STTR Phase I: Smartphone Sensor for Crop Health Assessment and Reduction of Environmental Contamination

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是优化和减少美国农业的农用化学品和灌溉应用，减少环境污染，并通过智能手机兼容的微型光学传感器提高整体作物健康和产量。该诊断传感器专为精准农业市场领域而设计，可捕获植物的光谱图，用于诊断植物的整体健康状况，并提供优化护理的建议。在辨别植物是否遭受营养缺乏、水分胁迫或疾病压力时，传感器提供了一种产生实质性商业影响的手段。通过为这一市场部门提供所需的定量信息，以专门和优化作物处理计划，节省了大量的农用化学品和灌溉资源。从社会的角度来看，这些商业节约直接转化为减少农作物的农业化学品应用，这有助于减少环境水体的富营养化，保护饮用水供应。通过优化灌溉使用，传感器减少了灌溉需求，有助于确保这些灌溉源的寿命。通过对光谱仪进行大数据分析，了解与作物健康状况相关的生理因素，推进科学认识。该项目的第一阶段是小企业技术转让（STTR）项目，旨在将传统上仅限于实验室使用的高精度光学光谱仪应用于精准农业。农业行业努力识别或预测作物健康的变化，并采取适当的应对措施。由于多种环境压力或因素可能导致作物出现类似的视觉症状，因此最佳决策变得非常困难，并可能导致昂贵的商业和社会影响。针对这一问题，本项目旨在首先开发基于手持智能手机的分光光度计，用于真实的实时诊断作物健康状况。之后，该设备的能力将在不同营养和水合条件下的作物受控温室研究中进行广泛测试。最后，将对这些研究中收集的数据进行分析，并以黄金标准评估技术为基准。通过这些研究，将清楚地评估光学传感器的性能。具体地，将提供传感器可以在影响作物的不同环境应激源中辨别的程度，以及传感器可以提供关于那些应激源的严重性的定量反馈的程度。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to optimize and reduce agro-chemical and irrigation applications for the United States agricultural industry, reducing environmental contamination, and increasing overall crop health and production with a smart phone compatible miniaturized optical sensor. The diagnostic sensor, designed for use in the precision agriculture market sector, captures optical spectrographs of a plant that can be used to diagnose the overall health of the plant, and provide recommendations for optimizing care. In discerning whether a plant suffers from a nutrient deficiency, a water stress, or a disease pressure, the sensor provides a means for substantial commercial impact. By providing this market sector with the needed quantitative information to both specialize and optimize crop treatment plans, substantial agro-chemical and irrigation resources are saved. From a societal perspective, these commercial savings directly translate into reduced agro-chemical applications of crops, which help reduce eutrophication of environmental water bodies, protecting drinking water supplies. By optimizing irrigation usage, the sensor reduces irrigation demands, helping ensure the longevity of these sources of irrigation. By enabling big data analysis of optical spectrographs that correlate with underlying crop health conditions, the project provides insight into physiological factors governing crop health, advancing scientific understanding.This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is directed towards miniaturizing high precision optical spectrophotometers, traditionally confined to laboratory usage, for use in precision agriculture. The agricultural industry struggles to identify or anticipate changes in crop health and take appropriate measures of response. As multiple environmental stressors or factors can cause similar visual symptoms in a crop, optimal decision-making becomes decidedly difficult, and can lead to costly commercial and societal impacts. In response to this problem, this project aims to first develop a handheld smart phone-based spectrophotometer for real time diagnosis of crop health. Afterwards, the capabilities of the device will be extensively tested in controlled greenhouse studies of crops under varying nutrient and hydration conditions. Finally, the data collected in these studies will be analyzed and benchmarked against gold standard techniques of assessment. From these studies, the performance of the optical sensor will be clearly assessed. Specifically, the degree to which the sensor can discern amongst varying environmental stressors affecting a crop, and also the degree to which the sensor can provide quantitative feedback about the severity of those stressors, will be provided.