Investigating Sentinel 2 Multispectral Imagery Efficiency in Describing Spectral Response of Vineyards Covered with Plastic Sheets

The protection of vineyards with overhead plastic covers is a technique largely applied in table grape growing. As with other crops, remote sensing of vegetation spectral reflectance is a useful tool for improving management even for table grape viticulture. The remote sensing of the spectral signals emitted by vegetation of covered vineyards is currently an open field of investigation, given the intrinsic nature of plastic sheets that can have a strong impact on the reflection from the underlying vegetation. Baring these premises in mind, the aim of the present work was to run preliminary tests on table grape vineyards covered with polyethylene sheets, using Copernicus Sentinel 2 (Level 2A product) free optical data, and compare their spectral response with that of similar uncovered vineyards to assess if a reliable spectral signal is detectable through the plastic cover. Vine phenology, air temperature and shoot growth, were monitored during the 2016 growing cycle. Twenty-four Copernicus Sentinel 2 (S2, Level 2A product) images were used to investigate if, in spite of plastic sheets, vine phenology can be similarly described with and without plastic covers. For this purpose, time series of S2 at-the-ground reflectance calibrated bands and correspondent normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), modified soil-adjusted vegetation index, version two (MSAVI2) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) spectral indices were obtained and analyzed, comparing the responses of two covered vineyards with different plastic sheets in respect of two uncovered ones. Results demonstrated that no significant limitation (for both bands and spectral indices) was introduced by plastic sheets while monitoring spectral behavior of covered vineyards.

Download Full-text

Relationship between Soil Burn Severity in Forest Fires Measured In Situ and through Spectral Indices of Remote Detection

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10050457 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 457 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jose Sobrino ◽

Rafael Llorens ◽

Cristina Fernández ◽

José Fernández-Alonso ◽

José Vega

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Landsat 8 ◽

Spectral Indices ◽

Soil Burn Severity ◽

Sentinel 2

Forest fires in Galicia have become a serious environmental problem over the years. This is especially the case in the Pontevedra region, where in October 2017 large fires (>500 hectares) burned more than 15,000 Ha. In addition to the area burned being of relevance, it is also very important to know quickly and accurately the different severity degrees that soil has suffered in order to carry out an optimal restoration campaign. In this sense, the use of remote sensing with the Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 satellites becomes a very useful resource due to the variations that appear in soil after a forest fire (changes in soil cover are noticeably appreciated with spectral information). To calculate these variations, the spectral indices NBR (Normalized Burn Ratio) and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) are used, both before and after the fire and their differences (dNBR and dNDVI, respectively). In addition, as a reference for a correct discrimination between severity degrees, severity data measured in situ after the fire are used to classified at 5 levels of severity and 6 levels of severity. Therefore, this study aims to establish a methodology, which relates remote-sensing data (spectral indices) and severity degrees measured in situ. The R2 statistic and the pixel classification accuracy results show the existing synergy of the Sentinel-2 dNBR index with the 5 severity degrees classification (R2 = 0.74 and 81% of global accuracy) and, for this case, the good applicability of remote sensing in the forest fire field.

Download Full-text

Detecting Cover Crop End-Of-Season Using VENµS and Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12213524 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (21) ◽

pp. 3524

Author(s):

Feng Gao ◽

Martha C. Anderson ◽

W. Dean Hively

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Time Series ◽

Cover Crops ◽

Cover Crop ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Agricultural Research ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Absolute Difference ◽

