OPTIMIZING SOYBEAN CANOPY ARCHITECTURE FOR EFFICIENT LIGHT AND WATER USE UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE

The long-term goal of the project is to predict optimal soybean canopy architecture for maximum light capture and water use efficiency under future climate scenarios, and the optimal distribution of resources within that canopy.Supporting Objectives:Collect detailed 3D geometry and illumination data to reconstruct a soybean canopy digital twin.Reconstruct and enable the digital twin to be simulation ready and to respond to varying environmental conditions.Apply algorithms for the fast calculation of light distribution throughout the canopy under varying architectures and seeding strategies.Perform integrative modeling to estimate the photosynthetic and water use efficiency of soy canopies optimized for light capture.Develop an interactive application with an intuitive GUI that will allow the creation and testing of "what-if" scenarios by modifying the environment and distribution of resources determining photosynthesis at the leaf level.