Extending the Phenotype - Crop Modelling to Estimate the 'unobservable'.

Crop models approximate plant processes in order to compute phenotypes of interest. Some of these phenotypes, seasonal water use for example, are difficult to observe directly over the season. However, proximal sensing of crop canopy and root characteristics and their response to the environment start to provide information to 'correct' the model and allow prediction, or at least genotype ranking, for these 'unobservable phenotypes'.

Remote data capture from fixed, ground and aerial sensors provides information that can be extended by models. Different levels of models may be developed for short/long time frames and incorporating greater or lesser mechanistic detail. A key point to consider is that models and the informing of them can come from multiple types of experiments, including plant phenotyping in glasshouses and still be used to contribute to ‘disentangling’ the phenotypes of economic interest.