Sentinel 2

Cover crops are planted during the off-season to protect the soil and improve watershed management. The ability to map cover crop termination dates over agricultural landscapes is essential for quantifying conservation practice implementation, and enabling estimation of biomass accumulation during the active cover period. Remote sensing detection of end-of-season (termination) for cover crops has been limited by the lack of high spatial and temporal resolution observations and methods. In this paper, a new within-season termination (WIST) algorithm was developed to map cover crop termination dates using the Vegetation and Environment monitoring New Micro Satellite (VENµS) imagery (5 m, 2 days revisit). The WIST algorithm first detects the downward trend (senescent period) in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time-series and then refines the estimate to the two dates with the most rapid rate of decrease in NDVI during the senescent period. The WIST algorithm was assessed using farm operation records for experimental fields at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). The crop termination dates extracted from VENµS and Sentinel-2 time-series in 2019 and 2020 were compared to the recorded termination operation dates. The results show that the termination dates detected from the VENµS time-series (aggregated to 10 m) agree with the recorded harvest dates with a mean absolute difference of 2 days and uncertainty of 4 days. The operational Sentinel-2 time-series (10 m, 4–5 days revisit) also detected termination dates at BARC but had 7% missing and 10% false detections due to less frequent temporal observations. Near-real-time simulation using the VENµS time-series shows that the average lag times of termination detection are about 4 days for VENµS and 8 days for Sentinel-2, not including satellite data latency. The study demonstrates the potential for operational mapping of cover crop termination using high temporal and spatial resolution remote sensing data.

Download Full-text

Remote Sensing of Arctic Vegetation: Relations between the NDVI, Spatial Resolution and Vegetation Cover on Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut

ARCTIC ◽

10.14430/arctic2 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Gita J. Laidler ◽

Paul M. Treitz ◽

David M. Atkinson

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Spectral Response ◽

Moisture Regime ◽

Percent Cover ◽

Multispectral Data ◽

Arctic Vegetation

Arctic tundra environments are thought to be particularly sensitive to changes in climate, whereby alterations in ecosystem functioning are likely to be expressed through shifts in vegetation phenology, species composition, and net ecosystem productivity (NEP). Remote sensing has shown potential as a tool to quantify and monitor biophysical variables over space and through time. This study explores the relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and percent-vegetation cover in a tundra environment, where variations in soil moisture, exposed soil, and gravel till have significant influence on spectral response, and hence, on the characterization of vegetation communities. IKONOS multispectral data (4 m spatial resolution) and Landsat 7 ETM+ data (30 m spatial resolution) were collected for a study area in the Lord Lindsay River watershed on Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut. In conjunction with image acquisition, percent cover data were collected for twelve 100 m × 100 m study plots to determine vegetation community composition. Strong correlations were found for NDVI values calculated with surface and satellite sensors, across the sample plots. In addition, results suggest that percent cover is highly correlated with the NDVI, thereby indicating strong potential for modeling percent cover variations over the region. These percent cover variations are closely related to moisture regime, particularly in areas of high moisture (e.g., water-tracks). These results are important given that improved mapping of Arctic vegetation and associated biophysical variables is needed to monitor environmental change.

Download Full-text

Comparative Analysis of Landsat-8, Sentinel-2, and GF-1 Data for Retrieving Soil Moisture over Wheat Farmlands

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12172708 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (17) ◽

pp. 2708 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Qi Wang ◽

Jiancheng Li ◽

Taoyong Jin ◽

Xin Chang ◽

Yongchao Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Optical Sensors ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Cloud Model ◽

