The application of spectroscopy to botany, horticulture and agriculture enables sophisticated spectral analysis of wavelengths of interest to plant scientists.

 

Fibre optic spectrometers provide the added benefit of realtime in-situ measurements of plants. Our instruments are being used in a variety of plant applications ranging from chlorophyll detection in crops to the measurements of sugar (ºBx or brix) in fruit, and radiometric measurements of light levels in greenhouse environments.

Chlorophyll measurements in the visible and near infrared regions can be used to approximate plant health using reflection techniques on plant foliage. The AvaSpec-128-USB2 spectrometer is particularly well suited to this application due to its high speed and good sensitivity in the region from 600-1100nm. Integrated systems have also been developed to measure chlorophyll in realtime and intelligently apply fertilisers to crops based upon sophisticated chemometric models.

Fruit sorting operations often utilise multivariate analysis of spectra in the NIR 850-1100nm to derive sugar (ºBx or brix). The AvaSpec-ULS2048XL-USB2 back-thinned CCD spectrometer is an ideal instrument for this diffuse reflection application, where sensitivity and high speed are required.

Numerous plant biologists have deployed our AvaSpec-ULS2048L-USB2 and AvaSpec-ULS2048-USB2 spectrometers into the field for in-situ reflection measurements of fruit and flower specimen measurements using the AvaLight-XE pulsed Xenon source for an excitation source and the FCR-7UV400-2-ME fibre optic reflection probe for sampling. Our convenient battery packs facilitate these types of field measurements where access to electricity is not possible.