Qubit Systems is proud to offer two new and unique, field-based instruments (ROX and FLOX) for monitoring solar irradiance, solar reflection, and solar-induced fluorescence. Applications include monitoring plant growth, plant biochemical status (e.g., pigment dynamics), photosynthetic activity, and variations in environmental conditions (e.g., soil and water characteristics). The instruments are deployable on high and low towers, gantries, and balloons for long-term and short-term monitoring. They are ideal for ground-proofing of satellite data and for higher resolution, local measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence, and plant reflective indices.
The FLOX BOX for Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence
Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is considered the most direct remote sensing signal to track photosynthetic activity and its dynamics at the leaf, canopy, ecosystem, and global scale. Therefore, accurate measurements of SIF are crucial to understanding photosynthesis and its dynamics. The FLOX represents the most advanced system available for SIF measurements in the field. The SIF signal responds instantaneously to changes in environmental conditions such as light quantity and quality and can be monitored to track the effects of longer-term environmental factors that may cause stress, such as water deficits, nutrient deficiency, and disease states. READ MORE
The FLOX consists of two high-performance spectrometers contained in a temperature-controlled compartment. One fine resolution spectrometer (FLUO) covers the range from 650 nm to 800 nm observing the SIF signal within the O2A and O2B Fraunhofer Absorption lines. The second spectrometer (FULL) covers the range from 400 to 1000 nm. Each spectrometer measures the downwelling irradiance and the upwelling radiance using two optical fibres. A rugged weatherproof case and an autonomous acquisition protocol including data storage allow continuous observation of plant canopies over long periods.
Applications:
- Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Dynamics.
- Agriculture, forestry, and horticulture.
- Effects of drought and temperature stress.
- Effects of nutrient regimes.
- Precision Agriculture.
- Effects of heavy metals and other pollutants.
- Monitoring effects of plant pathogens and herbivores.
- Long-term tracking of effects of climate change.
- Ground-truthing of satellite data
FLOX Recent Publications:
- L. Wu et al. (2022) Physiological dynamics dominate the response of canopy far-red solar-induced fluorescence to herbicide treatment. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109063 - B. Buman et al. (2022) Towards consistent assessments of in situ radiometric measurements for the validation of fluorescence satellite missions. Remote Sensing of Environment 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.112984 - R. S.Gupana et al. (2022) Remote sensing of sun-induced chlorophyll-a fluorescence in inland and coastal waters: Current state and future prospects. Remote Sensing of Environment 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112482 - A.Damm et al. (2022) Response times of remote sensing measured sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, surface temperature, and vegetation indices to evolving soil water limitation in a crop canopy. Remote Sensing of Environment 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.112957
The ROX BOX Hyperspectral Reflective Measurements
The ROX is an automated field spectroscopy device capable of collecting unattended, continuous, long-term hyperspectral measurements. It was developed from a collaboration between the Jülich Research Center and the Remote Sensing of Environmental Dynamics Laboratory of the University Milano Bicocca and is designed for long-term measurements of solar radiance, reflected radiance, and reflectance. Its robustness and flexibility make the ROX suitable for numerous applications including vegetation monitoring (numerous reflective vegetation indices such as NDVI, PRI, etc.) and monitoring water quality, snow, and ice.
The reflectance box (ROX) is a robust tool for collecting hyperspectral time series of your environmental research area. The fully autonomous operation, a rugged weatherproof design paired with low power consumption make it a simple but sophisticated device for all kinds of reflectance measurements. The opening angle of the downward-looking fiber is 23°. The ROX may be mounted on a tower, or any convenient structure, at an appropriate height to capture data from the required area. READ MORE
Applications:
- Field measurements of Spectral Reflectance from Vegetation.
- Monitoring Plant Reflective Indices (NDVI; PRI; MCARI; SRPI etc.)
- Ground-truthing satellite data.
- Cryosphere studies
- Snow properties and melt prediction.
- Water quality of lakes and rivers
- Algal blooms
ROX Recent Publications
- I. Cesana et al. (2021) Preliminary Investigation on Phytoplankton Dynamics and Primary Production Models in an Oligotrophic Lake from Remote Sensing Measurements. Sensors 2021
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/15/5072 - A. Kokhanovsky, B. Di Mauro, R. Garzonio, R. Colombo (2021) Retrieval of Dust Properties From Spectral Snow Reflectance Measurements. Front. Environ. Sci.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.644551/full - P. M. Maier, S. Keller and S. Hinz (2021) Deep Learning with WASI Simulation Data for Estimating Chlorophyll a Concentration of Inland Water Bodies. Remotes sensing 2021.
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/4/718#cite - P. Näthe, M. Delaney, T. Julitta (2020) Changes of NOx in urban air detected with monitoring VIS-NIR field spectrometer during the coronavirus pandemic: A case study in Germany. Science of The Total Environment.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720348154
Upcoming Conferences
Please visit the Qubit exhibit to learn more about the ROX and FLOX and Qubit’s other instrumentation for monitoring plants, algae and the environment.
2022 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting. November 6-9 | Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December 12-16, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Qubit Systems is also proud to sponsor the seventh Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre Symposium at the University of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
