CROP MOISTURE CONTENT MONITORING USING SATELLITE DATA

In Ukraine in recent decades, the rate of temperature increase is significantly higher than the average planetary indicators, which leads to increased risk of droughts. To mitigate the effects of drought the early detection and monitoring of moisture agricultural crops is necessary. The traditional methods of determining the moisture crops content use ground-based meteorological research data. One of the main problems of traditional methods is the discrete network of agrometeorological stations, which makes it impossible to receive actual information in space and time. To solve this problem at various administrative levels it should be used not only traditional but also space observation. The development of advanced remote sensing satellite systems, application software for digital image processing and GIS facilitate operational obtaining reliable information about crop moisture provision. Relevance of research is caused by necessity of improvement of the traditional monitoring system of agricultural landscapes in changing climate conditions, including diagnosis of such crises as droughts and operational information providing for business entities. <b><i>The aim of the article</i></b><i> </i>is to determine the relationship between the crops spectral characteristics of and crop moisture content and also merging of in situ and satellite data in enhancement of estimation of moisture provision of agricultural crops. The method of determining of the crop moisture content is based on the integrated use of satellite data of different spatial differentiation and in-situ ground data. There were used satellite observations data of low spatial resolution – radiometer MODIS (satellite Terra i Aqua, 250 m, 500 m), Proba-V (100-300 m), medium spatial resolution – Landsat (30 m, 60 m) and high spatial resolution (satellites Sich-2, 8 m and RapidEye, 5 m). During the work the effectiveness of modern satellite remote sensing systems for rapid assessment of moisture agrophytocenoses was proved. To determine the agrophytocenosis moisture content at the local level it was proved the possibility of replacement of satellite imagery of high spatial resolution (RapidEye, SICH-2), on medium spatial resolution (Landsat, MODIS/Terra, Proba-V), which are freely available. The relations between the moisture content of winter wheat plants and spectral indices were found based on the results of experimental field research. The mathematical models to determine the plant moisture content by given indices were developed. The maps of the moisture content in winter wheat plants in test sites by obtained models were constructed using modern GIS technology.