Active in situ and passive airborne fluorescence measurements for water stress detection on a fescue field

Ledflex is a fluorometer adapted to measure chlorophyll fluorescence at the canopy level. It has been described in detail by Moya et al. (2019), Photosynthesis Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-019-00642-9. We used this instrument to determine the effect of water stress on the fluorescence of a fescue field under extreme temperature and light conditions through a 12 days campaign during summer in a Mediterranean area. The fescue field formed part of a lysimeter station in “las Tiesas,” near Albacete-Spain. In addition to the fluorescence data, the surface temperature was measured using infrared radiometers. Furthermore, “Airflex,” a passive fluorometer measuring the filling-in of the atmospheric oxygen absorption band at 760 nm, was installed in an ultralight plane and flown during the most critical days of the campaign. We observed with the Ledflex fluorometer a considerable decrease of about 53% of the stationary chlorophyll fluorescence level at noon under water stress, which was well correlated with the surface temperature difference between the stressed and control plots. Airflex data also showed a decrease in far-red solar-induced fluorescence upon water stress in agreement with surface temperature data and active fluorescence measurements after correction for PS I contribution. Notwithstanding, the results from airborne remote sensing are not as precise as in situ active data.