Application of RS and GIS for Agricultural Resource &

Watershed Management

Zemede Mulushewa (PhD)

December 2023

Zemede Mulushewa (PhD) 1

What is agriculture?
Is the practice of crop production and animal raring including poultry production and bee
keeping through utilization of natural resources sustainably.

Crop production is the science and art of growing and harvesting crops (including
preserving seeds, clearing land from other vegetation, land preparation, sowing,
plant protection from natural enemies, harvesting, processing and storing of
products).

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Cropping: is the yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops on a given area.
There are different cropping patterns used in different places depending on the potential of the area.
In planning a cropping sequence, a farmer must take several considerations in to account: including
The soil type
The local weather (rainfall, temperature, etc.)
Weed, disease and pest problem
Market outlets or market demand including transportation access

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Things we can do with RS

1. Crop area estimation

Satellite images (possibly classified) can be used as basic information for area
estimation.
Area is estimated by counting pixels in a classified image.
Sources of area estimation error:
% Mixed pixels
Misclassification of pure pixels (e.g. due to radiometric error)
Resolution

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!Do not use pixel counting if you want an accuracy of ± 5%. (or unless you are
confident that your classification accuracy is >90%).

Question: what can we do with these errors??

Answer:
Use higher resolution imagery taken during the cropping season.
Use intensive ground surveying (proper sampling) to get accurate area measurement.

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2. Crop stress monitoring

There are wide ranges of stresses that affect plant functioning and of ways in which

the effects of these stresses can be detected by RS.

In principle we do not usually image the stress itself – what we most frequently

study is a built-in plant response to the stress.

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a. Thermal sensing : sensors track temperature changes.
Thermal sensing is primarily used to study plant water relations, and specifically stomatal
conductance, because a major determinant of leaf temperature is the rate of evaporation or
transpiration from the leaf.

The cooling effect of transpiration arises because a substantial amount of energy (the latent
heat of vaporization, λ) is required to convert liquid water to water vapour, and this energy is
then taken away from the leaf in the evaporating water and therefore cools it.

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In rare cases leaf temperature may be affected by other physiological processes: for example the

heat generated as water in a leaf freezes can be readily imaged, while in extreme cases of

particularly high respiratory rates raised temperatures can be used as a measure of these

increased respiration rates.

In most cases, however, the heat generated by respiration is too small in quantity to have a

detectable effect on leaf temperature.

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b. Multi-sensor imaging for diagnosis

 Individual imaging sensor provides only limited information, indicating

changes in only one or two intermediary responses,

 but that response can be caused by a wide range of primary stresses, ability

to diagnose the particular primary stress is greatly enhanced by the

combination of two or more imaging technologies.

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• For example: thermal imaging responds primarily to changes in evaporation rate,
which are generally caused by changes in stomatal aperture, but stomatal closure
can be a result of stresses as different as drought, flooding, salinity stress, fungal
infection or pollutants. In order to distinguish between these possible causes one
needs further information.
• Therefore, there has been recent emphasis on the development of multi-sensor
imaging to aid in stress diagnosis and monitoring.

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• The approaches can range from simple combination of, say, thermal and reflectance sensors, or visible

reflectance and fluorescence sensors, through to combined fluorescence, reflectance and thermal

imaging sensors.

It is clear from the above that there is enormous potential for combining different imaging technologies for

the diagnosis and quantification of both abiotic and biotic stresses in plants.

By combining information from a wide range of sensors, each of which detects a different basic

physiological response, it should be possible to greatly enhance our sensitivity at diagnosing and

quantifying different stresses.

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Why use RS& GIS for agriculture applications?
• Timely, objective, local to global coverage
• Useful for observing areas that are inaccessible
• Monitor plant growth and estimate crop
productivity
• Assess soil moisture and irrigation requirements
• Identify soil and crop characteristics and
conditions
• Better forecast precipitation and crop disease
• Maximize crop yields while reducing energy
consumption Evolution of agricultural operations in the Wadi As-Sirhan
• Avoid waste of farm inputs (water, fertilizer, and Basin, Saudi Arabia. Captured by Landsat satellites 4, 5, and 7 in
1987, 1991, 2000, and 2012. Taken by Thematic Mapper and
pesticide) Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus. Image Credit: NASA

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 Applications for Agriculture & WSM
 Crop Monitoring
– Phenology, crop area, crop type, crop condition, yield, irrigated landscape,
flood, drought, frost, accurate and timely reporting of agricultural statistics

