Detecting and distinguishing moisture- and salinity-induced stress in wheat and maize through in situ spectroradiometry measurements

The shortage of good-quality water resources has become an important issue worldwide. In arid and semi-arid environments, low-quality water such as agricultural drainage water, wastewater and saline ground water has become an important supplement to agricultural supply, but with inevitable consequences for plant health and crop yield. In this study, greenhouse experiments were undertaken to investigate the potential of remote sensing to detect and distinguish moisture- and salinity-induced stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) to facilitate crop management. In situ spectroradiometry measurements were collected from plant canopies under natural and artificial illumination at different growth stages to establish when in the growth cycle the effects of these stressors can be distinguished. The results showed that plant reflectance characteristics were affected by both moisture- and salinity-induced stress. Penalized linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) was used to demonstrate that it is possible to distinguish moisture- and salinity-induced stress effects in maize, but not in wheat.