Summary
Measurements of foliage and air wet- and dry-bulb temperatures were made over six differentially irrigated plots of Produra wheat grown at Phoenix, Arizona, in the spring of 1976. These data were used to evaluate a newly developed plant water stress index each day from the initiation of heading to the commencement of senescence. Daily measurements on total plant water potential were also obtained over this period; and after demonstrating how the atmospheric-induced component can be removed from these data, the resultant soil-induced component was plotted as a function of the new water stress index. The result was a simple linear relationship, which was found to be identical to one previously derived for alfalfa. Finally, it was shown that grain yield was directly related to the mean plant water stress index over the reproductive growth period from heading to senescence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aston AR, van Bavel CHM (1972) Soil surface water depletion and leaf temperature. Agron J 64:368
Blad BL, Rosenberg NJ (1976) Measurement of crop temperature by leaf thermocouple, infrared thermometry, and remotely sensed thermal imagery. Agron J 68:635
Ciat (1978) Bean program section of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (Cali, Columbia) Annual Report
Ehrler WL (1973) Cotton leaf temperature as related to soil water depletion and meteorological factors. Agron J 65:404
Ehrler WL, Idso SB, Jackson RD, Reginato RJ (1978) Wheat canopy temperature: relation to plant water potential. Agron J 70:251
Ehrler WL, van Bavel CHM (1967) Sorghum foliar responses to changes in soil water content. Agron J 59:243
Gardner BR (1979) Plant and canopy temperatures in corn as influenced by differential moisture stress. MS Thesis, Univ of Nebraska, Lincoln
Gates DM (1964) Leaf temperature and transpiration. Agron J 56:273
Heilman JL, Kanemasu ET, Rosenberg NJ, Blad BL (1976) Thermal scanner measurement of canopy temperatures to estimate evapotranspiration. Remote Sensing of Environ 5:137
Idso SB (1981) Surface energy balance and the genesis of deserts. Arch Meteorol Geophys Bioklimatol Ser A 30:253
Idso SB, Ehrler WL (1976) Estimating soil moisture in the root zone of crops: a technique adaptable to remote sensing. Geophys Res Let 3:23
Idso SB, Jackson RD, Pinter PJ Jr, Reginato RJ, Hatfield JL (1981a) Normalizing the stress-degree-day parameter for environmental variability. Agric Meteorol 24:45
Idso SB, Jackson RD, Reginato RJ (1977) Remote sensing of crop yields. Science 196:19
Idso SB, Reginato RJ, Hatfield JL, Walker GK, Jackson RD, Pinter PJ Jr (1980) A generalization of the stress-degree-day concept of yield prediction to accommodate a diversity of crops. Agric Meteorol 21:205
Idso SB, Reginato RJ, Reicosky DC, Hatfield JL (1981 b) Determining soil-induced plant water potential depressions in alfalfa by means of infrared thermometry. Agron J (in press)
Jackson RD, Idso SB, Reginato RJ, Pinter PJ Jr (1981) Canopy temperature as a crop water stress indicator. Water Resources Res (in press)
Jackson RD, Reginato RJ, Idso SB (1977) Wheat canopy temperature: a practical tool for evaluating water requirements. Water Resour Res 13:651
Pinter PJ Jr, Stanghellini ME, Reginato RJ, Idso SB, Jenkins AD, Jackson RD (1979) Remote detection of biological stresses in plants with infrared thermometry. Science 205:585
Reginato RJ, Idso SB, Jackson RD (1978) Estimating forage crop production: a technique adaptable to remote sensing. Remote Sensing Environ 7:77
Stone LR, Horton ML (1974) Estimating evapotranspiration using canopy temperatures: field evaluation. Agron J 66:450
Tanner CB (1963) Plant temperatures. Agron J 55:210
Walker GK (1980) Relation between crop temperature and the growth and yield of kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Ph D Thesis, Univ of California, Davis
Walker GK, Hatfield JL (1979) A test of the stress degree day concept using multiple planting dates of red kidney beans. Agron J 71:967
Wiegand CI, Namken LN (1966) Influence of plant moisture stress, solar radiation, and air temperature on cotton leaf temperatures. Agron J 58:582
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Contribution from Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, US Department of Agriculture
Research physicist, soil scientist, research physicist, and research entomologist, respectively
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Idso, S.B., Reginato, R.J., Jackson, R.D. et al. Measuring yield-reducing plant water potential depressions in wheat by infrared thermometry. Irrig Sci 2, 205–212 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00258374
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00258374