Airborne digital imagery in conjunction with ground reflectance and plant physical data was used to evaluate simulated boll weevil damage in a cotton field in 2000. Five different levels of artificial square damage (control, 10, 20, 40, and 60%) with three replications were assigned across 15 experimental plots in a randomized complete block design. The artificial square damage was performed on 25 May when punctured squares by boll weevils were found. Airborne color-infrared (CIR) digital images were obtained from the field on 20, 28 June and 11 July. Ground reflectance and plant physical data, including plant height, number of leaves, number of squares, and chlorophyll, were collected on 5 July. The 20 and 28 June images revealed that plants with high artificial square damage levels showed higher spectral response in the near-infrared (NIR) band and lower spectral response in the red and green bands than those with lower damage levels. Plant height and number of leaves were significantly higher for plants with high damage levels than for those with low damage levels. However, there were no significant differences in either spectral response or plant physical characteristics between some of the damage levels. These preliminary results indicate that airborne imagery has potential for assessing boll weevil infestations in cotton fields, but more experiments are needed.