Evaluating Leaf and Canopy Reflectance of Stressed Rice Plants to Monitor Arsenic Contamination

Varaprasad Bandaru, Craig S. Daughtry, Eton E. Codling, David J. Hansen, Susan White-Hansen and Carrie E. Green
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Varaprasad Bandaru: Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Craig S. Daughtry: USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Eton E. Codling: USDA-ARS Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
David J. Hansen: Outreach & Engagement/Extension Administration, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Susan White-Hansen: Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Carrie E. Green: USDA-ARS Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Arsenic contamination is a serious problem in rice cultivated soils of many developing countries. Hence, it is critical to monitor and control arsenic uptake in rice plants to avoid adverse effects on human health. This study evaluated the feasibility of using reflectance spectroscopy to monitor arsenic in rice plants. Four arsenic levels were induced in hydroponically grown rice plants with application of 0, 5, 10 and 20 µmol·L ?1 sodium arsenate. Reflectance spectra of upper fully expanded leaves were acquired over visible and infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Additionally, canopy reflectance for the four arsenic levels was simulated using SAIL (Scattering by Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves) model for various soil moisture conditions and leaf area indices (LAI). Further, sensitivity of various vegetative indices (VIs) to arsenic levels was assessed. Results suggest that plants accumulate high arsenic amounts causing plant stress and changes in reflectance characteristics. All leaf spectra based VIs related strongly with arsenic with coefficient of determination (r 2 ) greater than 0.6 while at canopy scale, background reflectance and LAI confounded with spectral signals of arsenic affecting the VIs’ performance. Among studied VIs, combined index, transformed chlorophyll absorption reflectance index (TCARI)/optimized soil adjusted vegetation index (OSAVI) exhibited higher sensitivity to arsenic levels and better resistance to soil backgrounds and LAI followed by red edge based VIs (modified chlorophyll absorption reflectance index (MCARI) and TCARI) suggesting that these VIs could prove to be valuable aids for monitoring arsenic in rice fields.

Keywords: plant stress; leaf chlorophyll; rice; arsenic uptake; spectral reflectance; SAIL model; red edge; vegetative indices; LAI; soil reflectance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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