Relationship Between Cotton Lint Color and Weather Exposure
ABSTRACT DATA were taken to quantify the changes in cotton fiber properties when cotton was exposed to different quantifiable weather patterns. Bolls were tagged in the field as they began to open, and subsamples were taken on a weekly basis. Fiber quality change coefficients for colorimeter-reflectance and degree-of-yellowness were calculated for each period. Two pre-diction equations for the quality change coefficients as a function of weather were developed by use of regression analysis. The regression equations account for about 60 percent of the observed variation. The two pre-diction equations were incorporated into a computer simulation routine to give the quality and corresponding grade for a given age of cotton. The computer simulation routine updates the cotton quality each day and is reasonably accurate in its pre-diction of cotton color and grade. The predicted values are generally slightly lower than the observed values.