Tony Nguy-Robertson, remote sensing specialist and post-doctoral research associate, co-authored an article that has been accepted for publication in a forthcoming issue of "Agricultural and Forest Meteorology."
"The paper explores a method for estimating green leaf area index (LAI), a measure of the photosyenthecially active leaves using one algorithm," Nguy-Robertson said. "We were interested in using a single equation to monitor crop health rather than having to use multiple equations based on crop type. This is important to end-users because there are cases where crop type is unknown."
The article has nine co-authors, including emeriti professors Don Rundquist and Anatoly Gitelson. It is available online at http://go.unl.edu/e6dv.
"Each co-author contributed greatly," Nguy-Robertson said. "However, with such a large number of co-authors, it takes a while to come to a consensus. Add an eight-hour time difference and this can delay progress on the manuscript for even simple suggestions, such as spelling or grammar."
Nguy-Robertson's role in the project involved processing data sets, developing the relationships and writing the manuscript.
"The hardest part was probably reducing the large amount of data into something that can be easily understood by the scientific community," he said. "It has been – and still currently is – an enormous undertaking by multiple departments and groups."
All that hard work and collaboration paid off when the article was approved for publication in March. Nguy-Robertson said he can now shift his focus onto other priorities and projects.
"I am looking forward to publishing the final chapter in my Ph.D. thesis, (which is) currently in peer-review," he said. "This will allow me to focus more energy on my current two projects: improving models for estimating gross primary production in maize and soybean, and developing a risk map in wheat for mite-vectored viruses due to hail damage."
— Mekita Rivas, Natural Resources