ABSTRACT: An assessment of fluorescence and reflectance sensing technology for detecting crop residues from soils was conducted under laboratory conditions. Residue samples from five crop species (corn, cotton, peanut, soybean, and wheat) and four soils with different color and albedo were tested. The studies were conducted under wet and dry conditions. Residues had consistently higher fluorescence emission in a band from 415–550 nm than did soils. Reflectance of the same materials indicated that certain residues can be distinguished from certain soils. Many crop residues were significantly higher or lower in reflectance than several soils. Other residues and soils could not be readily distinguished from each other on the basis of a single reflectance band. Nevertheless, discrimination of many crop residues from soil by reflectance could be possible by calibrating the threshold of discrimination for each soil and crop residue combination. A vegetation index, calculated from integrations of red and near infrared reflectance wavelengths, simulating the bands used on the current Landsat remote sensing satellite was also effective in distinguishing differences between many residue/soil combinations. Reflectance data simulating TM3 (630–690 nm) and TM4 (760–900 nm) Landsat satellite bands are reported. Other bands could be amenable to reflectance detection as well. These initial studies suggest that fluorescence and reflectance sensing techniques for determining crop residue coverage are feasible and should be developed further.