ARS | Publication request: SPECTRAL VEGETATION INDEX RELATIONSHIPS WITH NORMALIZED YIELD MONITOR DATA

Submitted to: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: January 20, 2003
Publication Date: July 24, 2003
Citation: Walthall, C.L., Gish, T.J., Daughtry, C.S. 2003. Spectral vegetation index relationship with normalized yield monitor data [abstract]. In: Proceedings of IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, July 20-25, 2003, Toulouse, France. 2003 CDROM.

Technical Abstract: The delineation of crop response zones to identify within-field areas where productivity varies with seasonal precipitation patterns can be used as an indicator of subsurface water flow, and is a first step towards delineating management zones for precision farming as a function of water availability. Spectral reflectance of crop canopies prior to harvest have been shown to be correlated with yield. Three years of yield monitor data comprising dramatically different climatic conditions were used to compute normalized difference yield indexes (NDYI) for examining crop spatial variability. The NDYI values and spatial patterns were found to be well correlated with airborne spectral data expressed as NDVI. The spatial patterns from the analysis are shown to be indicative of subsurface water flow pathways identified using a Ground Penetrating RADAR-Digital Elevation Model approach.