Vegetation Indices ◽

Optical Data ◽

Landsat 8 ◽

Different Sources ◽

Sentinel 2

Soil moisture is an important variable in ecological, hydrological, and meteorological studies. An effective method for improving the accuracy of soil moisture retrieval is the mutual supplementation of multi-source data. The sensor configuration and band settings of different optical sensors lead to differences in band reflectivity in the inter-data, further resulting in the differences between vegetation indices. The combination of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with multi-source optical data has been widely used for soil moisture retrieval. However, the influence of vegetation indices derived from different sources of optical data on retrieval accuracy has not been comparatively analyzed thus far. Therefore, the suitability of vegetation parameters derived from different sources of optical data for accurate soil moisture retrieval requires further investigation. In this study, vegetation indices derived from GF-1, Landsat-8, and Sentinel-2 were compared. Based on Sentinel-1 SAR and three optical data, combined with the water cloud model (WCM) and the advanced integral equation model (AIEM), the accuracy of soil moisture retrieval was investigated. The results indicate that, Sentinel-2 data were more sensitive to vegetation characteristics and had a stronger capability for vegetation signal detection. The ranking of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values from the three sensors was as follows: the largest was in Sentinel-2, followed by Landsat-8, and the value of GF-1 was the smallest. The normalized difference water index (NDWI) value of Landsat-8 was larger than that of Sentinel-2. With reference to the relative components in the WCM model, the contribution of vegetation scattering exceeded that of soil scattering within a vegetation index range of approximately 0.55–0.6 in NDVI-based models and all ranges in NDWI1-based models. The threshold value of NDWI2 for calculating vegetation water content (VWC) was approximately an NDVI value of 0.4–0.55. In the soil moisture retrieval, Sentinel-2 data achieved higher accuracy than data from the other sources and thus was more suitable for the study for combination with SAR in soil moisture retrieval. Furthermore, compared with NDVI, higher accuracy of soil moisture could be retrieved by using NDWI1 (R2 = 0.623, RMSE = 4.73%). This study provides a reference for the selection of optical data for combination with SAR in soil moisture retrieval.

Download Full-text

Improving the Accuracy of Multiple Algorithms for Crop Classification by Integrating Sentinel-1 Observations with Sentinel-2 Data

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13020243 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 243

Author(s):

Amal Chakhar ◽

David Hernández-López ◽

Rocío Ballesteros ◽

Miguel A. Moreno

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Radar Data ◽

Optical Data ◽

Support Vector ◽

Sensing Data ◽

Crop Classification

The availability of an unprecedented amount of open remote sensing data, such as Sentinel-1 and -2 data within the Copernicus program, has boosted the idea of combining the use of optical and radar data to improve the accuracy of agricultural applications such as crop classification. Sentinel-1’s Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides co- and cross-polarized backscatter, which offers the opportunity to monitor agricultural crops using radar at high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, we assessed the potential of integrating Sentinel-1 information (VV and VH backscatter and their ratio VH/VV with Sentinel-2A data (NDVI) to perform crop classification and to define which are the most important input data that provide the most accurate classification results. Further, we examined the temporal dynamics of remote sensing data for cereal, horticultural, and industrial crops, perennials, deciduous trees, and legumes. To select the best SAR input feature, we tried two approaches, one based on classification with only SAR features and one based on integrating SAR with optical data. In total, nine scenarios were tested. Furthermore, we evaluated the performance of 22 nonparametric classifiers on which most of these algorithms had not been tested before with SAR data. The results revealed that the best performing scenario was the one integrating VH and VV with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and cubic support vector machine (SVM) (the kernel function of the classifier is cubic) as the classifier with the highest accuracy among all those tested.

Download Full-text

Determination of Crop Health Monitoring in MPKV – Rahuri, Using Remote Sensing Approach

Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology ◽

10.9734/cjast/2021/v40i431291 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 11-16

Author(s):

Ankita P. Kamble ◽

A. A. Atre ◽

Payal A. Mahadule ◽

C. B. Pande ◽

N. S. Kute ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Health Monitoring ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Plant Stress ◽

Vegetation Indices ◽

Remotely Sensed Data ◽

Pests And Diseases ◽

Crop Health ◽

Sentinel 2

Pests and diseases cause major harm during crop development. Also plant stress affects crop quality and quantity. Recent developments in high resolution remotely sensed data has seen a great potential in mapping cropland areas infected by pests and diseases, as well as potential vulnerable areas over expansive areas. Crop health monitoring in this study was carried out using remote sensing techniques. The present study was carried out in MPKV, Rahuri, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra. Vegetation indices like Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) were used to classify the crops into healthy and dead or unhealthy one. Sentinel-2 image data from October 2019 to January 2020 processed in Arc GIS 10.1 were used for this study. Vegetation is a key component of the ecosystem and plays an important role in stabilizing the global environment. The result showed that the average vegetation cover was decreased in the month of November and healthy vegetation was found more in month of October as compared to December and January. This shows that NDVI and SAVI indices for Sentinel-2 images can be used for crop health monitoring.

