Wavelet analysis of pulse-amplitude-modulated chlorophyll fluorescence for differentiation of plant samples

Pulse-amplitude-modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) from photosystem II (PSII) of plants has been routinely measured for the analysis of photosynthesis and environmental changes. PAM ChlF from PSII is non-stationary and has time-varying frequency characteristics; however, existing analysis of PAM ChlF has been limited to selected characteristic values in the time domain. Wavelet transform is recognized as an efficient tool for analyzing non-stationary signals. In this research, an attempt was made to analyze PAM ChlF through wavelet transform. Features of PAM ChlF signals were computed from wavelet decomposition to classify two tree species and to detect chilling and detachment stresses. The wavelet-based features were compared with the commonly-used maximal PSII efficiency Fv/Fm. Both the wavelet-based features and Fv/Fm could effectively classify two tree species, but the former showed superiority than the latter in detecting the stresses. Wavelet transform revealed chilling stress earlier than Fv/Fm and detected detachment stress Fv/Fm failed to show. The results show that wavelet transform is a useful technique for analysis of PAM ChlF.