Enhanced broadband greenness in assessing Chlorophyll a and b,Carotenoid, and Nitrogen in Robusta coffee plantations using a digital camera

Direct-leaves measurement of spectral indices using a digital camera with a portable small chamber and custom illumination is used to take images of 600 leaves from 40 coffee plants. In this research, several vegetation indices (VIs) are developed and evaluated. Through a series of experiments, Chlorophyll a and b, Carotenoids, and Nitrogen critical level of Robusta coffee plants are analyzed and evaluated using selected VIs obtained from spectra of different tools like Spectrometer, digital camera, and SPAD-502 Chlorophyll meter. The actual Nitrogen critical level was determined using Kjeldahl laboratory test. Beside Hue, the newly proposed VIs could significantly improve the correlation in estimating photosynthetic pigments (Chlorophyll a and b, Carotenoids) and Nitrogen critical level of Robusta coffee plant. Finally, consumer-grade digital camera with custom chamber is shown to be used for rapid and accurate in situ estimation of Chlorophyll a and b, Carotenoids, and Nitrogen critical level of Robusta coffee plant from direct-leaves measurement.