Hand-held hyperspectral reflectance data were collected in the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004 to differentiate unique spectral characteristics of common turfgrass and weed species. Turfgrass species evaluated were: bermudagrass, ‘Tifway 419’; zoysiagrass, ‘Meyer’; St. Augustinegrass, ‘Raleigh’; common centipedegrass; and creeping bentgrass, ‘Crenshaw’. Weed species evaluated were: dallisgrass, southern crabgrass, eclipta, and Virginia buttonweed. Reflectance data were collected from greenhouse and field locations. An overall classification accuracy of 85% was achieved for all species in the field. A total of 21 spectral bands between 378 and 1,000 nm that were consistent over the three data collection periods were used for analysis. Only centipedegrass, zoysiagrass, and dallisgrass were correctly classified less than 80% of the time. An overall classification accuracy of 69% was achieved for the greenhouse species. Spectral bands used in this analysis ranged from 353 to 799 nm. Creeping bentgrass and Virginia buttonweed were classified correctly at 96 and 92%, respectively.

Nomenclature: Eclipta, Eclipta prostrata L. ECLAL; Virginia buttonweed, Diodia virginiana L. DIQVI; dallisgrass, Paspalum dilatatum Poir. PASDI; southern crabgrass, Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koel. DIGSP; bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt-Davy, ‘Tifway 419’; zoysiagrass, Zoysia japonica Steud., ‘Meyer’; St. Augustinegrass, Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze, ‘Raleigh’; common centipedegrass, Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack; creeping bentgrass, Agrostis stolonifera L., ‘Crenshaw’.