The Incredible Flying Plant Doctor

What is the first thing doctors or nurses do when you are sick? They take your temperature, right? Well, would you believe that scientists are now doing the same thing with plants? It’s true. In many agricultural research centers throughout the world, a quiet revolution is taking place. Space-age technology is being applied to growing crops; and one of the most promising techniques under study is the measurement of plant temperatures to detect water shortages, diseases, and their harmful effects on plant growth.

The instrument that makes these temperature measurements possible is the infrared thermometer. It is one of a number of instruments that works by the principle of remote sensing—making temperature measurement without having to touch the object being measured. The reason it can do this is that all objects give off heat radiation that travels through air and space like light; and the hotter the object is, the more heat radiation it gives off. Thus, by sensing some of this invisible heat energy, an infrared thermometer can be used to determine the temperature of the object.

Now one of the most important requirements for good plant growth is that there be plenty of water available to the plant roots. When this is the case, water is easily taken up from the soil by the roots and carried to the leaves. There it evaporates to cool the plant, just like you are cooled when coming up out of the water after a swim. If there is not enough water in the soil for good plant growth, however, not as much water will be evaporated from the plant leaves and they will become slightly warmer. By merely pointing an infrared thermometer at the plants, you can quickly tell if they have enough water or if they are in need of more. If they are “running a fever,” a remedy is required, and where irrigation is practiced, more water is quickly prescribed.

In addition to running out of moisture in the soil, there are many other reasons for plants to run a fever. Many plant diseases, for instance, attack plant roots and reduce their ability to extract water from the soil. Still other diseases—and sometimes even insect pests—interfere with the plant’s ability to transfer water from the roots to the leaves. The final result is the same in all cases: less evaporation of water from the leaves and higher plant temperatures.

As research in this area is progressing, hand-held infrared thermometers that look a lot like futuristic ray guns are becoming available to individual farmers who want a reliable tool for scheduling irrigation. On a much larger scale, aircraft that could serve whole groups of farmers are being used in experimental tests of similar equipment that can take actual temperature “pictures” of the fields they fly over. Earth-orbiting satellites are surveying even larger areas of the globe in much the same way. Scientists hope that the information they obtain in these ways can be used to more wisely manage our precious water resources and to provide an early warning of impending agricultural disasters and a means for predicting crop yields. If they are successful, the production and distribution of food throughout the world could be greatly improved, helping to reduce much malnutrition and starvation. Thus, the work of the plant doctor goes a long way toward helping people too.