Download Full-text

An attempt to understand corn and winter wheat temporal behavior by means of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data and its relation with phonological stages.

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12307 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marta Pasternak ◽

Kamila Pawluszek-Filipiak

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Winter Wheat ◽

Strong Correlation ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Radar Data ◽

Temporal Behavior ◽

Spectral Indices ◽

Chlorophyll Index ◽

Sar Data ◽

Sentinel 2

Crops are of the fundamental food sources for humanity. Due to the population growth as well as climate change, monitoring of the crops is important to sustain agriculture and conserve natural resources. Development of the remote sensing techniques especially in terms of revisiting time opens new avenues to study crops temporal behaviors from space. Moreover, thanks to the Copernicus program, which guarantees optical as well as radar data to be freely available, there are opportunities to utilize them in an operative way. Additionally, utilization of spectral as well as radar data allows for the synergetic application of both datasets. However, to utilize this data in the operational crop monitoring, it is very important to understand the temporal variations of the remote sensing signal. Therefore, we make an attempt to understand spectral as well as radar remote sensing temporal behavior and its relation with phonological stages.For the analysis, 14 cloud-free Sentinel-2 (S-2) acquisitions as well as 34 Sentinel-1 (S-1) acquisitions are utilized. S-2 data were collected with 2A-level while S-1 data was captured in the format of Single Look Complex (SLC) in the Interferometric Wide (IW) swath mode. SLC products consist of complex SAR data preserving phase information which allows studying polarimetric indicators. All remote sensing (spectral as well as SAR) data cover the time period from 04/05/2020 to 07/11/2020. During this time, also 14 field visits were carried out to capture information about phonological stages of corn and wheat according to the BBCH scale (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt und CHemische Industrie). Additionally, to better understand the temporal behavior of S-1/S-2 signal, weather information from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) was captured.Based on various spectral bands of S-2 data, 12 spectral indices were calculated e.g., GNDVI (Green Normalized Vegetation Index), IRECI (Inverted Red-Edge Chlorophyll Index), MCARI (Modified Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index), MSAVI (Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index), MTCI (MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index), NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), PSSRa (Pigment Specific Simple Ratio) and others. After radiometric calibration and the Lee speckle filtering, backscattering coefficients (&#963;VVo ,&#963;VHo) of S-1 images were calculated as well as its backscattering ratio (&#963;VHo/ &#963;VVo).&#160; All images were then converted from linear to decibel (dB). Additionally, 2 &#215; 2 covariance matrix delivered from S-1 was extracted from the scattering matrix of each SLC image using PolSARpro version 6.0.2 software. After speckle filtration, total scattered power was derived which allows calculating the Shannon Entropy. This value measures the randomness of the scattering within a pixel.Time series of many S-2 indices reveal the strong correlation between the development of phenology stages of corn and wheat and the increase of S2 delivered values of spectral indices. However, such a strong correlation cannot be observed within many of S-1 indices. Some of them very poorly indicate the correlation between the development of phenology stages of corn and wheat and increase of S-1 indices values. Additionally, it was observed that values of S1/S2 indices for the same phenology stage very between corn and winter wheat.&#160;

Download Full-text

Exploiting Time Series of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Imagery to Detect Meadow Phenology in Mountain Regions

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11050542 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 542 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Laura Stendardi ◽

Stein Karlsen ◽

Georg Niedrist ◽

Renato Gerdol ◽

Marc Zebisch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

Optical Sensors ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Optical Data ◽

