Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Soil Color‐Based Management Zones in Irrigated Maize

Abstract

Spectral vegetation indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) have been shown to be useful for indirectly obtaining crop information such as photosynthetic efficiency, productivity potential, and potential yield. The objectives of this study were (i) to examine the relationships among NDVI determined early in the growing season, soil color‐based management zones (SCMZ), and relative maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield and (ii) to determine if coupling soil color‐based management zones with NDVI improves the accuracy of soil color‐based management zone precision crop management strategy. Remotely sensed imagery was acquired by aircraft at approximately the eight‐leaf crop growth stage (V8). Kappa statistics and percent areal agreement suggested a slight to substantial areal association among NDVI and relative grain yield (K = 0.10 to 0.63; % areal agreement = 13–67). Regression models were variable and explained among 25 to 82% of the variability in relative grain yield. Inclusion of soil color‐based management zones in the regression models resulted in marginal improvements. When the affects of soil color‐based management zones were removed, NDVI accounted for among 10 to 47% of the variability. The NDVI determined early does have potential to be useful in irrigated maize cropping systems. Coupling NDVI and SCMZs did not bring additional benefits to our soil color‐based management zone strategy.

Corn (<i>Zea Mays</i> L.) Plant Characteristics and Grain Yield Response to N Fertilization Programs in No-Tillage System

“…Many researchers have reported a good relationship between plant NDVI and photosynthetic efficiency (Freeman et al, 2007;Inman et al, 2007), , plant N status (Rui et al, 2009;Rambo et al, 2010) and corn yield Inman et al, 2008). SPAD measures relative chlorophyll content in plant leaves.…”

Recent advances in precision (target) conservation

“…By integrating remote sensing with precision conservation tools, the effectiveness of conservation practices can be improved and the impact of agriculture on the environment can be reduced. Management zones can also be integrated when applying precision conservation techniques to increase nitrogen use efficiency and reduce nitrate leaching losses without decreasing yields, as shown by earlier work from Khosla et al (2002Khosla et al ( , 2008, , and Inman et al (2007Inman et al ( , 2008. Galzki et al (2011) found that LIDAR provides very precise terrain attributes that can be used to identify environmentally sensitive areas for targeted conservation practices (e.g., grassed waterways, buffer strips, and/or the retirement of land from cultivation or application of conservation tillage).…”

Current status and future directions of precision aerial application for site-specific crop management in the USA

“…Compared with hyperspectral systems, multispectral systems are much less expensive and are less data-intensive. Airborne multispectral systems are cost-effective and a good source of crop, soil, weed or ground cover information for agricultural application and production (Moran et al, 1997;Senay et al, 1998;GopalaPillai and Tian, 1999;Yang and Anderson, 1999;Yang and Everitt, 2002;Pinter et al, 2003;Dobermann and Ping, 2004;Huang et al, 2008;Inman et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2009;Lan et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2009).…”