Relationships Between Soil Water Status and Crop Canopy Measurements of Water and Nitrogen Stress.
Monday, November 4, 2013: 2:00 PM
Tampa Convention Center, Room 10, First Floor
Nick C. Ward, Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, Richard B. Ferguson, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, Timothy M. Shaver, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, North Platte, NE, Suat Irmak, Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE and Daran Rudnick, Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Crop canopy sensors mounted on field equipment can provide dense, real-time data of crop status. Soil moisture sensors however are sparsely placed due to cost of equipment and labor required for installation. From 2011 to 2013, a study was conducted to measure the response of corn (Zea mays L.) to nitrogen across varying irrigation regimes. Treatments were designed as split plots consisting of five N rates (0 to 225 kg ha-1) within three rates of irrigation (full irrigation to rain fed). Data from this study was analyzed to explore relationships between canopy height, temperature and reflectance to soil moisture data measured by neutron scatter and resistance. Data collection for canopy characteristics took place at least three times during the growing season with soil moisture data was collected daily (resistance) or bi-weekly (neutron).
