A leaf sensor is a phytometric device (measurement of
plant physiological processes) that measures water loss or the water deficit stress (WDS) in plants by real-time monitoring the moisture level in plant leaves. The first leaf sensor was developed by LeafSens, an Israeli company granted a
US patent for a mechanical leaf thickness sensing device in 2001. LeafSen has made strides incorporating their leaf sensory technology into citrus orchards in Israel. A solid state smart leaf sensor technology was developed by the
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...
for
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
in 2007. It was designed to help monitor and control
agricultural water demand. AgriHouse received a
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
(NSF) STTR grant in conjunction with the University of Colorado to further develop the solid state leaf sensor technology for precision irrigation control in 2007.
Precision monitoring
Water deficit stress measurements
A Phase I research grant from the National Science Foundation in 2007 showed that the leaf sensor technology has the potential to save between 30% and 50% of irrigation water by reducing irrigation from once every 24 hours to about every 2 to 2.5 days by sensing impending water deficit stress. Leaf sensor technology developed by AgriHouse indicates water deficit stress by measuring the
turgor pressure of a leaf, which decreases dramatically at the onset of leaf dehydration. Early detection of impending water deficit stress in plants can be used as an input parameter for precision irrigation control by allowing plants to communicate water requirements directly to humans and/or electronic interfaces. For example, a base system utilizing the wirelessly transmitted information of several sensors appropriately distributed over various sectors of a round field irrigated by a center-pivot irrigation system could tell the irrigation lever exactly when and what field sector needs to be irrigated.
Irrigation control
In a 2008 USDA sponsored field study AgriHouse's SG-1000 Leaf Sensor attached to dry beans demonstrated a 25% savings of irrigation water and pumping cost. In 2010 the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado granted AgriHouse Inc an exclusive license of its patented leaf sensor technology.
Precision irrigation monitoring using the SG-1000 leaf sensor and commercial data loggers for irrigation control has been achieved in recent years. Researchers have found a direct correlation between leaf thickness and Relative Water Content (RWC) of plant leaves using the SG-1000 Leaf Sensor under field conditions.
Water and Energy Conservation
The agriculture sustainability benefits of water and energy savings have been established using the SG-1000 leaf sensor under field conditions and in greenhouses. Plant science researchers and agronomists have utilized the SG-1000 Leaf Sensor for studying the relationship between water content and leaf cell turgidity potential and leaf thickness. Plant leaf characteristics including water potential and osmotic water potential relationships have been studied with the device.
See also
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Aeroponics
Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in the air or mist environment without soil or an aggregate medium. The word "aeroponic" is derived from the Greek meanings of ''aer'' ("air") and ''ponos'' ("labour"). It is a subset of hydroponic ...
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Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
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Agronomy
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Drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
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Conservation
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Greenhouse
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Hydroponics
Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plant ...
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Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
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Plant physiology
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Plant Science
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Soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debri ...
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Sustainability
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Turgor Pressure
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Water
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
Footnotes
{{Hydroculture
Sensors
Plant physiology