Specialists of the Perm Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences PFRC) have created a unique photon sensor for analyzing the sound signals of plants and insects. Now with its help you can monitor the condition of plants and their possible infection with pests within a radius of 1 km. This was reported to socialbites.ca at the Russian Ministry of Education and Science.
The sensitive elements of such a photonic sensor are the thinnest optical fiber, each point of which acts as a microphone capable of picking up vibrations of different frequencies. The team was able to optimize the distributed sensor interrogation system, providing significant noise suppression during signal transmission, and making the system itself significantly cheaper than analogs.
It has been determined that the created sensor can record acoustic effects at frequencies between 30 and 10,000 Hz with a 1 km sensitive element length and report on which locations and when they start and end.
“Flora representatives signal in the 40 Hz to 80 kHz frequency range, and deciphering this data can tell a lot about whether the plant is developing normally or is under severe stress due to any factor. As for insects, for example pests, the acoustic monitoring here makes it possible to record their activity in situations where direct visual control is not possible,” he said. .
The first and easiest way to learn about insects is to record sound intensity throughout their lives. For example, when they gnaw, buzz, scratch something with their limbs, or move. Therefore, with the help of a new sensor, it is possible to determine the infection of the plant with the larvae.
Also, a significant reduction in the bee population is observed all over the world – distributed acoustic monitoring will help find the causes of this process. Scientists will be able to track the frequency, volume and speed of bees.
Now the science team is conducting a series of additional laboratory tests. In the next two years, the scientists plan to develop a version of the system for field studies and test the photonic sensors in real conditions.