Hyperspectral imaging in plant science: some case studies of various stresses on different species and at different scales under laboratory and natural lighting conditions

Hyperspectral imaging is a technique with an increasing range of applications in plant science. Here we present some case studies showing its application to a number of areas of plant stress. In the first case we will describe the detection and quantification of age related stress in flowers under defined lighting conditions in the laboratory. In the second example we will address the measurement of nitrogen deficiency in maize under variable lighting conditions in the glasshouse. Finally, we will describe work carried out in the EU Interreg IIIB Atlantic area PIMHAI project, aimed at the detection of a plant pathogen under controlled conditions and in the field. This research has included the use of an airborne hyperspectral sensor. In each case, the large datasets generated by the imaging methodology have required the development of appropriate image processing and multivariate data analysis approaches.