 Crop Forecasting
– Accurate forecasting of yield or shortfalls in crop production and food supply
per region and country

 Market Stability related to agricultural production

– Lowers uncertainty and increases the transparency of global food supply
– Reduces price volatility by anticipating market trends with reduced uncertainty

 Humanitarian Aid when agricultural production failed

– Monitor food security in high-risk regions worldwide
– Early warning of famine, enabling the timely mobilization of an international
response in food aid
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 1.2. Geospatial data for agricultural resources & watershed
management
1.3. Geospatial Data sources and Data Collection Methods

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 Bands

Bands
Parts of the EMS where sensors record data
Specifications are sensor specific

RS sensors can collect data in all portions

of the EM spectrum
Multispectral sensors have spectral
sensitivity limitations (spectral resolution)
The wavelength ranges recorded by sensors are called
bands or “channels”, varies with sensor

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 Bands… Landsat

Landsat collects data in 11 “channels” throughout the EM

spectrum

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 Landsat 8 Spectral Bands
Landsat 8 Operational Land Image (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)
Band Wavelength Useful for Mapping
Band 1 - coastal aerosol 0.43-0.45 Coastal and aerosol studies
Band 2 - blue 0.45-0.51 Bathymetric mapping, distinguishing soil from vegetation and deciduous from
coniferous vegetation
Band 3 - green 0.53-0.59 Emphasizes peak vegetation, which is useful for assessing plant vigor
Band 4 - red 0.64-0.67 Discriminates vegetation slopes
Band 5 - Near Infrared 0.85-0.88 Emphasizes biomass content and shorelines
(NIR)
Band 6 - Short-wave 1.57-1.65 Discriminates moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds
Infrared (SWIR) 1
Band 7 - Short-wave 2.11-2.29 Improved moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds
Infrared (SWIR) 2
Band 8 - Panchromatic 0.50-0.68 15 meter resolution, sharper image definition
Band 9 - Cirrus 1.36-1.38 Improved detection of cirrus cloud contamination
Band 10 - TIRS 1 10.60-11.19 100 meter resolution, thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture
Band 11 - TIRS 2 11.50-12.51 100 meter resolution, improved thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture

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 Landsat Missions

Landsat 7
Band Wavelength
1 0.45 to 0.52 Blue
2 0.52 to 0.60 Green
3 0.63 to 0.69 Red
4 0.76 to 0.90 Near IR
5 1.55 to 1.75 Short Wave IR
6 10.40 to 12.50 Thermal IR
6 2.08 to 2.35 Short Wave IR

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 Sentinel 2 vs Landsat
Landsat-8
1 coastal aerosol; 2 blue; 3
green; 4 red; 5
NIR; 6 SWIR 1; 7 SWIR 2; 8
60 m Panchromatic; 9 cirrus; 10
20 m TIRS 1; 11 TIRS 2.
10 m
Sentinel-2:
1 coastal aerosol; 2 blue; 3
green; 4 red; 5, 6, 7, and 9
vegetation red edge; 8 NIR;
10 cirrus; 11 and 12 SWIR.

• Sentinel 2 has three different spatial resolutions

• Data Acquisition (requires free registration)
• Visible and IR – 10 meter
• SWIR (red edge) and Longwave IR – 20 meter
– https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
• Aerosols, Water Vapor, and Cirrus bands – 60 meter

• Landsat 7 is 30m, Landsat 8 is 30m except for a few 100 m TIRS bands & the Panchromatic Band
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 Sentinel 2 , Landsat , ASTER & Worldview 2

WorldView-3:
1 coastal; 2 blue; 3
green; 4 yellow; 5 red; 6
red edge; 7 NIR 1; 8 NIR
2; 9–16 SWIR.

