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Effects of heavy metals on the absorbance and reflectance spectra of plantsThe spectral responses of plants to various concentrations of heavy metals in their rooting media are investigated in relation to the application of remote sensing methods to the detection of vegetation under stress. Absorption photometry of chloroplasts, measurements of metal and chlorophyll concentrations and reflectance spectrometry were performed on leaves of pea, sunflower and soybean plants grown under greenhouse conditions with the addition of various concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn to their rooting media and on leaves of oak trees growing naturally in an area of a copper-arsenic mineralization. Under laboratory conditions, the most general effect observed was growth inhibition and ultimately death, with pea plants also exhibiting changes of chlorophyll a/ chlorophyll b ratios with Cd and Cu and reflectance increases in the visible and decreases in the infrared. Although results for other species indicate that reflectance effects are dependent on species, correlations between reflectance and metal exposure is confirmed by the field investigations. It is concluded that a remote sensing system would be improved by the inclusion of bands around 1.65 and 2.20 microns to detect soil mineralization from plant spectra.
Document ID
19800063575
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Horler, D. N. H.
(Imperial Coll. of Science and Technology London, United Kingdom)
Barber, J.
(Imperial College of Science and Technology London, United Kingdom)
Barringer, A. R.
(Barringer Research, Inc. Golden, Colo., United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
June 1, 1980
Publication Information
Publication: International Journal of Remote Sensing
Volume: 1
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Accession Number
80A47745
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-25738
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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