Sun-induced fluorescence (SIF) is a weak signal emitted from the core of the photosystems. It is therefore directly related to stress induced limitations of the photosynthetic efficiency and thus shows a large potential to be an early indicator for plant stress. SIF can be derived in the atmospheric oxygen absorption bands (e.g. O2-A and O2-B bands) using high resolution spectrometers.Within this communication we present the results of a drought stress experiment conducted in Londrina, Brazil. More than four different soybean varieties are grown under water limiting conditions. Previous lab experiments showed different stress resistances of the four varieties to water limiting conditions using state of the art plant physiological and destructive structural measurements.High resolution spectrometers measurements at leaf and close canopy level are used to non-invasively detect drought stress. Classical vegetation reflectance indices and SIF measurements are combined with thermal canopy measurements to detect drought stress in vegetation canopies and to compare the drought stress resistance of the four different soybean varieties.This experiment is a first experiment that will be repeated with different species in the future. In the future improved non-invasive drought stress indicators will be tested by imaging data that are recorded by HyPlant, a novel high performance airborne imaging spectrometer. HyPlant will be used to map SIF by exploiting its high spectral resolution in the window between 670 and 780 nm characterized by a full width at half maximum of 0.26 nm in the atmospheric oxygen absorption bands. In addition, its second module provides data for calculation of reflectance between 400 and 2500 nm