Intercepted photosynthetically active radiation estimated by spectral reflectance

Abstract

Interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was evaluated relative to greenness and normalized difference [MSS (7 − 5)/(7 + 5)] for five planting dates of wheat for 1978–1979 and 1979–1980 at Phoenix, Arizona. Intercepted PAR was calculated from leaf area index and stage of growth. Linear relationships were found with greenness and normalized difference with separate relationships describing growth and senescence of the crop. Normalized difference was significantly better than greenness for all planting dates. For the leaf area growth portion of the season the relation between PAR interception and normalized difference was the same over years and planting dates. For the leaf senescence phase the relationships showed more variability due to the lack of data on light interception in sparse and senescing canopies. Normalized difference could be used to estimate PAR interception throughout a growing season.