate accuracy (R² = 0.567, normalized RMSE 0.190). We established a non-destructive and low-labor approach for monitoring root systems, providing a foundation for rapid, scalable, and field-ready yield estimation in sweet potato and other root and tuber crops.