Paper Withdrawn
Monday, November 13, 2006
127-11
Environmental Monitoring of Sewage Sludge Application and its Effects on Agricultural Fields Using Remote Sensing.
B. B. Maruthi Sridhar, Matt Seudkamp, and Robert K. Vincent. Dept of Geology, Bowling Green State Univ, Bowling Green, OH 43403
The long-term objective of this research is to seek spectral signatures that indicate the heavy metal stress in the canopies of plants grown in sewage sludge applied fields. In recent years, application of sewage sludge to agricultural soils is becoming widespread in north-west Ohio. Even though sewage sludge is widely recognized as a source of major plant nutrients, it is extremely variable in composition and contains high levels of heavy metals. The focus of the current research is to study the effects of repeated application of sewage sludge on the physiological and spectral characteristics of the maize (Zea mays) plants. A field study was conducted at a local farmer’s field where a total of 6 field plots, 3 plots in sewage sludge applied fields and 3 plots in untreated or control fields where no sludge has ever been applied, was established. Through out the growing season the reflectance spectra of the plant canopy using a portable spectroradiometer and plant characteristics such as plant height, leaf length, leaf width, and number of leaves were recorded. At maturity the plants were harvested, oven dried and prepared for chemical analysis. Maize plants grown in sludge applied field showed significant changes in the growth characteristics and the spectral reflectance of the plants. The detected spectral changes will be applied to the LANDSAT imagery to detect the plant stress. This study suggests that remote sensing can be used as a reliable, non-intrusive, continuous method to monitor the plant health in sludge amended fields.