The assimilation of biophysical crop canopy variables retrieved from remotely sensed data into two crop models of differing degree of complexity is assessed in this study, in the context of the development of tools suitable for the estimation of yield losses due to drought. The more complex AQUACROP model, developed by FAO and the simpler SAFY model were employed to estimate wheat grain yield for an area in the Shaanxi Province in China through the assimilation of biophysical variables retrieved from Landsat and HJ1A and HJ1B satellites for three growing seasons (2013 to 2015). Results were validated with ground yield data.
['Raffaele Casa', 'Paolo Cosmo Silvestro', 'Hao Yang', 'Stefano Pignatti', 'Simone Pascucci', 'G. Yang']
Assimilation of remotely sensed canopy variables into crop models for an assessment of drought-related yield losses: A comparison of models of different complexity