SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

A Bonifacio Street
Baguio City
Tel Nos.: 442-3043; 442-2793; 443-2001
FAX: 442-2842

GE 3171L Remote Sensing (Lab)

Topic: Measuring and/or estimating volume of crop yield over

expanded area.

I. INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is one of the major users of remote sensing data. Compared to the
traditional data collection methods, the capability of remote sensing techniques of
providing timely information over a large spatial extent at a wide range of spatial,
temporal, and spectral resolutions is appreciated by numerous users in different
application fields.

Measuring and/or estimating volume of crop yield over expanded area is one of the
applications of remote sensing.

What is crop yield?

Crop yield is the measure of seeds or grains which is produced from a given land
plot. It is usually expressed in kilograms per hectare. Such an indicator as the average
crop yield per hectare serves as the evaluation of a farmer’s agricultural output on a
particular field over a specified time. It is probably the most important measure of each
farmer’s performance, as it embodies the result of all the efforts and resources invested
by agrarians in the development of plants on their fields.

Crop yield estimation is an important research content of precision agriculture,

and it plays a crucial role in making decisions for agricultural production input and
realizing accurate agricultural operation and management.
Why use remotely sensed data?

Crop yield estimation is also required in market risk management and policy
adjustment. The conventional sampling method for crop yield estimation is destructive
and labor-consuming, with low accuracy; thus, it cannot meet the demands of modern
agriculture. The establishment of a crop yield estimation model based on phenotypic
characteristics to predict a crop yield has significantly improved the accuracy of crop
yield estimations.

Remote sensing data has the potential and the capacity to provide spatial
information at global scale, of features and phenomena on earth on an almost real-time
basis.

The measures of volume or weight used and reported by the farmers are generally
based on local container (sack, basket, kerosene tin, etc.) and, given the variety of
forms, sizes, and capacities of the containers, it is quite difficult to convert them into
standardized units.

II. DISCUSSION

How Crop Yield Works

Conventional method:
To estimate crop yield, producers usually count the amount of a given crop
harvested in a sample area. Then the harvested crop is weighed, and the crop yield of
the entire field is extrapolated from the sample.

Remote sensing method

Satellite- and UAV-based applications of remote sensing in precision agriculture

generally use multispectral measurements to estimate high-spatial
resolution information related to soil properties, plant health, and crop yields.

One of the factors to consider in analyzing remotely sensed data include color
and reflectance.
 Figure 1.1 Crop Yield Map

We have prior knowledge that healthy vegetation reflects and absorbs different
wavelengths of light than less-healthy vegetation, which is why leaves on healthy maize
plants look deep green and leaves on stressed or dead plants look brown. 

In this figure, the green portion on the map indicates high yield. The yellow
portion indicates medium yield, and the red portion indicates low yield.

Figure 1.2 Generalized Spectral Signatures

 In relation to Figure 1.1, this graph shows the reflectance and wavelength of
different quality of vegetation. Healthy vegetation absorbs light in the visible spectrum
and reflects strongly in the near infrared (which the human eye can’t see). The dark
green vegetation (green curved line) has the highest reflectance. The soil has the
lowest reflectance because it has the most organic matter content. The stressed
vegetation has a reflectance in between the healthy vegetation and the soil.

Figure 1.3 Corn Yield Satellite Imagery

In this figure, we can see that the green colored pixel in the image has the
highest crop yield (10.7-12.3). The lowest crop yield is red in color (6.2-8.5).
 Figure 1.4 Satellite Imagery on Highest and Lowest Crop Yielding Area

In this figure, we can see the highest and lowest crop yielding area in the given
area. It can be seen in the figure that only a small portion (green) of the land has a good
yield. Meanwhile, the low yielding area is represented by the light brown color and red.

Figure 1.5 Corn Yield History (1996-2002)

 The following figure shows a relative yield history for a field with corn (soybean in
the southern half in 2000) grown using furrow-irrigation (until 2001) and center-pivot
irrigation (in 2002). Maps of relative yield of corn and soybean grown during a seven-
year period (red indicates low-yielding areas and green indicates higher than average
yields). Year 1996 has the highest yield while year 2000-2002 has the lowest corn yield.

Different vegetation indices like Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI),

Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Indez (MSAVI), Nomalized Difference Red Edge
Index (NDRE), etc. are widely used to monitor crop health which is also directly
proportional to yield.

III. SIGNIFICANCE OF REMOTE SENSING IN MEASURING CROP YIELD

In a global economy, crop yield data is vital to measure if crops that are produced
can adequately provide enough food for a nation's food supply, livestock feed, and
energy sources.

The tasks like yield estimation & crop damage assessment done by traditional
means take month or two and a whole lot of manpower to complete the work. By using
these technologies, the same task can be completed within half or even in lesser time
frame with minimum number of resources and high accuracy.

Remote sensing procedure can easily provide yield maps which then can be used in
Regular satellite monitoring of land plots. For instance, it allows farmers to easily
follow the growth status of plants and carry out crop yield estimation using remote
sensing. The evolution of plant health status provides key information to decide on
possible interventions to the needs of crops. With its high-precision technology and
satellite-driven data, the growers can generate field productivity maps based on the
historical data and, thus, clearly identify the areas with the highest and the lowest
productivity on a given farmland.
 IV. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, remote sensing method is very beneficial not only to the manpower
but to the whole agricultural community/system for it provides timesaving, high
accuracy, and cost-effective services through satellite imageries.

In addition, measuring/estimating volume of crop yield through remote sensing is a

big step towards sustainable farming and precision agriculture.

GROUP 5

TABIGNE, Lei Angeline

TABIJE, Angela

SORIANO, Pauline Joyce

SANTIAGO, Daerlyne Loise

LANDINGIN, Soc Dante

 REFERENCES

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crop-yield.asp

https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/crops-and-horticulture/grains-pulses-and-cereals/crop-production/
general-agronomy/a-brief-guide-to-estimating-crop-yields

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/precision-agriculture

https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOHYDJ/TOHYDJ-6-68.pdf

https://www.geospatialworld.net/article/assessment-crop-yield-estimation-methods-by-using-satellite-
imagery/

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/2/669/htm

https://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/measuring-yields-space

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/~/media/system/6/1/b/3/61b3d7e4f5ebe8f2330f42bce9ee7ae4/
pub3234cropyieldmonitors2012lowres.pdf

https://www.stars-project.org/en/knowledgeportal/magazine/potential-uses-of-remote-sensing-in-
smallholder-context/yield%20estimation/

https://ceinsys.blogspot.com/2017/03/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/precision-agriculture

https://cropwatch.unl.edu/ssm/mapping