On the Use of SMAP Soil Moisture for Forecasting NDVI Over CONUS Cropland Regions

Autor: Manh‐Hung Le, John D. Bolten, Kristen M. Whitney, David M. Johnson, Rick Mueller, Iliana E. Mladenova
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, Iss 20, Pp n/a-n/a (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2024GL111187
Popis: Abstract Vegetation health forecasting (NDVI as a proxy) informs decision‐makers about the end of season crop yield productivity but is not well‐documented. This study tests improvements in vegetation health forecasting by developing a data‐driven Dynamic Agricultural Productivity Indicator (DAPI), which simultaneously incorporates satellite‐based root zone soil moisture (RZSM) and satellite‐based NDVI data. RZSM is estimated via data assimilation of satellite based SMAP SM dataset. We employ the proposed DAPI forecast across four cropland types in the CONUS, including corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat. Results demonstrate superior performance of the DAPI forecasts compared to climatology‐based NDVI forecasts, with the largest improvements in water‐limited regions. DAPI shows particularly good performance during hydrologic disturbances such as floods and droughts. To this end, the DAPI approach is useful in estimating future vegetation health for identifying potential food‐insecure areas, predicting crop price changes, and projecting expected commodities market trends.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals