A feasibility study on diagnosing wheat water status using spectral reflectance

A total of 110 wheat leaf samples were collected in the field and their spectral reflectances were measured with a spectroradiometer in laboratory. After a spectral normalizing technique, the spectral absorption feature parameters such as the absorption depth and area, were extracted from each leaf spectrum. The relative water content (RWC) was measured for samples. The experimental results indicated that the spectral absorption depth and area of wheat leaves at 1 450 nm were correlated with their RWC. So we can diagnose wheat water status by using their spectral reflectances. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility of developing new instruments based on the analysis of the spectroradiometer data for non-destructive and instantaneous measurement of the wheat water status in the field.