ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (July 6, 2009)--NASA satellite images could soon give information to nut growers about their orchards' health and that could allow them to stay ahead of plant stress issues, pests and diseases that could affect crop yield and quality.

Researchers from New Mexico State University, Texas A&M and University of California-Davis recently received a three-year grant for nearly $870,000.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Specialty Crops Research Initiative is to study nut trees and how data collected in orchards correlates to the satellite images.

Rolston St. Hilaire, a plant and environmental sciences professor at New Mexico State, says the satellites will give information invisible to the unaided eye, like leaf temperature.

The images will capture different light wavelengths and resolutions created by the trees' energy use at a particular wavelength.

The wavelengths can then tell researchers about a plant's health, which they hope will give pecan and other nut growers a way to spot plant stress early.