Research

In David Helman's M&M-VS lab, we are currently focusing on two main general topics:

Climate – CO2 – vegetation systems feedbacks (with emphasis on agricultural systems)
Vertical urban farming (including developing monitoring tools for use in autonomous systems)

We use a plethora of tools to study different aspects of these two topics in controlled experiments and natural environments, from high-tech sensors, handheld cameras, and cameras and sensors onboard drones and satellites to empirical and more complex numerical modeling. We aim to understand climate-environment-vegetation systems interactions and develop precision agriculture tools to gain more (yield production and quality) with less (resources), providing creative solutions to tackle present and future food security challenges.

Climate – CO2 – vegetation systems feedbacks

WheatDryFACE is the leading project of the lab. The lab has established the only functioning FACE system in the Middle East.

A project in Hula Valley wetlands is a project that helps to enhance understanding of wetland ecosystems' role in climate regulation

Short-term and Long-term Drought Stress in Mixed Mediterranean Forest: Early Detection by Hyperspectral Imaging in the Drone and the Satellite Scale

Combining numerical crop models and AI to advance our understanding of plant-related process under future climate change at a global scale

SatVITS-Flood: Satellite Vegetation Index Time Series Flood Detection Model for Hyperarid Regions

David Helman has a continuous work on modeling

Vertical urban agriculture

Revolutionizing Disease Management in Tomatoes: A Low-Cost Imaging Approach

Autonomous Pruning System for Vertical Urban Farming
This project, as a part of the global urban farming approach,

The green wall in the lab is not only recreational but also has effects on the indoor climate, as well as energy consumption.
The green wall has an effect on both temperature and air freshness.

ToMAI-SENS device: a smart device to non-destructively assess tomato fruit quality.

There are robotics projects that aim to build autonomous urban agriculture systems.