Plant-based sensing for cotton irrigation

This project is testing and refining plant-based sensing techniques including canopy temperature (CTS) and UAV thermal imaging irrigations to better understand how they can be most effectively used to improve water use efficiency and productivity for fully irrigated and partly irrigated cotton.

Researchers are working closely with commercial growers and technology providers to further refine the technologies. Practical considerations being investigated include:

1. Utility of multipixel canopy temperature sensors for early season irrigation decision making.
2. Extending the utility of canopy temperature sensors for irrigation scheduling in limited water situations
3. Testing CSIRO’s canopy temperature predictive algorithms platform for scheduling irrigations in advance.
4. Assessing spatial variability of canopy temperature on larger commercial farms to determine the minimum number of canopy sensors required for effective and efficient irrigation scheduling.
5. Integrating canopy temperature technology with existing tools including soil moisture probes.

For further information or project progress updates, contact: Dr Hiz Jamali, Project Leader. Contact details in downloadable PDF.