title: PHYLIS: A Low-Cost Portable Visible Range Spectrometer for Soil and Plants.
abstract: Monitoring soil and crop condition is vital for the sustainable management of agricultural systems. Often, land management decision-making requires rapid assessment of conditions, which is difficult if samples need to be taken and sent elsewhere for analysis. In recent years, advances in field-based spectroscopy have led to improvements in real-time monitoring; however, the cost of equipment and user training still makes it inaccessible for most land managers. At the James Hutton Institute, we have developed a low-cost visible wavelength hyperspectral device intended to provide rapid field-based assessment of soil and plant conditions. This device has been tested at the Institute's research farm at Balruddery, linking field observations with existing sample analysis and crop type information. We show that it is possible to rapidly and easily acquire spectral information that enables site characteristics to be estimated. Improvements to the sensor and its potential uses are discussed.
authors.affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK. matt.aitkenhead@hutton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Matt J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aitkenhead
authors.affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK. graham.gaskin@hutton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Graham J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Gaskin
authors.affiliation: Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Purpan, 75 Voie du Toec, 31076 Toulouse, France. noemie.lafouge@etudiants.purpan.fr.
authors.forename: Noemie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lafouge
authors.affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK. cathy.hawes@hutton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hawes
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D010944:Plants; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: agriculture; crop assessment; precision agriculture; soil; spectroscopy