Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter
Chlorophyll meters are portable devices used to assess and improve plants’ nitrogen management and to help farmers in the determination of the health condition of plants through leaf greenness measurements. These optical electronic instruments can provide an assessment of chlorophyll content by meas...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/5/2699 |
| _version_ | 1797614338198994944 |
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| author | Zacharias Kamarianakis Spyros Panagiotakis |
| author_facet | Zacharias Kamarianakis Spyros Panagiotakis |
| author_sort | Zacharias Kamarianakis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chlorophyll meters are portable devices used to assess and improve plants’ nitrogen management and to help farmers in the determination of the health condition of plants through leaf greenness measurements. These optical electronic instruments can provide an assessment of chlorophyll content by measuring the light passing through a leaf or by measuring the light radiation reflected from its surface. However, independently of the main principle of operation and use (e.g., absorbance vs. reflectance measurements), commercial chlorophyll meters usually cost hundreds or even thousands of euros, making them inaccessible to growers and ordinary citizens who are interested in self-cultivation, farmers, crop researchers, and communities lacking resources in general. A low-cost chlorophyll meter based on light-to-voltage measurements of the remaining light after two LED light emissions through a leaf is designed, constructed, evaluated, and compared against two well-known commercial chlorophyll meters, the SPAD-502 and the atLeaf CHL Plus. Initial tests of the proposed device on lemon tree leaves and on young Brussels sprouts plant leaves revealed promising results compared to the commercial instruments. The coefficient of determination, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, was estimated to be 0.9767 for the SPAD-502 and 0.9898 for the atLeaf-meter in lemon tree leaves samples compared to the proposed device, while for the Brussels sprouts plant, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> was estimated to be 0.9506 and 0.9624, respectively. Further tests conducted as a preliminary evaluation of the proposed device are also presented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:11:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f54192bf6c9c4fd79990beca81035344 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:11:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-f54192bf6c9c4fd79990beca810353442023-11-17T08:38:27ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-03-01235269910.3390/s23052699Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content MeterZacharias Kamarianakis0Spyros Panagiotakis1Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, GreeceDepartment of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, GreeceChlorophyll meters are portable devices used to assess and improve plants’ nitrogen management and to help farmers in the determination of the health condition of plants through leaf greenness measurements. These optical electronic instruments can provide an assessment of chlorophyll content by measuring the light passing through a leaf or by measuring the light radiation reflected from its surface. However, independently of the main principle of operation and use (e.g., absorbance vs. reflectance measurements), commercial chlorophyll meters usually cost hundreds or even thousands of euros, making them inaccessible to growers and ordinary citizens who are interested in self-cultivation, farmers, crop researchers, and communities lacking resources in general. A low-cost chlorophyll meter based on light-to-voltage measurements of the remaining light after two LED light emissions through a leaf is designed, constructed, evaluated, and compared against two well-known commercial chlorophyll meters, the SPAD-502 and the atLeaf CHL Plus. Initial tests of the proposed device on lemon tree leaves and on young Brussels sprouts plant leaves revealed promising results compared to the commercial instruments. The coefficient of determination, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, was estimated to be 0.9767 for the SPAD-502 and 0.9898 for the atLeaf-meter in lemon tree leaves samples compared to the proposed device, while for the Brussels sprouts plant, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> was estimated to be 0.9506 and 0.9624, respectively. Further tests conducted as a preliminary evaluation of the proposed device are also presented.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/5/2699chlorophyll meterSPADatLeafArduinochlorophyll contentlow-cost |
| spellingShingle | Zacharias Kamarianakis Spyros Panagiotakis Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter Sensors chlorophyll meter SPAD atLeaf Arduino chlorophyll content low-cost |
| title | Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter |
| title_full | Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter |
| title_fullStr | Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter |
| title_short | Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Chlorophyll Content Meter |
| title_sort | design and implementation of a low cost chlorophyll content meter |
| topic | chlorophyll meter SPAD atLeaf Arduino chlorophyll content low-cost |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/5/2699 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zachariaskamarianakis designandimplementationofalowcostchlorophyllcontentmeter AT spyrospanagiotakis designandimplementationofalowcostchlorophyllcontentmeter |