Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction

To improve the prediction of crop yields at an aggregate scale, we developed a data assimilation-crop modeling framework that incorporates remotely sensed soil moisture and leaf area index (LAI) into a crop model using sequential data assimilation. The core of the framework is an Ensemble Kalman Fil...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ines, Amor V.M., Das, NN, Hansen, James, Njoku, EG
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33838
_version_ 1855515460287594496
author Ines, Amor V.M.
Das, NN
Hansen, James
Njoku, EG
author_browse Das, NN
Hansen, James
Ines, Amor V.M.
Njoku, EG
author_facet Ines, Amor V.M.
Das, NN
Hansen, James
Njoku, EG
author_sort Ines, Amor V.M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description To improve the prediction of crop yields at an aggregate scale, we developed a data assimilation-crop modeling framework that incorporates remotely sensed soil moisture and leaf area index (LAI) into a crop model using sequential data assimilation. The core of the framework is an Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) used to control crop model runs, assimilate remote sensing (RS) data and update model state variables. We modified the Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer – Cropping System Model (DSSAT-CSM)-Maize model (Jones et al., 2003) to be able to stop and start simulations at any given time in the growing season, such that the EnKF can update model state variables as RS data become available. The data assimilation-crop modeling framework was evaluated against 2003–2009 maize yields in Story County, Iowa, USA, assimilating AMSR-E soil moisture and MODIS-LAI data independently and simultaneously. Assimilating LAI or soil moisture independently slightly improved the correlation of observed and simulated yields (R = 0.51 and 0.50) compared to no data assimilation (open-loop; R = 0.47) but prediction errors improved with reductions in MBE and RMSE by 0.5 and 0.5 Mg ha− 1 respectively for LAI assimilation while these were reduced by 1.8 and 1.1 Mg ha− 1 for soil moisture assimilation. Yield correlation improved more when both soil moisture and LAI were assimilated (R = 0.65) suggesting a cause–effect interaction between soil moisture and LAI, prediction errors (MBE and RMSE) were also reduced by 1.7 and 1.8 Mg ha− 1 with respect to open-loop simulations. Results suggest that assimilation of LAI independently might be preferable when conditions are extremely wet while assimilation of soil moisture + LAI might be more suitable when conditions are more nominal. AMSR-E soil moisture tends to be more biased under the presence of high vegetation (i.e., when crops are fully developed) and that updating rootzone soil moisture by near-surface soil moisture assimilation under very wet conditions could increase the modeled percolation causing excessive nitrogen (N) leaching hence reducing crop yields even with water stress reduced at a minimum due to soil moisture assimilation. However, applying the data assimilation-crop modeling framework strategically by considering a-priori information on climate condition expected during the growing season may improve yield prediction performance substantially, in our case with higher correlation (R = 0.80) and more reductions in MBE and RMSE (2.5 and 3.3 Mg ha− 1) compared to when there is no data assimilation. Scaling AMSR-E soil moisture to the climatology of the model did not improve our data assimilation results because the model is also biased. Better soil moisture products e.g., from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, may solve the soil moisture data issue in the near future.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace33838
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace338382024-01-17T12:58:34Z Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction Ines, Amor V.M. Das, NN Hansen, James Njoku, EG agriculture climate yield forecasting crop modelling leaf area index geology To improve the prediction of crop yields at an aggregate scale, we developed a data assimilation-crop modeling framework that incorporates remotely sensed soil moisture and leaf area index (LAI) into a crop model using sequential data assimilation. The core of the framework is an Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) used to control crop model runs, assimilate remote sensing (RS) data and update model state variables. We modified the Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer – Cropping System Model (DSSAT-CSM)-Maize model (Jones et al., 2003) to be able to stop and start simulations at any given time in the growing season, such that the EnKF can update model state variables as RS data become available. The data assimilation-crop modeling framework was evaluated against 2003–2009 maize yields in Story County, Iowa, USA, assimilating AMSR-E soil moisture and MODIS-LAI data independently and simultaneously. Assimilating LAI or soil moisture independently slightly improved the correlation of observed and simulated yields (R = 0.51 and 0.50) compared to no data assimilation (open-loop; R = 0.47) but prediction errors improved with reductions in MBE and RMSE by 0.5 and 0.5 Mg ha− 1 respectively for LAI assimilation while these were reduced by 1.8 and 1.1 Mg ha− 1 for soil moisture assimilation. Yield correlation improved more when both soil moisture and LAI were assimilated (R = 0.65) suggesting a cause–effect interaction between soil moisture and LAI, prediction errors (MBE and RMSE) were also reduced by 1.7 and 1.8 Mg ha− 1 with respect to open-loop simulations. Results suggest that assimilation of LAI independently might be preferable when conditions are extremely wet while assimilation of soil moisture + LAI might be more suitable when conditions are more nominal. AMSR-E soil moisture tends to be more biased under the presence of high vegetation (i.e., when crops are fully developed) and that updating rootzone soil moisture by near-surface soil moisture assimilation under very wet conditions could increase the modeled percolation causing excessive nitrogen (N) leaching hence reducing crop yields even with water stress reduced at a minimum due to soil moisture assimilation. However, applying the data assimilation-crop modeling framework strategically by considering a-priori information on climate condition expected during the growing season may improve yield prediction performance substantially, in our case with higher correlation (R = 0.80) and more reductions in MBE and RMSE (2.5 and 3.3 Mg ha− 1) compared to when there is no data assimilation. Scaling AMSR-E soil moisture to the climatology of the model did not improve our data assimilation results because the model is also biased. Better soil moisture products e.g., from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, may solve the soil moisture data issue in the near future. 2013-11 2013-10-21T15:30:49Z 2013-10-21T15:30:49Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33838 en Open Access image/gif Elsevier Ines AVM, Das NN, Hansen JW, Njoku EG. 2013. Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction. Remote Sensing of Environment 138: 149–164.
spellingShingle agriculture
climate
yield forecasting
crop modelling
leaf area index
geology
Ines, Amor V.M.
Das, NN
Hansen, James
Njoku, EG
Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
title Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
title_full Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
title_fullStr Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
title_full_unstemmed Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
title_short Assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
title_sort assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation with a crop simulation model for maize yield prediction
topic agriculture
climate
yield forecasting
crop modelling
leaf area index
geology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33838
work_keys_str_mv AT inesamorvm assimilationofremotelysensedsoilmoistureandvegetationwithacropsimulationmodelformaizeyieldprediction
AT dasnn assimilationofremotelysensedsoilmoistureandvegetationwithacropsimulationmodelformaizeyieldprediction
AT hansenjames assimilationofremotelysensedsoilmoistureandvegetationwithacropsimulationmodelformaizeyieldprediction
AT njokueg assimilationofremotelysensedsoilmoistureandvegetationwithacropsimulationmodelformaizeyieldprediction