Estimation of Corn and Soybean Yields Based on MODIS Data and CASA Model in Iowa and Illinois, USA

Abstract

The crop growing conditions make accurate predictions of yield ahead of harvest time difficult. Such predictions are needed by the government to estimate, ahead of time, the amount of crop required to be imported to meet the expected domestic shortfall. Corn and soybean especially are widely cultivated throughout the world and a staple food in many regions of the world. On the other hand, the CASA (Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) model is a process-based model to estimate the land plant NPP (Net Primary Productivity) based on the plant growing mechanism. In this paper, therefore, a methodology for the estimation of corn/soybean yield ahead of harvest time is developed specifically for the growing conditions particular to Iowa and Illinois. The method is based on CASA model using MODIS data, and uses Net Primary Productivity (NPP) to predict corn/soybean yield. As a result, NPP at DOY 217 (in Illinois) and DOY 241 (in Iowa) tend to have high correlation with corn/soybean yields. The corn/soybean yields of Iowa in 2013 was estimated to be 11.24/3.55 ton/ha and Illinois was estimated to be 10.09/3.06 ton/ha. Errors were 6.06/17.58% and -10.64/-7.07%, respectively, compared with the yield forecast of the USDA. Crop yield distributions in 2013 were presented to show spatial variability in the state. This leads to the conclusion that NPP changes in the crop field were well reflected crop yield in this study.