Dick, NathanielBhattarai, Ganesh P.McCornack, Brian2019-09-062019-09-062018-12-14http://hdl.handle.net/2097/40121Sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Homiptera: Aphididae; Fig. 1A), is a significant pest to sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (Fig. 1B). Sorghum fields are regularly surveyed to detect pest infestation. Remote sensing methods using satellite and aircraft data are expected to provide an efficient alternative to field surveys. However, spectral signature of sugarcane aphid infested sorghum plants is not well understood. We evaluated reflectance spectra of sorghum leaves infested by sugarcane aphids. We used those spectral data to estimate indices that are related to photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll', anthocyanin, and carotenoids. We also estimated an aphid index, damage sensitive spectral index (DSSI)". We used these data to examine whether indices differ between pest infested and uninfested plants. We predicted that plants infested by aphid will have higher levels of anthocyanin, carotenoids, and DSSI indices compared to the control plants. In contrary, chlorophyll index will be greater for uninfested plants.en-USThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).Fall 2018Text