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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #106692
Title: THE INTEGRATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND SIMULATION MODELS FOR REGIONAL PRODUCTION ASSESSMENT

Author
item Doraiswamy, Paul
item ZARA, PEDRO - SSAI
item STERN, ALAN - SSAI

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/2/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Monitoring crop condition and production estimates at the state and county level is of great interest to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts field interviews with sampled farm operators and crop cuttings to obtain crop yield estimates at regional and state levels. In this research, crop growth was adapted for simulations at regional scales. Satellite imagery provides a real-time assessment of crop condition parameters. This study investigates the use of these parameters as an input to a crop growth model. The primary objective was to evaluate a method of integrating Landsat TM satellite data in a crop growth model to simulate spring wheat yields at the sub-county level. The study was conducted in the semi-arid region of North Dakota. The input parameters, derived from remotely sensed data, provided spatial integrity, as well as a real-time calibration of model simulated parameters during the season to ensure that the modeled and observed conditions agree. A radiative transfer model provided the link between the satellite data and crop model. The simulation was run for each soil type within the county and the results integrated to provide county yields. The simulated yields were comparable to survey reports from NASS.