ARS | Publication request: THE NEED FOR NEW INSTRUMENTATION FOR AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS.

Submitted to: Near Infrared Spectroscopy International Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 15, 2004
Publication Date: April 7, 2005
Citation: Barton II, F.E., De Haseth, J.A., Himmelsbach, D.S. 2005. The need for new instrumentation for agricultural applications [abstract]. 12th International Conference on Near Infrared Spectroscopy International Conference. p. 8

Technical Abstract: The current family of dispersive and filter spectrometers have been in use for four decades. They are reliable and possess high signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio as do the new series of laboratory interferometers. The former instruments opened the analytical world to new levels of speed and ease for chemometric measurements of compositional properties of materials. The later series have shown us that other analytes that were unmeasurable before can be accommodated. There are three reasons to need a new series of spectrometers: 1. Our existing instruments are aging and need to be replaced, 2. analyses we are having to perform today exceed the capabilities of our current instrumentation and 3. we will have to move the instruments out of the laboratory into the processing plants and field if we are to meet the needs of a growing population. These instruments can either be replaced by something with more flexibility and capabilities that what our dispersive monochrometers have evolved into or with cheaper, faster single purpose sensors that can be replaced as the need requires. There are several kinds of applications that make either of these scenarios feasible. If an analyte has the same functional groups as the matrix, but is of lower molecular weight, if there is a property to be measured which has unique spectral features outside the spectral region of current instrumentation and if a simple sensor could replace and expensive spectrometer system. Data will show the capabilities of various instruments for specific assays and some new instruments that can be used in the field.