Plant stress analysis technology deployment

Monitoring vegetation is an active area of laser-induced fluorescence imaging (LIFI) research. The Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology (HCET) at Florida International University (FIU) is assisting in the transfer of the LIFI technology to the agricultural private sector through a market survey. The market survey will help identify the key eco-agricultural issues of the nations that could benefit from the use of sensor technologies developed by the Office of Science and Technology (OST). The principal region of interest is the Western Hemisphere, particularly, the rapidly growing countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The analysis of needs will assure that the focus of present and future research will center on economically important issues facing both hemispheres. The application of the technology will be useful to the agriculture industry for airborne crop analysis as well as in the detection and characterization of contaminated sites by monitoring vegetation. LIFI airborne and close-proximity systems will be evaluated as stand-alone technologies and additions to existing sensor technologies that have been used to monitor crops in the field and in storage