Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques

A solid understanding of plant growth is crucial for maintaining future crop productivity in the face of climate change. Remote sensing of crop functional traits using optical satellite imagery provides a valuable tool for determining effective management techniques that reduce risk and enhance agro...

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Main Authors: Flavian Tschurr, Lukas Valentin Graf, Achim Walter, Helge Aasen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-03-01
Series:Smart Agricultural Technology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525000504
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author Flavian Tschurr
Lukas Valentin Graf
Achim Walter
Helge Aasen
author_facet Flavian Tschurr
Lukas Valentin Graf
Achim Walter
Helge Aasen
author_sort Flavian Tschurr
collection DOAJ
description A solid understanding of plant growth is crucial for maintaining future crop productivity in the face of climate change. Remote sensing of crop functional traits using optical satellite imagery provides a valuable tool for determining effective management techniques that reduce risk and enhance agroecosystem resilience. However, atmospheric disturbances limit the availability of imagery, leading to gaps and noise in the trait time series. Thus, accurate crop growth modelling necessitates time series reconstruction methods. One promising approach is incorporating physiological priors, such as the influence of environmental variables like air temperature on plant growth. We propose a novel method that combines Sentinel-2 Green Leaf Area Index (GLAI) observations with three temperature driven reconstruction techniques that describe the physiological relationship between growth and temperature in winter wheat. By employing a probabilistic ensemble Kalman filtering data assimilation scheme, we can integrate high-resolution air temperature data and satellite imagery while quantifying uncertainties. Our results suggest that assimilating Sentinel-2 GLAI and temperature-response-based growth rates allows for the reconstruction of physiologically meaningful GLAI time series. Moreover, our proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art approaches based on logistic functions in terms of physiological plausibility, fitting requirements, and representation of high GLAI values. Our approach requires fewer satellite observations compared to traditional remote sensing time series algorithms, making it suitable for agricultural areas with high cloud cover. Consequently, it has significant potential to improve the reliability of crop productivity assessments based on remote sensing data.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2772-3755
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publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Elsevier
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spelling doaj-art-ccdafdcb9aab471f8965eb3bf194dc4d2025-02-11T04:35:40ZengElsevierSmart Agricultural Technology2772-37552025-03-0110100816Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniquesFlavian Tschurr0Lukas Valentin Graf1Achim Walter2Helge Aasen3Crop Science, Institute of Agricultural Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; Corresponding author.Crop Science, Institute of Agricultural Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; Earth Observation of Agroecosystems Team, Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, SwitzerlandCrop Science, Institute of Agricultural Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandEarth Observation of Agroecosystems Team, Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, SwitzerlandA solid understanding of plant growth is crucial for maintaining future crop productivity in the face of climate change. Remote sensing of crop functional traits using optical satellite imagery provides a valuable tool for determining effective management techniques that reduce risk and enhance agroecosystem resilience. However, atmospheric disturbances limit the availability of imagery, leading to gaps and noise in the trait time series. Thus, accurate crop growth modelling necessitates time series reconstruction methods. One promising approach is incorporating physiological priors, such as the influence of environmental variables like air temperature on plant growth. We propose a novel method that combines Sentinel-2 Green Leaf Area Index (GLAI) observations with three temperature driven reconstruction techniques that describe the physiological relationship between growth and temperature in winter wheat. By employing a probabilistic ensemble Kalman filtering data assimilation scheme, we can integrate high-resolution air temperature data and satellite imagery while quantifying uncertainties. Our results suggest that assimilating Sentinel-2 GLAI and temperature-response-based growth rates allows for the reconstruction of physiologically meaningful GLAI time series. Moreover, our proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art approaches based on logistic functions in terms of physiological plausibility, fitting requirements, and representation of high GLAI values. Our approach requires fewer satellite observations compared to traditional remote sensing time series algorithms, making it suitable for agricultural areas with high cloud cover. Consequently, it has significant potential to improve the reliability of crop productivity assessments based on remote sensing data.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525000504Green leaf area indexSentinel-2PhysiologyTime seriesCrop growth modellingCrop productivity
spellingShingle Flavian Tschurr
Lukas Valentin Graf
Achim Walter
Helge Aasen
Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques
Smart Agricultural Technology
Green leaf area index
Sentinel-2
Physiology
Time series
Crop growth modelling
Crop productivity
title Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques
title_full Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques
title_fullStr Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques
title_full_unstemmed Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques
title_short Enhanced gap-filling for satellite-derived crop monitoring using temperature-driven reconstruction techniques
title_sort enhanced gap filling for satellite derived crop monitoring using temperature driven reconstruction techniques
topic Green leaf area index
Sentinel-2
Physiology
Time series
Crop growth modelling
Crop productivity
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525000504
work_keys_str_mv AT flaviantschurr enhancedgapfillingforsatellitederivedcropmonitoringusingtemperaturedrivenreconstructiontechniques
AT lukasvalentingraf enhancedgapfillingforsatellitederivedcropmonitoringusingtemperaturedrivenreconstructiontechniques
AT achimwalter enhancedgapfillingforsatellitederivedcropmonitoringusingtemperaturedrivenreconstructiontechniques
AT helgeaasen enhancedgapfillingforsatellitederivedcropmonitoringusingtemperaturedrivenreconstructiontechniques