Radar Signal ◽

Acquisition Time ◽

Soil Conditions ◽

Mountain Regions ◽

Sentinel 2

A synergic integration of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical time series offers an unprecedented opportunity in vegetation phenology monitoring for mountain agriculture management. In this paper, we performed a correlation analysis of radar signal to vegetation and soil conditions by using a time series of Sentinel-1 C-band dual-polarized (VV and VH) SAR images acquired in the South Tyrol region (Italy) from October 2014 to September 2016. Together with Sentinel-1 images, we exploited corresponding Sentinel-2 images and ground measurements. Results show that Sentinel-1 cross-polarized VH backscattering coefficients have a strong vegetation contribution and are well correlated with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values retrieved from optical sensors, thus allowing the extraction of meadow phenological phases. Particularly for the Start Of Season (SOS) at low altitudes, the mean difference in days between Sentinel-1 and ground sensors is compatible with the acquisition time of the SAR sensor. However, the results show a decrease in accuracy with increasing altitude. The same trend is observed for senescence. The main outcomes of our investigations in terms of inter-satellite comparison show that Sentinel-1 is less effective than Sentinel-2 in detecting the SOS. At the same time, Sentinel-1 is as robust as Sentinel-2 in defining mowing events. Our study shows that SAR-Optical data integration is a promising approach for phenology detection in mountain regions.

Download Full-text

The Use of Remote Sensing to Assess the Effects of Water Stress on Wheat

Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1017/s0014479700019402 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 423-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

R. K. Mahey ◽

Rajwant Singh ◽

S. S. Sidhu ◽

R. S. Narang

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Water Stress ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Spectral Data ◽

Growth And Development ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Spectral Response ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Area Index

SUMMARYGround-based radiometric measurements in the red and infrared bands were used to monitor the growth and development of wheat under irrigated and stressed conditions throughout the 1987–88 and 1988–89 growth cycles. Spectral data were correlated with plant height, leaf area index, total fresh and total dry biomass, plant water content and grain yield. The radiance ratio (R) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were highly and linearly correlated with yield, establishing the potential which remote sensing has for predicting grain yield. The correlation for R and NDVI was at a maximum between 75 and 104 days after sowing, corresponding with maximum green crop canopy cover. The differences in spectral response over time between irrigated and unirrigated crops allowed detection of water stress effects on the crop, indicating that a hand-held radiometer can be used to collect spectral data which can supply information on wheat growth and development.Efectos de lafalta de agua en el trigo

Download Full-text

COMPARISON OF VEGETATION INDICES FROM RPAS AND SENTINEL-2 IMAGERY FOR DETECTING PERMANENT PASTURES

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-3-1381-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol XLII-3 ◽

pp. 1381-1387 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Piragnolo ◽

G. Lusiani ◽

F. Pirotti

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Vegetation Indices ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

Water Index ◽

Normalized Difference Water Index ◽

Remote Sensing Techniques ◽

Sentinel 2

Permanent pastures (PP) are defined as grasslands, which are not subjected to any tillage, but only to natural growth. They are important for local economies in the production of fodder and pastures (Ali et al. 2016). Under these definitions, a pasture is permanent when it is not under any crop-rotation, and its production is related to only irrigation, fertilization and mowing. Subsidy payments to landowners require monitoring activities to determine which sites can be considered PP. These activities are mainly done with visual field surveys by experienced personnel or lately also using remote sensing techniques. The regional agency for SPS subsidies, the Agenzia Veneta per i Pagamenti in Agricoltura (AVEPA) takes care of monitoring and control on behalf of the Veneto Region using remote sensing techniques. The investigation integrate temporal series of Sentinel-2 imagery with RPAS. Indeed, the testing area is specific region were the agricultural land is intensively cultivated for production of hay harvesting four times every year between May and October. The study goal of this study is to monitor vegetation presence and amount using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Soil-adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), and the Normalized Difference Built Index (NDBI). The overall objective is to define for each index a set of thresholds to define if a pasture can be classified as PP or not and recognize the mowing.

Download Full-text