Laser speckle measurement system for plant vigor detection

This paper describes a new measuring method of plant vigor by using laser speckle pattern. Furthermore, this proposes a practical application of this presented measurement system. The measuring instrument is consisted by a He-Ne Laser as the light source, and a set of optics, such as reflectors, a beam expander. The speckle pattern could be measured by a CCD camera through lenses. A Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil) was used as the sample plant. Their intact leaves were measured the speckle pattern images. The optimal laser light wave length was studied based on the biological concerns. The relationship has been obtained between the feature of the images and the chlorophyll degradation. It would be expected that the symptom of plant could be detected by measuring the laser speckle pattern.