The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields
Glyphosate is one of the most widely used non-selective systemic herbicides, but nowadays its application is controversially discussed. Optical remote sensing techniques might provide a sufficient tool for monitoring glyphosate use. In order to investigate the potential of this technology, a laborat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/9/1409 |
| _version_ | 1797553470374412288 |
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| author | Elke Bloem Heike Gerighausen Xijuan Chen Ewald Schnug |
| author_facet | Elke Bloem Heike Gerighausen Xijuan Chen Ewald Schnug |
| author_sort | Elke Bloem |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Glyphosate is one of the most widely used non-selective systemic herbicides, but nowadays its application is controversially discussed. Optical remote sensing techniques might provide a sufficient tool for monitoring glyphosate use. In order to investigate the potential of this technology, a laboratory experiment was set-up using pots with rolled grass sods. Glyphosate-treated plants were compared to drought-stressed and control plants. All pots were frequently measured using a field spectrometer and a hyperspectral-imaging camera. Plant samples were analysed for photosynthetic pigments, polyphenols and dry matter content. Eight selected vegetation indices were calculated from the spectral measurements. The results show that photosynthetic pigments were sensitive to differentiate between control and glyphosate treated plants already 2 days after application. From the vegetation indices, the normalized difference lignin index (NDLI) responded most sensitively followed by indices referring to photosynthetic pigments, namely, the carotenoid reflectance index (CRI-1) and the photochemical reflectance index (PRI). It can be concluded that spectral vegetation indices are, in principal, a suitable proxy to non-destructively monitor glyphosate application on agricultural fields. Further research is needed to verify its applicability under field conditions. An operational monitoring is, however, currently limited by the requirements for temporal and spectral resolution of the satellite sensors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:16:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b71b25b246ad4bfa97912f598f07b416 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:16:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-b71b25b246ad4bfa97912f598f07b4162023-11-20T14:01:07ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952020-09-01109140910.3390/agronomy10091409The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural FieldsElke Bloem0Heike Gerighausen1Xijuan Chen2Ewald Schnug3Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Sciences, Bundesallee 69, 38116 Braunschweig, GermanyJulius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Sciences, Bundesallee 69, 38116 Braunschweig, GermanyState Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaJulius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Sciences, Bundesallee 69, 38116 Braunschweig, GermanyGlyphosate is one of the most widely used non-selective systemic herbicides, but nowadays its application is controversially discussed. Optical remote sensing techniques might provide a sufficient tool for monitoring glyphosate use. In order to investigate the potential of this technology, a laboratory experiment was set-up using pots with rolled grass sods. Glyphosate-treated plants were compared to drought-stressed and control plants. All pots were frequently measured using a field spectrometer and a hyperspectral-imaging camera. Plant samples were analysed for photosynthetic pigments, polyphenols and dry matter content. Eight selected vegetation indices were calculated from the spectral measurements. The results show that photosynthetic pigments were sensitive to differentiate between control and glyphosate treated plants already 2 days after application. From the vegetation indices, the normalized difference lignin index (NDLI) responded most sensitively followed by indices referring to photosynthetic pigments, namely, the carotenoid reflectance index (CRI-1) and the photochemical reflectance index (PRI). It can be concluded that spectral vegetation indices are, in principal, a suitable proxy to non-destructively monitor glyphosate application on agricultural fields. Further research is needed to verify its applicability under field conditions. An operational monitoring is, however, currently limited by the requirements for temporal and spectral resolution of the satellite sensors.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/9/1409chlorophylldroughtglyphosatepolyphenolsspectral reflectance measurementsvegetation indices |
| spellingShingle | Elke Bloem Heike Gerighausen Xijuan Chen Ewald Schnug The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields Agronomy chlorophyll drought glyphosate polyphenols spectral reflectance measurements vegetation indices |
| title | The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields |
| title_full | The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields |
| title_fullStr | The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields |
| title_short | The Potential of Spectral Measurements for Identifying Glyphosate Application to Agricultural Fields |
| title_sort | potential of spectral measurements for identifying glyphosate application to agricultural fields |
| topic | chlorophyll drought glyphosate polyphenols spectral reflectance measurements vegetation indices |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/9/1409 |
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