5.State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau,Institute of Water and Soil Conservation,Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources,Yangling,Shaanxi 712100,China
Objective This study aims to identify vegetation indices sensitive to crop water status and irrigation activities and to develop estimation models, providing technical support for the dynamic monitoring of regional crop water status and crop irrigation activities at the regional scale. Methods Field experiments on winter wheat were conducted consecutively from 2012 to 2016 under three water treatments: rainfed, low irrigation, and high irrigation. Based on the observed spectral reflectance, three types of vegetation indices constructed from any two-band combinations within the 451~2 400 nm range were systematically analyzed for their relationships with leaf water content. Bands and vegetation index combinations sensitive to crop water status and irrigation activities were screened out, and leaf water content estimation models were established. Results Spectral reflectance under the three water treatments in the 700~1 400 nm range followed the order: high irrigation>low irrigation>rainfed. In the visible region, spectral reflectance under rainfed and low irrigation treatments showed significantly negative correlations with leaf water content (mean p values of 0.013 8 and 0.016 9, respectively). Overall, spectral reflectance increased from the greening stage to the jointing stage and decreased from the jointing stage to harvest. Bands sensitive to water content were mainly concentrated in the visible and near-infrared regions. An estimation model for leaf water content was developed based on the optimal band combination NDVI(1 191, 1 305). This model explained 82% of the variation in leaf water content, with R² exceeding 0.77 for validation samples, significantly higher than the models based on 16 common vegetation indices. Relying solely on a single vegetation index for monitoring irrigation activities entailed uncertainty. Conclusion The NDVI vegetation index constructed from the optimal band combination is sensitive to irrigation activities, and the established leaf water content estimation model is applicable for assessing crop water use status in this region.
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