Observing long-term changes in rice phenology using NOAA-AVHRR and DMSP-SSM/I satellite sensor measurements in Punjab, India

The paper reports a unique observation from remote sensing records that the temporal rice growth pattern in terms of time of emergence and peak vegetation stage has been advanced by 3 –4 weeks in Punjab , In dia from 1981 to 2000. Analysis was carried out using multi -temporal remote sensing data from the optical sensors such as Advanced High Resolution Radiom eter (AVHRR) and the passive microwave sensors such as Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) onboard NOAA and DMSP series of satellites respectively. The rice growth characteristics were quantified by Badhwar and Gaussian model fitting on seasonal Normalized Di fference Vegetation Index (NDVI) covering the mo n-soo n period (kharif season) for six years. The o b served time of peak vegetation stage of rice estimated from the average growth profile of years 1981–82 was 4 September, which advanced to 8 Au gust in years 1999 –2000. This change in phenology was further co n-firmed using Basist Wetness Index (BWI) da ta derived using multi frequency approach. The BWI data repr e-senting surface moisture/water fra ction were found to reach maximum in the middle of July in 1988, com-pared to middle of June in 1998. Temporal trends in mean BWI of Punjab during May –June also i nd icate a shift in crop growth profile and gradual in crease in area flooded with water for rice transplanting with time. Keywords: Crop, phenology, remote sensing, micro-wave. Q

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