ASTER : 1 green; 2 red; 3N/3B—NIR nadir-looking/NIR backward-looking; 4–9 SWIR; 10–14 TIR.
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 Copernicus and Sentinel

European Space Agency’s (ESA) program for earth observation

Copernicus is the overarching program that is managing the Sentinel satellites

Sentinel Satellites
7 individual Satellite programs (or constellations) each with two satellites and a specific purpose related to
earth monitoring

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 Sentinel Satellites
Sentinel-1 (April 2014, 2016)
Sentinel-3 (February 2016, April 2018)
Marine Observation (sea surface
Land and Ocean monitoring
topography, sea and land temperature,
2 polar-orbiting satellites
ocean and land color)
Radar Imaging
2 polar-orbiting satellites–
Operate day and night
2 Optical Imaging
All Weather
1 Altimeter – Radar Imaging
Sentinel- 4 & 5
Air quality, Ozone, Solar radiation, Climate
Sentinel-2 (June 2015, March 2017) monitoring in Europe (4);
UVN Spectrometer instrument aboard
Land monitoring (Vegetation, Soil, Coastal
area)
2 polar-orbiting satellites
Optical Imaging
Dependent on solar radiation
Impacted by clouds Sentinel- 5p (October 2017)
Cover data gaps, Data Continuity
Atmospheric monitoring
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 Sentinel 2

Sentinel 2 is a Landsat clone/upgrade

Uses: Forest monitoring, change detection, land use/land cover

Coverage: Currently every 5 days- Collection began June 23, 2015 (every 10 days
prior to 2017)

Spatial resolution: 10, 20 and 60 meters (wavelength dependent)

More spectral bands than Landsat 7 and 8

Sentinel 2 has 13 bands,
Landsat 8 has 11 bands,
Landsat 7 has 7 bands

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 Sentinel 2 vs Landsat

Sentinel 2 Landsat 8

See detail application of Sentinel:

https://www.sentinel-hub.com/explore/industries-and-showcases/agriculture/

https://www.sentinel-hub.com/explore/education/custom-scripts-tutorial/

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 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
 AVHRR : used to generate NDVI images of large portions of Earth on regular basis to
provide global images that portray seasonal and annual changes to vegetative cover.
 Primary differences between AVHRR and Landsat NDVI is resolution.

AVHRR resolution is 1km and NDVI is 8 km

Landsat NDVI resolution is 30 m

 AVHRR data - frequent global NDVI products

Landsat 7 ETM+ data :

o greater detail covering less area

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 Satellites & Sensors for Agricultural Applications
Scientific Products
Land Surface Evapotranspiration Land Surface Precipitation Soil Vegetation
Satellite Sensor Reflectance Temperature Moisture Greenness

Terra MODIS X X X X
Aqua MODIS X X X X
NOAA-20 VIIRS X X X
Landsat 8 OLI X X
Sentinel 2 MSI X X
Landsat 8 & HLS X X
Sentinel 2 ECOSTRESS X

Land Data Assimilation Modeled X X

System output
Global Precipitation GMI, DPR X
Measurement (GPM)
CHIRPS Multiple X
Soil Moisture X
Active L-band radar
Passive C-band radar
Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI)
Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Operational Land Imager (OLI)
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) GPM Microwave Imager (GMI)
Harmonized Landsat
Zemede Mulushewaand
(PhD)Sentinel-2 (HLS) 26
Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)
 Characteristics of sensors with potential for RS

For details https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/5/1785

Sentinel-1A spacecraft was launched on April 3, 2014, Sentinel-1B spacecraft, a twin sister of Sentinel-1A, on April 25, 2016.
See details @ https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/copernicus-sentinel-1#mission-status 27
Zemede Mulushewa (PhD)
 Common Remote Sensing Indices
This course focuses on the following Common Remote Sensing Indices:
1) Vegetation Indices
2) Water Indices
3) Landscape Indices

Common Remote Sensing Indices: Vegetation

Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application
NDVI ((NIR - Red)/(NIR + Red)) Standardized index to generate an image
(Normalized Difference displaying greenness (relative biomass)
Vegetation Index)
SAVI ((NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red + L)) x Vegetation index that attempts to minimize soil
(Soil-Adjusted Vegetation (1 + L) brightness influences.
Index) L = amount of green veg. cover
VARI (Green - Red)/ (Green + Red - Emphasized vegetation in the visible portion of
(Visible Atmospherically Blue) the spectrum, while mitigating illumination
Resistant Index) differences and atmospheric effects
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 Common Remote Sensing Indices: Water

Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application

NDSI (Green - SWIR) / Identifies snow cover while
(Normalized Difference Snow (Green + SWIR) ignoring cloud cover.
Index) Designed for MODIS and
Landsat data.
MNDWI (Green - SWIR) / Enhances open water
(Modified Normalized Difference (Green + SWIR) features.
Water index)
NDMI (NIR - SWIR1)/(NIR Sensitive to moisture levels
(Normalized Difference Moisture + SWIR1) in vegetation. Used to
Index) monitor droughts and fuel
levels in fire prone areas.
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 Common Remote Sensing Indices: Landscape

Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application

BAI 1/((0.1 -RED)^2 + (0.06 - Identify areas of terrain
(Burn Area Index) NIR)^2) affected by fire
NBR (NIR - SWIR) / (NIR+ SWIR) Emphasized burned areas,
(Normalized Burn while mitigating illumination
Ratio Index) and atmospheric effects
NDBI (SWIR - NIR) / (SWIR + NIR) Emphasized man-made built-
(Normalized up areas. Mitigates effects of
Difference Built-up terrain illumination and
Index) atmospheric effects

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 Land Surface Reflectance
• Provide an estimate of surface spectral reflectance as
measured at ground level by accounting for atmospheric
effects like aerosol scattering and thin clouds
• Useful for measuring the greenness of vegetation, which can
then be used to determine phenological transition dates
including:
 start of season,
 peak period, and end of season
• Input for generation of several land products: Three moments in a tumultuous year for farming
north of St. Louis, MO, as seen in NASA-USGS
• Vegetation Indices (VIs), Landsat 8 data. On the left is May 7, 2019, as
heavy rains delayed planting for many farms.
• Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF), Sept 12, 2019, in the middle, shows bright green
thermal anomaly, snow/ice, signifying growing vegetation, although with a
fair amount of brown, bare fields. On the right,
• Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Oct. 14, 2019, the light brown indicates harvested
fields while darker brown are fields that have not
Radiation (FAPAR), & been seeded or fallow all summer.
• Leaf Area Index (LAI) Image Credit: NASA-USGS Landsat

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1
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)

– MODIS instrument on two NASA platforms:

• Terra (1999-present)
• Aqua (2002-present)
– Spatial Resolution: 250 m, 500 m, 1 km
– Spectral Resolution: 36 bands,
– ranging in wavelengths from
0.4 µm to 14.4 µm
– Temporal Resolution: Daily, 8-day, 16-day,monthly,
MODIS Orbital Coverage Image Credit: NASA
yearly (2000 – Present)
– Global coverage with orbital gaps in the tropics

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 MODIS….
• MODIS
– MOD09: Level 2 & 3 surface reflectance
product name
– Bands 1 and 2 (250m)
– Bands 1-7 (500 m)
– Bands 1-16 (1 km)

• MODIS Surface Reflectance User’s Guide

– http://modis- sr.ltdri.org/guide/MOD09_UserGuide_v1.4.pdf

• Data Acquisition (requires free registration)

MODIS composite of the eastern U.S. captured on
– https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q= February 23, 2020 by NASA’s Aqua satellite.
MOD09 Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory

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 Landsat 8 – OLI
• Landsat 8 launched on February 11, 2013
– Instruments(2):
• Operational Land Imager (OLI)
• Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)
– Landsat data have been produced,
archived, and distributed by the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) since
1972
– Builds on ~50 years of the Landsat
program (i.e., the longest continuous
global record of the Earth’s surface)
– https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/landsat- Landsat 8 OLI image captured on September 9, 2013 showing the border
data-continuity-mission/ between Kazakhstan and China
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

“People often say that borders are not visible from space. But the line between Kazakhstan and China couldn't be
clearer if it were drawn on the sand” 34
Zemede Mulushewa (PhD)
 RGB = RED, GREEN, BLUE
True Color Composite Images displayed using any bands other
than RGB (true color)
Allows users to visualize wavelengths that
the human eye cannot see
Many different combinations, depending on
the application

Figure reference
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 Band Combinations for Landsat 8

Composite Name Bands

Natural Color 432

False Color (urban) 764

Color Infrared (vegetation) 543

Agriculture 652

Healthy Vegetation 562

Land/Water 564

Natural With Atmospheric Removal 753

Shortwave Infrared 754

Vegetation Analysis 654

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 Multi-Spectral Instrument– MSI
• Sentinel 2A launched on June 23, 2015
• Sentinel 2B launched on March 7, 2017
• Sensor: Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI)

– Constellation of two polar-orbiting

satellites in the same sun-synchronous
orbit, phased at 180° to each other

– Collaboration between the European

Commission, European Space Agency
(ESA), and European Union (EU)
Sentinel 2 MSI image captured on June 30, 2018
showing the Noordoostpolder municipality in the
– https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/web/senti central Netherlands Image Credit: Copernicus, ESA
nel/missions/sentinel-2

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 cont…
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