Monitoring of Plant Cultivation Conditions Using Ground Measurements and Satellite Products

Abstract

The purpose of agrometeorological services conducted by various institutions around the world is to support decisions in the field of planning individual farmer works and agrotechnical treatments so as to fully enable the use of the prevailing weather and climatic conditions. However, the not always sufficient spatial distribution of ground measuring stations limits the possibility of the precise determination of meteorological conditions and the state of vegetation in a specific location. The solution may be the simultaneous use of both ground and satellite data, which can improve and enhance the final agrometeorological products. This paper presents examples of the use of meteorological products combining classical ground measurement and data from meteorological radars and satellites, applied in an agrometeorological service provided by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management in Poland. Selected examples cover Wielkopolskie Province, which is a primarily agricultural region. An analysis of the course of the soil moisture index and HTC as well as differences in the PEI spatial distribution from ground and satellite data for the extremely dry growing season of 2018 are presented. The authors tried to demonstrate that combining data available from different sources may be a necessary condition for modern agriculture in the conditions of climate change.