Abstract
Short term as well as long term water stress has the same effects on plant physiology and canopy architecture. Changes in water status of a canopy can have indirect effects on remotely sensed optical reflectance. This study consists of two interrelated experiments on small canopy under laboratory conditions. The main aim of this study was to study spectral reflectance of water stressed canopies and to implement radiative transfer models to simulate the spectral reflectance of water stressed vegetation. Measurements were taken in the laboratory, which include spectral data and biophysical variables. Results from this research indicated that the pattern of change in both measured and modelled spectral canopy reflectance was similar. but there was a poor fit of the model to the measured canopy reflectance. Overall, this work investigated the relationship between vegetation variables and reflectance of water stressed vegetation and showed that biophysical variables that affect canopy reflectance should be considered carefully in any attempt to implement remote sensing techniques.