Distinguishing Plant Functional Traits with Mobile Imaging Spectrometry.

Automated imaging spectrometry from mobile platforms offers novel ways to distinguish plant functional traits using spectral reflectance, and provides a solution for the challenge of phenotyping under field conditions.  We have developed a robotic tram (cart on a track) as a platform for a portable imaging spectrometer (HyperSpec E-Series, Headwall), with the goal of distinguishing leaf functional traits and canopy structure contributing to distinct spectral signals.  This presentation will present initial results from this new platform, and will discuss some of the challenges in applying this technology to field phenotyping, including the emerging need for spectral data systems (databases and related analytical software tools).