Remote sensing of spider mite damage in California peach orchards

Remote sensing techniques can decrease pest monitoring costs in orchards. To evaluate the feasibility of detecting spider mite damage in orchards, we measured visible and near infrared reflectance of 1153 leaves and 392 canopies in 11 peach orchards in California. Pairs of significant wavelengths, identified by Partial Least Squares regression, were combined into normalized difference indices. These and 9 previously published indices were evaluated for correlation with mite damage. Eight spectral regions for leaves and two regions for canopies (at blue and red wavelengths) were significantly correlated with mite damage. These findings were tested by calculating normalized difference indices from the Red and Blue bands of six multispectral aerial images. Index values were linearly correlated with mite damage (R-2 = 0.47), allowing identification of mite hotspots in orchards. However, better standardization of aerial imagery and accounting for perturbing environmental factors will be necessary for making this technique applicable for early mite detection. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.