How Plant Growth is Monitored with Senix Sensors
Farming can often include high-risk, low-profit margins and lots of debt. Researchers are experimenting with high-throughput automated plant phenotyping, a technology that reduces risks and increases the profits of farming. Part of that technology is ToughSonic® ultrasonic distance sensors from Senix.
The Study
A Biological Systems Engineering (BSE) group at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln used ToughSonics and other sensors to determine whether automated, non-contact measurements of crops early in the growing season would relate to end-of-season crop yields. 
Tests were initially done in the 2015 season—on both soybean and wheat fields—to measure crop canopy height, or how tall the plants were. Other sensors were used to measure the “Normalized Difference Vegetation Index," temperature, reflectance and RGB color.
The Outcome
Results were published on the web. In summary, strong and significant correlations were observed between various types of non-contact sensor data taken early in the growing season and the eventual crop yields at the end of the season.
According to Yufeng Ge, a research team member and assistant professor, “The Senix sensor works well for us. I found it robust and reliable for the plant height measurements in our applications.”
Professor Ge says similar research was done in the two years following the original study, and that they will continue expanding to include corn, sorghum, and camelina in future studies. 
Agricultural equipment manufacturers are now discussing using Senix ToughSonic sensors to measure crop canopies in real-time while rolling through fields. “Precision agriculture” is the process of the right amount of fertilizer and water to small individual sections of a field—and in some cases, down to individual plants—based on real-time crop measurements.
Senix is proud to be a part of this agricultural technology, reducing risks and increasing profits for farmers.
For more information on how Senix can help with your application, contact us at info@senix.com or click here.