Sugarcane is a good source of renewable energy and helps reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Nitrogen has a critical role in plant growth; therefore,estimating nitrogen levels is essential, and remote sensing can improve fertilizer management. This field study selects wavelengths from hyperspectral data on a sugarcane canopy to generate models for estimating leaf nitrogen concentrations. The study was carried out in the municipalities of Piracicaba, Jaú, and Santa Maria da Serra, state of São Paulo, in the 2013/2014 growing season. The experiments were carried out using a completely randomized block design with split plots (three sugarcane varieties per plot [variety SP 81-3250 was common to all plots] and four nitrogen concentrations [0, 50, 100, and 150 kgha-1] per subplot) and four repetitions. The wavelengths that best correlated with leaf nitrogen were selected usingsparse partial least square regression. The wavelength regionswere combinedby stepwise multiple linear regression. Spectral bands in the visible (700-705 nm), red-edge (710-720 nm), near-infrared (725, 925, 955, and 980 nm), and short-wave infrared (1355, 1420, 1595, 1600, 1605, and 1610 nm) regions were identified. The R² and RMSE of the model were 0.50 and 1.67 g.kg-1, respectively. The adjusted R² and RMSE of the models for Piracicaba, Jaú, and Santa Maria were 0.31 (unreliable) and 1.30 g.kg-1, 0.53 and 1.96 g.kg-1, and 0.54 and 1.46 g.kg-1, respectively. Our results showed that canopy hyperspectral reflectance can estimate leaf nitrogen concentrations and manage nitrogen application in sugarcane.
