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Camera, infrared film keep eye 011 Arizona plant lifeBy HARRY CLINTSCililen Staff WriterCitrus in Yuma, cotton at Marana and sorghum at Pearce — are all coming under the telltale eye of the camera lens.Inside the camera is infrared film marking the most extensive aerial surveillance ever in Arizona using infrared photography.Sam Ingle, a photographer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture entomology lab in Weslaco, Tex., is the man behind the camera and he’s shooting for the University of Arizona.The UA is providing the plane for the project, according to George Ware, head oflt;-the entomology department, one of four areas utilizing three days of remote sensing.Others involved include the desert biome project, plant pathology and watershed managementease or insects, the intensity of the (reflected) light changes,” said Bloss, who is using the method to detect a soil fungus, “Texas root rot,” mainly in fruit trees as well as cotton.Sites were selected around the state where scientists believe there is damage. Using infrared film, they hope to detect the damage not seen in normal photographs.With the root rot, by the time the disease is noticeable in the plant it is virtually too late to do anything about it, said Bloss.But with infrared, Bloss said, the scientists hope to be able to detect the stress before it is visible to the naked eye. Studies last year in Mexico, showed that if stress could be detected 10 days to two weeks before it appeared on visual examination, trees could be treated and saved. “It is a diagnostic tool, said Bloss.Not only will the intensity of red be less in damaged orcertain types of diseases or pests.•■‘Insects make a difference in the quality of tissues in plants,” Ware said. He noted that an infestation of citrus often is not found with the naked eye, but “really stood out on infrared” reflecting on film the stressed or damaged tissues in the plant.Infrared photography has been used extensively io check citrus groves, especially in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where a joint Mexico-U.S. venture is trying to eliminate citrus black fly. Photos detect the pest’s damage in Mexico and identify host plants.Almost 500 9 by 9-inch frames were shot in Arizona before Ingle returned to Texas after three days of flying.From an altitude of 10,000 feet, each frame picks up 2.23 square miles and from 5,000 feet, where most of the Arizona film was to be shot, a■frame will cover slightly more than a third of a square mile.Some frames were shot lastMan/lav T'iir*c:an
Newspaper Details
Tucson Daily Citizen
Tucson, Arizona, US
Mon, Aug 07, 1972
Page 33
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USA 29 Jul 2020
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