The Seeds of the Future
Thermography in Plant Research for Agriculture
Environmental conditions today often tend towards extremes.
Many areas are very humid and wet, while others are predominantly dry.
Particularly in the second case, cultivating raw materials such as grain,
beet or maize is a challenge. A challenge that KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA
is facing. As part of its plant research, the company uses the VarioCAM®
HD head 900 infrared camera from InfraTec to analyse the behaviour ofplants during drought stress and pest infestation.

KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA, Einbeck
www.kws.com
Project staff: Dr. Christoph Bauer
Thermography SystemVarioCAM® HD
head 900

Plants of the Future
Research into the behaviour of plants under drought stress plays a crucial role for future agriculture. This is because theresearch results provide insights into how adaptable and robust a plant variety is and how it reacts to different
temperatures. This, in turn, enables decisions to be made about which varieties will be bred further. In the past, specificstatements about plant behaviour under drought stress were limited. But with the help of thermography, scientists now
have access to valid measurements that allow them to take new selection options into consideration and develop morerobust and resistant plant varieties.
KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA's work includes multiplying and distributing sugarbeet and corn seed. The company finances
basic research and the breeding of the KWS Group's range of varieties and provides its subsidiaries with new sorts for
multiplication and distribution every year.

Thermography for Better Plant Growth and Against Pest Infestation
But how does an infrared camera help to detect drought stress or pest infestation of a plant? The answer is quite simple:
by measuring the leaf temperature. Complementary to visual cameras, the infrared camera provides exact surface
temperatures and their distribution on the leaf. This enables conclusions to be drawn about leaf health and robustness
as well as plant growth. This is done without contact and, due to the high geometric resolution, allows the recordingand evaluation of large areas. What is measured is the heating of the plant during drought stress, which is not visible tohumans, in comparison to the previously determined plant temperature under favourable conditions. Light reflectedand absorbed by the plants in different wavelength ranges is recorded for this purpose.
For research on pest infestation, such as in the Dataplant project, a special laser is used that emits a beam of infrared
light and illuminates the leaf green. At a certain wavelength in the infrared range, infested or diseased leaf areas areheated differently than healthy ones. The VarioCAM® HD head infrared camera from InfraTec is used for themeasurement. Its compactness and handy size allow easy integration into mobile measurement set-ups. There thecamera measures how the individual leaf areas heat up and transfers the temperature values directly to the control PC.
The data can be stored and evaluated on this PC with an associated software.

SeitePage 1© InfraTec 10/2021 (All the stated product names and trademarks remain in property of their respective owners.)
Headquarters

InfraTec GmbHInfrarotsensorik und Messtechnik
Gostritzer Straße 61 – 6301217 Dresden / GERMANY

USA office

PhoneFax
E-mail+49 351 82876-610+49 351 82876-543
thermo@InfraTec.de
www.InfraTec.eu

InfraTec infrared LLC
5048 Tennyson Pkwy.
Plano TX 75024 / USAPhone
E-mail+1 844-226-3722 (toll free)thermo@InfraTec-infrared.com
www.InfraTec-infrared.com

The Seeds of the Future
Thermography in Plant Research for Agriculture

Fig. 1:

The measurement set-up for determining the leaf temperature with infrared camera and monitor.

The camera technology itself withstands some challenges and defies environmental conditions such as temperaturefluctuations, dust and wind. Since the measurements take place outdoors, the sunlight respectively daylight varies,
which has to be taken into account in thermal imaging. The ex works degree of protection IP67 as well as connectorsthat maintain the degree of protection ensure corresponding operational safety. Due to the radiometric precisioncalibration of the thermographic system and the robust camera housing with internal reference sensors, themeasurements of the VarioCAM® HD head 900 are stable and reliable at all times. To physically increase the native
detector resolution from (1,024 × 768) IR pixels to (2,048 × 1,536) IR pixels, the camera is also equipped with internal
opto-mechanical MicroScan technology.
Another advantage is the flexible connection of thecamera to KWS' own systems via a fast Gigabit Ethernet
interface. The associated software development kit(SDK) enables trouble-free integration into existing
systems. InfraTec's infrared cameras are in use atvarious KWS locations worldwide.

Fig. 2The measurement data is transferred directly to the PC andcan be evaluated immediately.

As a result of these research projects, agriculture has more robust and resistant seeds, which helps agriculture to better
cope with extreme environmental conditions in the future.

SeitePage 2© InfraTec 10/2021 (All the stated product names and trademarks remain in property of their respective owners.)
Headquarters

InfraTec GmbHInfrarotsensorik und Messtechnik
Gostritzer Straße 61 – 63
01217 Dresden / GERMANY

USA office

Phone
Fax
E-mail+49 351 82876-610+49 351 82876-543
thermo@InfraTec.de
www.InfraTec.eu

InfraTec infrared LLC
5048 Tennyson Pkwy.
Plano TX 75024 / USAPhone
E-mail+1 844-226-3722 (toll free)thermo@InfraTec-infrared.com
www.InfraTec-infrared.com