This research aimed to evaluate the spectral response to variation of nitrogen levels and its relationship with leaf nitrogen, chlorophyll and yield in cotton crop. The experiment was conducted in Chapadão do Céu, MS, in a randomized block design with four replications. The treatments consisted of five N rates of 0, 30, 70, 110 and 150 kg ha-1, divided in two applications at 28 and 41 days after emergence, using urea fertilizer as a source. The highest correlations of the chlorophyll index and normalized difference vegetation index with yield were observed in the fourth observation, at 56 days after emergence, indicating that in this period, yield may already be compromised if there is shortage in the supply of N to the crop. The results obtained indicated that the sensor becomes more sensitive to variations of nitrogen levels as the crop grows, but not when it reaches a high leaf area index and in the begining of the senescence. It is concluded that ground level remote sensing permits to estimate indirectly the amount of N absorbed, chlorophyll index and cotton yield.
fertilization; Gossypium hirsutum; remote sensing
