Application of a spectral sensor for the assessment of nitrogen content in lettuce plants

Title Application of a spectral sensor for the assessment of nitrogen content in lettuce plantsTitle (native language)

Category Recording or mapping technology

Short summary forpractitioners (Practiceabstract) in English)

In this research, a nitrogen sensor was developed to assess nitrogen status of lettuce plants. For thispurpose, a spectral sensor (TCS230, TAOS, USA) along with an AVR microcontroller (ATmega32,Atmel, USA) (620-700 nm) was used. Moreover, the SPAD test on the leaves of lettuce plants waspreformed to compare and confirm the results. The results showed that intensity of solar influence onthe sensor and the light source can be fixed by this approach. Spectral sensor were found to belinearly correlated (r2=86) with chlorophyll content and sensor data. In addition, it was found that thedistance between leaf and sensor is very important, where the best results were obtained within 1-3cm. The increase of distance over 8 cm created a lot of meaningless data. Data analyses showed acorrelation between sensor and chlorophyll meter as r2=0.22. Results shows that the sensor used inthis research have better performance than leaf color chart. In addition, commercial sensors havebetter performance compared with the sensor used in detection of nitrogen plant content.

Short summary forpractitionersWebsiteAudiovisual materialLinks to other websitesAdditional commentsKeywords Fertilisation and nutrients managementAdditional keywords Nitrogen content; Lettuce; Spectral sensor; Chlorophyll; SPADGeographical location(NUTS) EU

Other geographicallocation Global

Cropping systems Open field vegetablesField operations Fertilization | Crop and soil scoutingSFT users Farmer | ContractorEducation level of users Secondary education | Apprenticeship or technical school education | University educationFarm size (ha) 0-2 | 2-10 | 10-50 | 50-100 | 100-200 | 200-500

Scientific article

Title Application of a spectral sensor for the assessment of nitrogen content in lettuce plantsFull citation Maleki, M.; Massah, J.; Dehghan, M. (2012). Australian Journal of Crop Science, DOI:

Effects of this SFTProductivity (crop yield per ha) No effectQuality of product No effectRevenue profit farm income Some increaseSoil biodiversity No effectBiodiversity (other than soil) No effectInput costs No effectVariable costs No effectPost-harvest crop wastage No effectEnergy use Some decreaseCH4 (methane) emission No effectCO2 (carbon dioxide) emission No effectN2O (nitrous oxide) emission No effectNH3 (ammonia) emission No effectNO3 (nitrate) leaching No effectFertilizer use Some decreasePesticide use No effectIrrigation water use No effectLabor time No effectStress or fatigue for farmer No effectAmount of heavy physical labour No effectNumber and/or severity of personal injury accidents No effectNumber and/or severity of accidents resulting in spills property damage incorrectapplication of fertiliser/pesticides etc. No effect

Pesticide residue on product No effectWeed pressure No effectPest pressure (insects etc.) No effectDisease pressure (bacterial fungal viral etc.) No effect

Information related to how easy it is to start using the SFTThis SFT replaces a tool or technology that is currently used. The SFT is better than thecurrent tool no opinion

The SFT can be used without making major changes to the existing system no opinionThe SFT does not require significant learning before the farmer can use it disagreeThe SFT can be used in other useful ways than intended by the inventor no opinionThe SFT has effects that can be directly observed by the farmer disagreeUsing the SFT requires a large time investment by farmer no opinionThe SFT produces information that can be interpreted directly no opinion

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This factsheet was generated on 2018-Apr-03 11:57:17.