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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #145036
Title: EVALUATION OF COTTON REGROWTH CONTROL USING REMOTE SENSING

Author
item YANG, CHENGHAI - TX AGRIC EXP STN-WESLACO
item Greenberg, Shoil
item Everitt, James
item Davis, Michael
item NORMAN, JOHN, JR - TX AGRIC EXT CTR-WESLACO

Submitted to: 2003 Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/3/2003
Publication Date: 8/30/2003
Citation: Yang, C., Greenberg, S.M., Everitt, J.H., Davis, M.R., Norman, J.W. 2003. Evaluation of cotton regrowth control using remote sensing. 2003 Beltwide Cotton Conference. CD-ROM.

Interpretive Summary: Traditional methods for evaluating cotton regrowth control are based on visual observations and ground measurements. This paper illustrates how reflectance spectra and airborne imagery can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of different cotton regrowth control treatments. Ground reflectance data were able to differentiate among the treatments if the data were taken from a sufficient number of canopies representing the regrowth conditions. Airborne digital imagery allowed quantitative separations among the treatments. These results indicate that remote sensing can be a useful tool for evaluating the effectiveness of different cotton regrowth control methods.

Technical Abstract: A field experiment was conducted to examine the usefulness of remote sensing technology for evaluating cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) regrowth control strategies for post-harvest destruction of cotton stalks. Ten treatments (one control and nine combinations of three herbicide mixtures and three application timings) were assigned to 30 shredded cotton plots according to a randomized complete block design in a south Texas cotton field in 2002. Ground reflectance spectra were collected on randomly selected sites from each plot 32 days after the first three of the nine herbicide treatments were applied. Meanwhile, airborne multispectral digital imagery was obtained from the field and plant regrowth was visually rated at five levels ranging from no live plants to mostly healthy plants based on ground observations. The reflectance spectra were able to separate regrowth differences among some of the treatments, though a large number of spectra were needed to achieve reliable results. The airborne imagery did not provide sufficient visual differentiation among the treatments, but the reflectance information extracted from the imagery allowed quantitative separations among the treatments. Seven spectral variables, including the green, red, and near-infrared (NIR) bands of the multispectral imagery and four vegetation indices derived from the three bands, were used to compare the differences among the treatments. Multiple comparisons showed that the green band and the four vegetation indices detected significant differences among some of the treatments as detected by the visual efficacy rating. These results indicate that remote sensing can be a useful tool for evaluating cotton regrowth control strategies.