Examination of Cotton Maturity and Maturity Distribution Using an Infrared Focal Plane Array Imaging System

Cotton maturity describes the thickness of the cotton secondary cell wall. There is a need for developing non-destructive methods for measuring maturity that also examine distribution. The current study seeks to expand reported infrared (IR)-based maturity determinations using an IR imaging system with a focal-plane array (FPA) detector. Adapted equations were used to examine the maturity of cotton standards and of a larger set of upland cotton varieties (30 total). Maturity values obtained with a Cottonscope and from IR determinations showed strong linearity, R2 = 0.95, while contour plots provided a visual representation of the maturity distribution in the samples. These results validate the use of IR measurement for examining cotton maturity and establish the use of the FPA IR system for examining and imaging cotton maturity distributions.