Ames, Iowa
June 13, 2007
Iowa State University researchers have developed a way to
use satellite images to find Asian soybean rust.
"What we did on the ground 10 to 15 years ago, we can do now
with satellites," said Forrest Nutter, professor of plant
pathology.
Using remote sensing, Global Positioning System and Geographical
Information System technologies, scientists can measure the
green leaf area of soybeans to detect and identify diseases down
to the area of a square meter, about 1.2 square yards.
"Plant pathogens and pests impact the green leaf area index of
crop canopies in different ways and those changes can be
detected and quantified using remote sensing," Nutter said.
The footprints of early soybean rust infection are oval-shaped.
The way it spreads over time in a field helps identify it from
other diseases.
Nutter envisions the technology being used to narrow the search
for soybean rust or other diseases. Plant disease detection
using satellites would provide the GPS coordinates for spotters
on the ground to pinpoint locations to collect disease diagnoses
field samples. The samples would then be taken in for laboratory
tests to confirm the identity of the plant disease at that
location.
Tests conducted last year in South Africa demonstrated the
technology. Nutter has been working on the project with plant
pathologist Neil van Rij of Cedara, South Africa; John Basart,
Iowa State engineering professor; and Khalil Ahmad, engineering
graduate student.
Nutter said the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of
Homeland Security are interested in using the technology to
alert officials to a soybean rust infection during the crop
season. Being able to monitor the movement of soybean rust could
help reduce the impact of the devastating disease.
The Department of Defense and Army have helped fund the research
in the hope that it could be used to determine a deliberate
introduction of a plant pathogen.
The use of commercial satellite services has been a limiting
factor for this technology, Nutter said. It can take two weeks
to two months to receive images after ordering.
Basart is helping the group develop methods of capturing their
own images using aircraft and balloons that would reduce the
time to obtain images to one or two days. |
|
