Figure 2 Different citrus tree shapes and sampling scheme
The parameters including the droplets coverage rate,
droplets deposition density, droplets size and droplets
deposition uniformity were analyzed.
The ratio of leaf surface area to unit ground surface
area, called the Leaf Area Index (LAI), is an important
parameter which controlling many biological and
physical processes, such as transpiration, photosynthesis,
and respiration cycles. To ensure the accuracy and
efficiency of the data, the LAI of the citrus tree was
deemed to be the average value as computed after
measuring three times in different directions under the
citrus crown. The LAI was measured by the CI-110
Digital Plant Canopy Imager under the operating steps as
follows: First, simply position the CI-110 under the
desired leaf canopy. Second, the auto-leveling fisheye
camera lens (170°) will display a live image of the
canopy for accurate data collection. It captures the
desired canopy image; which can be used to compute LAI.
Finally, the correlation between droplet deposition
densities and LAI was analyzed by statistical software.
Meteorological parameters were measured during
treatments using the Meteorograph in the orchard.