Researchers develop device to measure drought effects on plants
Drought is becoming a serious challenge year after year, affecting up to 55 million people worldwide and posing a major threat to flora and fauna. Drought stress causes biochemical and physiological changes in plants, reducing nutrient levels and damaging ecosystems, thereby impacting human health and creating livelihood vulnerabilities.
To assess the response of plants to drought, scientists at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) in Lithuania have developed a special device.
Linas Svilaines, a professor at KTU and one of the inventors, said the idea to create the device came from a collaboration between researchers at KTU and Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC).
Monitoring the physiological state of plants is an important step to protect them from harmful effects and achieve better yields. However, existing methods for assessing plant condition are damaging to plants and often require a long time to obtain results. The new device is non-invasive and uses non-contact ultrasound on uncut leaves for measurements.
Scientists from Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC) and the Aragon Agro-Food Research and Technology Center (CITA) have discovered a way to use ultrasound to assess the effects of drought on plants.
It was first applied to vines, but later it was found that it could be applied to other plants as well.
Europe’s vineyards are suffering from drought
Vines are particularly vulnerable to drought because they have shallow root systems and limited ability to extract water from the soil. Vines that suffer from lack of water will have lower yields. In addition, drought can change the composition of the grapes produced, affecting the sugar and acidity levels that determine the quality and taste of the wine. For these reasons, and to avoid the extreme situation of overwatering the vines, these plants should be monitored and watering adjusted.
Vineyards in Europe, which produces more than 50% of the world’s wine, are already experiencing higher-than-normal temperatures and drier conditions in 2022, with as many as 18% of European vineyards at risk of drought. Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries is also concerned this year, predicting that Spanish wine production will fall by more than 20% compared to last year, as a prolonged drought plagues producers across the country.
“The device developed by our team is able to extract mechanical properties from ultrasound measurements, allowing plant scientists to analyze the physiological state of plants,” says Professor Svirajnis.
The device developed by KTU scientists consists of two transducers: one acts as a speaker that transmits the signal, and the other acts as a microphone to receive the signal. If something gets between them, the signal changes.
“Based on the changes that have taken place, we can determine the mechanical properties of an object (in this case a plant leaf),” explains Professor Svilainis from KTU’s Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
This palm-sized electronic device generates ultrasound waves, receives signals, and sends data to your smartphone. Geographic coordinates and photos are attached to the sensor data and sent to cloud storage. Cloud computing technology is used to generate distribution maps and time graphs of plant traits.
This device allows you to measure the resonant frequency, thickness, density and attenuation of plants using ultrasound. “Spanish researchers have demonstrated that these measurements are correlated with parameters indicating the physiological state of the plant, namely water potential and relative water content, which are used to assess drought stress. “I did,” the professor added.
A non-invasive solution for analyzing plants directly in the field
“A lot of work had to be done to implement an idea like this and make it possible to make measurements in the field,” says Svilainis.
He added that while the device is unique, it is not the only device that can measure similar plant characteristics. “The difference is that instead of screwing a pressure sensor into the stem of a plant, for example, we use a non-invasive, contactless technology. It’s also lighter, more convenient, and provides instant results than other devices. We have to cut the leaves and take them to the lab, which is time-consuming, but here we can get the results right in the field.”
Svirajnis is quick to remind us that plants are living things, so finding ways to measure their properties in field conditions is not an easy process. The levels of substances involved vary depending on temperature, sunlight, and humidity. “For example, ignoring temperature changes can lead to measurement errors of up to 30%.”
Instead of using traditional thermometers, which are too slow to detect instantaneous temperature changes, the researchers say they use the delay time of an ultrasound signal traveling between transducers to measure air conditions. “This delay is used to estimate the speed of sound, which correlates with temperature and humidity. This makes the measurements more accurate without the need for additional sensors,” concludes Svilaines.
The device has now been completed and the results have been presented at several conferences of biodiversity experts. The invention has been patented in Lithuania and filed with the European Patent Office, and business interest is expected.
The device is designed for large leaves (>3 cm in diameter) that are flat enough to completely cover the transducer, but in the future the invention could be applied to other plants, disease control or industrial applications. There is also the possibility of further development into materials for use. Film measurements.
Provided by Kaunas University of Technology
Citation: Researchers develop device to measure drought impact on plants (October 9, 2024) from https://phys.org/news/2024-10-device-impact-drought.html 10/2024 Retrieved on March 9th
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