Hydrocarbon pollutant impact on spectral and biophysical properties of willow and grass species
type: CreativeWork
description: Vegetation is a potential indicator of land contaminated by hydrocarbons. Remote sensing holds great potential for detecting stress in vegetation caused by the presence of hydrocarbons, but as yet this potential has not been realised, largely due to a lack of understanding of the biophysiological impacts of hydrocarbons on plant growth, and the specific spectral expression of them. Previous research has demonstrated success in laboratory simulation of hydrocarbon contamination and the analysis of the spectral and biophysical properties in plants, but has tended to always focus on scenarios with high concentrations of hydrocarbons (> 5 g/kg). It was assumed, that vegetation growing in hydrocarbon polluted areas would show a general decrease in plant health condition and show associated changes in reflectance. However, it is not known if lower concentrations of hydrocarbon in soils (< 5 g/kg) have the same effects as high concentrations and if the impacts observed at leaf scale would be observed at a canopy scale. The aim of this research has been to develop understanding at the leaf / plant scale initially, to then scale up to hyperspectral camera and simulated satellite-based scales to develop operational understanding that will benefit industry, regulators and environmental agencies alike.Two experiments were performed, one at plant scale with willow (Salix viminalis var. Tora) and maize (Zea mays var. Lapriora), and the other at canopy scale with turf grasses. At leaf scale, a pot-based experiment was designed with plants growing in pots containing a hydrocarbon (crude oil or refined oil) layer at the base of the pot with different concentrations levels (0.5 g/kg, 5 g/kg and 50 g/kg). At canopy scale, natural oil seep environments were simulated in 1 m by 0.5 m trays with a hydrocarbon layer with two different concentrations (50 g/kg and 0.5 g/kg) present only in the half of each tray and located at the base. Biophysical, reflectance and fluorescence measurements …
abstract: Vegetation is a potential indicator of land contaminated by hydrocarbons. Remote sensing holds great potential for detecting stress in vegetation caused by the presence of hydrocarbons, but as yet this potential has not been realised, largely due to a lack of understanding of the biophysiological impacts of hydrocarbons on plant growth, and the specific spectral expression of them. Previous research has demonstrated success in laboratory simulation of hydrocarbon contamination and the analysis of the spectral and biophysical properties in plants, but has tended to always focus on scenarios with high concentrations of hydrocarbons (> 5 g/kg). It was assumed, that vegetation growing in hydrocarbon polluted areas would show a general decrease in plant health condition and show associated changes in reflectance. However, it is not known if lower concentrations of hydrocarbon in soils (< 5 g/kg) have the same effects as high concentrations and if the impacts observed at leaf scale would be observed at a canopy scale. The aim of this research has been to develop understanding at the leaf / plant scale initially, to then scale up to hyperspectral camera and simulated satellite-based scales to develop operational understanding that will benefit industry, regulators and environmental agencies alike.Two experiments were performed, one at plant scale with willow (Salix viminalis var. Tora) and maize (Zea mays var. Lapriora), and the other at canopy scale with turf grasses. At leaf scale, a pot-based experiment was designed with plants growing in pots containing a hydrocarbon (crude oil or refined oil) layer at the base of the pot with different concentrations levels (0.5 g/kg, 5 g/kg and 50 g/kg). At canopy scale, natural oil seep environments were simulated in 1 m by 0.5 m trays with a hydrocarbon layer with two different concentrations (50 g/kg and 0.5 g/kg) present only in the half of each tray and located at the base. Biophysical, reflectance and fluorescence measurements …
author: Serrano Calvo, Raquel
language: eng
keywords: Remote sensing, vegetation, hydrocarbons, pollution, spectral analysis, vegetation indices, absorption features, reflectance, Hyperspectral spectroscopy, Soil contamination
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:08:59Z
provider: University of Dundee
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Dundee