Estimation of Nondestructive Rice Leaf Nitrogen Content Using Ground Optical Sensors

지상광학센서를 이용한 비파괴 벼 엽 질소함량 추정

Ground-based optical sensing over the crop canopy provides information on the mass of plant body which reflects the light, as well as crop nitrogen content which is closely related to the greenness of plant leaves. This method has the merits of being non-destructive real-time based, and thus can be conveniently used for decision making on application of nitrogen fertilizers for crops standing in fields. In the present study relationships among leaf nitrogen content of rice canopy, crop growth status, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values were investigated. We measured Green normalized difference vegetation index($gNDVI=({\rho}0.80{\mu}m-{\rho}0.55{\mu}m)/({\rho}0.80{\mu}m+{\rho}0.55{\mu}m)$) and NDVI($({\rho}0.80{\mu}m-{\rho}0.68{\mu}m)/({\rho}0.80{\mu}m+{\rho}0.68{\mu}m)$) were measured by using two different active sensors (Greenseeker, NTech Inc. USA). The study was conducted in the years 2005-06 during the rice growing season at the experimental plots of National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology located at Suwon, Korea. The experiments carried out with randomized complete block design with the application of four levels of nitrogen fertilizers (0, 70, 100, 130kg N/ha) and same amount of phosphorous and potassium content of the fertilizers. gNDVI and rNDVI increased as growth advanced and reached to maximum values at around early August, G(NDVI) were a decrease in values of observed with the crop maturation. gNDVI values and leaf nitrogen content were highly correlated at early July in 2005 and 2006. On the basis of this finding we attempted to estimate the leaf N contents using gNDVI data obtained in 2005 and 2006. The determination coefficients of the linear model by gNDVI in the years 2005 and 2006 were 0.88 and 0.94, respectively. The measured and estimated leaf N contents using gNDVI values showed good agreement ($R^2=0.86^{***}$). Results from this study show that gNDVI values represent a significant positive correlation with leaf N contents and can be used to estimate leaf N before the panicle formation stage. gNDVI appeared to be a very effective parameter to estimate leaf N content the rice canopy.

본 연구에서는 인공광원을 사용하는 능동형 지상광학센서(gNDVI, rNDVI)를 이용하여 질소수준 및 생육단계별 벼 식생지수변화를 알아보고, 식생지수와 벼 엽 질소함량과의 관계를 구명하여 벼 군락의 엽 질소함량을 추정하고자 하였다. 생육단계에 따른 식생지수 변화는 2005년, 2006년 모두 gNDVI, rNDVI값은 이앙기 이후 급속히 증가하다가 수잉기를 전후로 수확기에 이르기까지 감소하는 경향을 보였다. gNDVI값은 rNDVI값보다 엽 질소함량과의 상관계수가 높게 나타났고, 특히 벼 유수형성기 약 2주전에 상관계수가 높게 나타났으며, 엽 질소흡수량, 엽면적지수, 생체중, 건물중 등 다른 생육인자의 상관관계에서도 동일한 결과를 얻었다. 따라서 gNDVI와 엽 질소함량의 상호관계에서 결정계수는, 2005년과 2006년 결정계수에 각각 0.88, 0.94였고, 2년간의 전체자료에 대한 관계에서도 엽 질소함량 실측값은 추정값과 비교한 경향을 보이며 밀접한 관계를 보였다($R^2=0.86$). 이상의 결과로부터 gNDVI 식생지수는 이삭거름을 처리하기 전에 질소영양상태를 효과적으로 예측 할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.