## 1 Introduction  
Cocoa (_Theobroma cacao_ L) is considered a major world commodity crop and is the seventh most exported food product [1]. Its primary use is for chocolate manufacture, with an estimate of 3981 thousand tons of cocoa bean production in 2016 globally [2]. However, as with any other crop, the quality of cocoa beans is determinant for consumers' acceptability and end-product cost. The cocoa beans intended for manufacturing must comply with specific quality parameters such as shape, size, color [3], flavor, aroma, cocoa butter, and protein content [4]. These are mainly related to the genotype of the clone, climatic and agricultural conditions, and agricultural practices (e.g., water management, fertilization, canopy management), as well as fermentation, drying, and industrialization processes [5; 6; 7; 8; 9]. The cocoa crop and its production are also very important for developing countries. For example, cocoa produce from Ecuador is highly valued internationally due to their recognized aroma intensity development [10]. Cocoa trees are grown in regions with high rainfall (1250-3000 mm/year), average temperatures between 18 and 32 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and calm wind conditions to avoid defoliation. Furthermore, shade is an important factor, especially in young trees, as it provides protection from excessive solar radiation and helps enhance aroma profiles that are desirable in the final chocolate product. They are usually planted at a density of 400-2500 trees per hectare and produce an average yield of between 200 and 800 kg of fermented dried cocoa per hectare [4; 11; 12]. There are three main cocoa tree varieties: (i) Criollo, (ii) Forastero, and (iii) Trinitario, the latter being a hybrid group. Varieties i and iii are considered as fine-quality or flavor-quality cocoa beans, while ii is used to produce bulk-quality cocoa. Specifically, the cocoa quality is mainly influenced by the growing conditions where the tree is grown, such as soil depth, pH (4.5-7), weather changes, and pest and disease control [13]. Some techniques to manage the cocoa trees to assure high-quality beans are: (i) Pest and disease control, (ii) soil nutrients management, (iii) weed control, and (iv) management of shade and canopy pruning [14]. The latter technique, (iv), is important due to the fact that the relationship between light and shade is critical, as the shade provides protection against sunlight and high winds, and lowers the temperature to manage the growth of the cocoa tree [4; 11]. In cocoa plantations, some in-field factors that have been reported to affect cocoa quality are the exposure to solar radiation, which has effects on the final fruits' dry weight and the growth temperature, which has, in turn, an influence on the lipid content and melting point [15]. However, no relationship between the aroma quality of the cocoa beans and canopy architecture parameters, such as leaf area index (LAI), has been reported. A complex method proposed by researchers to assess cocoa beans quality from the field is through the genetic identification of the variety by using deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprinting and utilizing microsatellite markers containing the information from leaf samples [13; 16]. However, this method is time-consuming, non-practical, and cost ineffective. Furthermore, the analysis of the trees at the leaf level has shown to be challenging due to the difficulty of sampling leaves with the same growth conditions (e.g., shade, age) [11] and the complexity of the environment when plants are grown between other tree species (i.e., within a forest). This paper presents the assessment of canopy architecture parameters of cocoa trees using the VitiCanopy computer application [17] as a ground-truth to validate information extracted from aerial images, to automatically obtain these parameters within a plantation and up to a tree-by-tree resolution.