Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Contacts:
Dana Schmidt, communications specialist, CCEE, (515) 294-8312, schmidtdiastate.edu
Khalil Ahmad, graduate student, CCEE, mudasariastate.edu

Environmental Engineering Grad Student Uses Satellite Images to Predict Asian Soybean Rust

Ames, Iowa – Iowa State University researchers have found a way to identify Asian soybean rust—a deadly, rapidly-spreading fungus affecting soybean crops—without stepping foot into the field. The team uses satellite images of soybean fields and applies remote sensing, Global Positioning System (GPS), and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies to determine if a crop has the disease. Using this technology to identify the disease will help create an early warning system to improve crop biosecurity in the United States.

Khalil Ahmad, a graduate student in environmental engineering, is one of the members of the research team.

“In plant pathology, researchers go into the field using either visual methods or a handheld radiometer to measure the disease,” he says. “Now, technology enables us to do the same thing using satellites.”

Ahmad says the research team—which includes Forrest Nutter, ISU professor of plant pathology; Neil van Rij, a plant pathologist in South Africa; and John Basart, ISU professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering—has discovered that soybean rust leaves a unique elliptical-shaped footprint, allowing them to accurately identify patches of diseased crops from satellite images.

“We can use the images to get GPS coordinates, and then if necessary, can send someone out into the field to get plant samples and confirm the disease,” Ahmad says.

The research is funded by the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center. With increasing attention on bioterrorism in the United States, agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Agriculture also are highly interested in this research.

The Department of Homeland Security could use the technology to assist them in determining if diseases are occurring naturally or deliberately, says Ahmad.

Because the U.S. economy is heavily based on agriculture, the government is interested this technology from an economic standpoint, he adds.

Soybeans and soybean byproducts are used in a wide number of products—plastics, crayons, cleaning products, alternative fuels, antibiotics, animal feed, cooking oils, and baked goods for human consumption, for example. The impact of widespread Asian soybean rust could cost the United States billions of dollars in lost revenue and increased production costs, says Ahmad.

Asian soybean rust has been found in five states so far this year. Approximately 26 other states are being observed for potential signs of the disease. Soybean rust was first introduced to the United States in 2004. The disease is caused by fungi spread by wind-borne spores, and typically thrives in climates with high moisture and moderate heat.

Ahmad says the research team’s technology could serve as an early warning system for crop biosecurity. Government agencies could monitor soybean crops and the spread of the disease during crop season. If the disease is found, they can pinpoint the location and notify growers and agribusinesses in the affected communities. It also could allow them to monitor the disease in neighboring countries, so that if an infection is moving towards the United States, U.S. officials can alert the appropriate agencies and individuals, as well as inform the neighboring country of the disease’s presence, if the country was not previously aware of the disease.

Ahmad recently received two honors for his work on this research project. In April, he was awarded the Best Poster Award for his poster entitled “Development of Early Warning Systems to Improve U.S. Crop Biosecurity” at the 8th annual Iowa Geographic Information Council. In June, he earned a Student Assistantship Award to attend the ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California, a conference for researchers using GIS software.

In the future, Ahmad hopes to apply this research and technology on plant pathogens to water quality research. “I’m interested in applying this research with plants to water quality by using satellite images of lakes or other bodies of water to view and identify contaminants,” he says.

Ahmad’s major professor is Roy Gu, associate professor in environmental engineering.

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