Scalable near-real-time crop phenological retrieval of US farm fields

Chunyuan Diao, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Usage Details

Crop phenology regulates seasonal agroecosystem carbon-water-energy fluxes, and is a key indicator of crop growth to climate and environmental changes from local to global scales. As the sensitivity of crop yield to climate change and variability differs across crop physiological growing stages, remote monitoring of crop phenology over space and time is imperative to assess the influence of weather stress on yield loss, and to improve agricultural resilience to adverse environmental conditions. This project aims to benchmark large-scale near-real-time crop phenological retrieval of individual farm fields using satellite time series, through an innovative near-real-time pheno-network model and a scalable high-performance system. By leveraging Blue Waters, the project will prototype a weekly crop phenological product of US farm fields with rich characteristic growing stages for the past decade. Complementary to USDA Crop Progress Reports (CPRs), the phenological product can largely enhance our understanding of agricultural response to climate change and environmental stress. It will contribute to the advancement of agroecosystem carbon and nutrient cycle modeling, crop yield prediction, and phenology-dependent farming practices for more sustainable agricultural development. The phenological product will be disseminated to USDA and other relevant agencies to inform the decisions of governments, stakeholders, and farmers, and to enhance the project scientific and societal impacts.