Development of a low-invasive sound-based root growth detection system

Abstract The function of roots is exceedingly important for crops and the observation of root growth is essential for understanding the plant physiology and for the improvement of crops productivity. The current study focused on the use of sound waves which can propagate in water and soil and are expected to interact with roots. In order to monitor the growth of roots non-invasively, a prototype sound-based root growth detection system was developed, and its performance was evaluated on Komatsuna. The attenuation amount of transmitted sound intensity increased during the cultivation period, and a positive correlation between the attenuation amount and roots growth was observed. Based on this observation, a sound-based root growth detection system has the possibility to indirectly detect root growth by an extremely low-cost and simple method.