Detecting phosphate status in soil and in maize canopies by non-invasive methods
Phosphate status differs both, spatially and temporally in the soil and in the crop canopy during plant growth. Due to high expenditure of time and costs of standard chemical analyses, phosphate patterns in soils are typically monitored in a low spatial and temporal resolution of about one sample per ha once per year, which is far too coarse at given variability.
Our Vision
Encouraged by the successful example of optical nitrogen sensors for on-the-go measurement in plant canopies, the research idea of Research Subject 2.3 is the investigation of the spectral absorbance behaviour of phosphate in soil and plant tissues in visible, near infrared and mid infrared (VIS-NIR-MIR) wavelengths range as basis for the development of optical measurement systems for non-invasive, quasi-continuous detection of phosphate status.
