Assessing Water, Nutrient Status and Fruit Ripening with Proximal and Remote Sensing Systems in Fruit Trees

Fruit tree production is increasingly challenged by climate change, water scarcity, nutrient imbalances, and the need for more sustainable orchard management strategies. Environmental stresses such as drought, heat, salinity, and nutrient deficiency can strongly affect vegetative growth, fruit development, yield, and quality. Therefore, accurate and timely assessment of plant physiological status is essential to optimize irrigation, fertilization, harvest timing, and overall orchard management.In recent years, a wide range of proximal and remote sensing systems has been developed for fruit tree applications, including plant-based sensors, thermal, multispectral, hyperspectral and RGB imaging, using UAV and satellite remote sensing and machine learning approaches for data interpretation. These technologies provide new opportunities to monitor plant water and nutrient status, fruit ripening, and quality under field conditions. However, their integration into fruit tree physiology and orchard management still requires further research across different species, environments, and production systems.Fruit tree production requires accurate and timely information on plant water status, nutrient availability, and fruit ripening, to optimize irrigation, fertilization, harvest timing, and overall orchard management. However, conventional assessment methods are often destructive, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and difficult to apply at large spatial scales or with high temporal frequency.The goal of this Research Topic is to gather innovative studies focused on the use of proximal and remote sensing systems to assess water and nutrient status, fruit growth, ripening, and quality in fruit trees. Particular attention will be given to approaches that improve the understanding of plant physiological responses under field conditions and support more sustainable and data-driven management strategies.This Topic aims to promote the integration of plant physiology, sensing technologies, and advanced data analysis methods, contributing to more efficient and resilient fruit production systems under current and future environmental challenges.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, methods papers, and perspectives focused on the use of proximal and remote sensing systems for assessing water and nutrient status, fruit growth, ripening, and quality in fruit trees.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• Plant-based sensing for water and nutrient status assessment • Proximal sensing systems in orchards • UAV, airborne and satellite remote sensing • Thermal, multispectral, hyperspectral, RGB, fluorescence and 3D imaging • Integration of proximal and remote sensing• Machine learning and artificial intelligence for prediction and decision support • Fruit growth, ripening, yield and quality monitoring • Orchard management applications under field conditions • Applications across different fruit tree species. Topic editors: Gregorio Egea, RICCARDO LO BIANCO, Roberto Massenti Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80976/assessing-water-nutrient-status-and-fruit-ripening-with-proximal-and-remote-sensing-systems-in-fruit-trees