Thirsty crops can now be spotted from the air, say researchers in California.
Since plants with enough water have cooler leaves than dry plants, airborne
thermal imaging cameras should be able to tell the difference. The problem is
that heat radiated from bare soil between crop rows confuses cameras. Steve Maas
and his colleagues at the US Department of Agriculture鈥檚 research station at
Shafter, California, have solved the problem by combining thermal data with
digital images to calculate the percentage of ground covered by leaves. 鈥淲e
could tell the day after we turned the water off in our test fields,鈥 Maas
says.
More from 51动漫
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Physics
The once-impossible black holes that could break thermodynamics
Comment
Life
Darwin proved right about gnat-trapping carnivorous plant
News
Humans
We鈥檙e beginning to understand the sudden 鈥榞rief attacks鈥 that hit mourners
Features
Comment
The best new popular science books of August 2026
Culture
Popular articles
Trending 51动漫 articles